Menu

12Sep

Calming Exhale: Mindfulness Meditation for SLPs

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Meditation Stress Management
Comments Off on Calming Exhale: Mindfulness Meditation for SLPs

calming exhale

Being an SLP is really difficult right now, no matter what setting you are in. If you are heading into your work each day, to the physical building, you might be feeling stress about the logistics of your work, and how to keep yourself and your students healthy and safe, on top of the actually therapy part of your job. And if you are in your home office, you might be dealing with an impossible schedule, longer hours and a lack of support (or movement).

It is already stressful being an SLP – which means the things you could do before to help with stress are things you can turn to now to help as well.

When things get really stressful, one thing I like to do is to take a few deep breaths, letting my inhale and exhale grow steady and lengthen until they grow more even. This calm, steady breath send the signal from my body through the central nervous system and back up into the brain that everything is calm, steady and ok, which helps reduce the stress response the brain sends out.

You can do this by:

  • Bring your focus to your breath
  • Breathe as deep as you can, in and out
  • Count to 4 or 5 for each inhale and each exhale
  • Repeat for desired amount of time

Then, when I really want to relax even more, I take it one step further and deepen the exhale, extending it out a little longer. Even with a deep breath, the inhale portion is exciting to the nervous system, while the exhale is more calming and relaxing. By extending the exhale for 1 or 2 counts longer than the inhale, you can not only find a calm breath, but a relaxing one.

  • Breathe evenly for 4 or 5 counts on each inhale and exhale
  • Breathe in for 5 counts, and out for 6 counts
  • Repeat for desired amount of time

Total, this can be a 5 minute meditation or longer if you have the time.

This Calming Exhale meditation practice and more are available in the SLP Toolbox, a FREE resource library full of meditation, movement, journals, templates and more to help you better manage and reduce your SLP stress. You can subscribe below for access:

Much Love, 

Tags:
4Sep

Infusing Mindfulness Into Your SLP Work and Life: SLP Stress Management Podcast

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Podcast Self Care Stress Management
Comments Off on Infusing Mindfulness Into Your SLP Work and Life: SLP Stress Management Podcast

mindfulness into your SLP work and life


Mindfulness is a huge buzz word in the world right now. And for good reason – it is MUCH needed with all that is going on and continues to go on. Being an SLP, as you know, can often be incredibly stressful, and many of the students and patients that you see ma also be feeling stress of their own. Mindfulness can be an important tool towards alleviating some of this stress, in your life and in your work.

Mindfulness practices, such as meditation, have been shown to help reduce the reactions to stress and turn down the stress response in the brain. This means they are one of the main tools to helping you reduce AND manage your ongoing stress as an SLP.

Mindfulness has also been shown to help your students and adults to feel more calm and open to learning during therapy sessions. It can help them to feel more settled and grounded, so they can learn the strategies you are teaching and sharing with them as best they can. Basically, it can help take some of the stress out of the session.

mindfulness into your SLP work and life

In the latest episode of the SLP Stress Management Podcast, I talk with fellow SLP+Podcast host, Leigh Ann Porter to discuss all things mindfulness in and out of SLP life. Leigh Ann talks about her own experiences with mindfulness and why she began to use it, how she has used it in her daily life, how it has backfired and how it has. She shares what she tried, how it worked, and what changes she made to make it work even better. She also talk about how and why she started to incorporate it in to her work as an outpatient adult SLP.

You can tune in below or check out all the SLP Stress Management Podcast episodes here.

Leigh Ann earned her master’s in Communication Sciences from the University of Central Florida in 2013, and has enjoyed being an SLP ever since. While at UCF, Leigh Ann was part of a grant to prepare SLPs to work with English Language Learners, earning a graduate certificate of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).

Leigh Ann now resides in Kansas City where she divides her time working across outpatient, acute, and inpatient rehab settings. She has presented for ASHA CEUs to regional SLPs on topics such as how the respiratory system and cough influence dysphagia, a review of the literature on dysphagia exercises, and generating measurable dysphagia goals. For multidisciplinary continuing education with PTs and OTs, Leigh Ann has presented on topics such as Cognitive Retraining with an emphasis on memory strategies, and the SLP’s scope of practice & making appropriate patient referrals to the SLP. 

As host of the Speech Uncensored Podcast, Leigh enjoys interviewing colleagues to highlight the diversity in our field and share resources. The Speech Uncensored Podcast was born out of a desire to learn more and share that information. As a lifelong learner, Leigh Ann is passionate about disseminating useful resources and equipping SLPs to provide the highest quality of care. The scope of practice for SLPs is wide, varied, and nuanced. When given the right tools, we can confidently provide quality services to our patients.

Want more tools to help you infuse your day with mindfulness? Make sure to subscribe to the SLP Toolbox, a FREE resource library full of meditations, mindful movement audios and more, to help you manage your SLP stress, reduce burnout and find more balance (aka mindfulness) in your life. Subscribe below for access.

If you are looking for even more, make sure to check out the SLP Stress Management Course and Professional Development Courses.

Much Love,

Tags:
28Aug

5 Stretches to Help You Slow Down: Mindful Movement for SLPs

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Mindful Movement Stress Management
Comments Off on 5 Stretches to Help You Slow Down: Mindful Movement for SLPs

help you slow down

Do you ever feel like you need something to help you slow down, especially when your work day is full of you “pushing” through to get more work done?

When things get stressful, one of the first things I do is tense up, followed by trying to push through to get more done, even though I am already mentally and physically exhausted. It’s a difficult habit to break, and it is one that shows up in so many different jobs and settings that I have worked in.

The truth is, the pushing through doesn’t actually help or get work done in a way that feels good. I might get the task completed, but it is usually just “done”, with little passion or care behind it, and most likely with some errors due to my being exhausted and stressed.

What would work better is if I could slow down, check in with how I am doing, let go of some tension, and then come back when I am more refreshed and ready.

I’ll feel better about the work when I am done, more connected to it, and much less stressed.

With the new school year (whether you are in the schools or not), during a pandemic, you are probably feeling a lot of “push” and a lot of disconnect right from the start. It is likely that you are trying to create a whole new system of working, feel lack of support, and your body and mind are reacting to the stress – tension, tightness, disconnect and more stress.

It is difficult to take time to reduce the pushing and to slow down instead, but, when you can, it makes all the difference. And it can help you move from a place of pushing, or reacting, to a place of responding and connecting.

Here are some of my favorite ways to help you slow down:

My favorite way to slow down, and check in on what I am feeling physically and mentally, is with a Yin-style yoga practice. Yin-style yoga focuses on holding the stretch for a longer amount of time. The idea is that this helps you to get deeper into the tissues and fascia, letting go of tension and stress that builds up. It also gives you time to breathe and check in with each stretch.

The 5 stretches that I like to use when I am feeling tense are:

  • child’s pose
  • side stretch
  • pigeon pose
  • reclined twist
  • savasana/laying flat

I hold each one for 2-5 minutes and breathe. It helps me to explore what I am feeling physically, and see how I might be reacting rather than responding to the sensations. And then I have time to check in mentally to see how I am feeling with the tension I am working through. Plus, it’s nice to slow down and just breathe for a little while, after pushing through all day.

If you are looking to slow down after pushing through the day, you can download the “30 Minute Slow Down Stretch”, a Yin-style yoga practice that helps you slow down, so you can stop reacting to the stress in your body and respond to it instead – or just take a timeout form your busy day.

You can find it in the SLP Toolbox, a free resource site for SLPs to help reduce and manage stress.

Not a member? You can subscribe (its free) for access below:

If you are looking to dive even deeper into managing and understanding the stress you face as an SLP (even when it is during a pandemic, or maybe especially so), check out the SLP Stress Management Course, an 8-week online course that shows you the what and why of stress as an SLP, and how you can manage it, build a foundation of resiliency, and reduce the stress you face, even when you can’t change the reasons for it.

You can find out more info here: SLP Stress Management Course.

Much Love,

Tags:
21Aug

Managing Your SLP Stress in Grad School and Beyond with Kate Van Vuren, SLP+Life Coach: SLP Stress Management Podcast

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: New SLP Stress Management
Comments Off on Managing Your SLP Stress in Grad School and Beyond with Kate Van Vuren, SLP+Life Coach: SLP Stress Management Podcast
slp stress in grad school

slp stress in grad school

SLP stress in grad school (and beyond) can be some of the toughest, and longest lasting, that you face in your career.

When I was in undergrad, as a CSD major, I was absolutely in love with the field of Speech-Language Pathology. It was like a door has been thrown open and I had stepped into this amazing world where changes were being made in people’s lives, there was so much to learn and do, and opportunities seemed endless – to learn, grow and create a life as a future SLP. I was so in love with this field, that signed up for extra observation hours beyond the 25 hour minimum, and I raised my GPA from nearly losing my scholarship (because I just didn’t care enough about my classes to go to them before) to graduating with honors, a semester early. I was hungry to learn more and wanted to learn it as quickly as I could.

Grad school – not so much.

For me, this is where my chronic stress and burnout began. The program was amazing and I am so grateful for it and all I learned there, but, it had the typical hyper-competitive culture that so many programs lean into, and was the opposite of my undergrad. It was drilled into us, as it is/was in many programs, that this was now the main focus of my life, nothing else was as important, and only the best and perfect was acceptable. It sucked the passion out of me nearly immediately and was the beginning of leading me to quit for nearly 5 years, claiming I would never be an SLP again. (Which, of course, I came back to eventually when I started using tools that healed that stress and burnout).

It is why I was so thrilled to “meet” and find Kate Van Vuren, an SLP that also felt some of that stress and pressure in grad school, took steps to manage it right away, and now helps other future SLPs, CFs and CCC-SLPs to take the pressure off and love their lives in and out of work again.

And it’s why I am so excited to share parts of her journey and wisdom in this episode of the SLP Stress Management Podcast!

slp stress in grad school

Kate Van Vuren is a licensed speech-language pathologist working to help women reduce stress and increase their energy through sustainable lifestyle change to thrive professionally and personally.

In this episode, Kate shares some of her own journey with stress as an SLP, how she made the decision to shape her job around her lifestyle, and how and why we need to change the competition culture of grad school.

You can tune in below or check out all the episodes here: SLP Stress Management Podcast

More resources from Kate:

If you are ready to finally be DONE with the constant battle of stress as an SLP, check out the SLP Stress Management Online Course, an 8-week online course designed to help you manage stress, reduce burnout and find more balance in your life, no matter what gets thrown at you (teletherapy, pandemic, paperwork x 1000, you name it).

Much Love,

Tags:
8Aug

Check Out or Check In?: Basic Mindfulness Meditation for SLPs

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Meditation Reduce Stress Stress Management
Comments Off on Check Out or Check In?: Basic Mindfulness Meditation for SLPs

basic mindfulness meditation for slps

One of the things I like to do when I am feeling stressed especially about my work as an SLP, is to find a million other tings to do or think about. That way, I don’t have to focus on the stressful thing at hand. And it works, for about 5 minutes, until it completely backfires and the stress comes at me full force.

Ever try this technique? It’s kind of the worst.

You might notice that when you are stressed, you also do things to check out – like binge watch your favorite show or movie or just ANY show, stay up way too late and guzzle all the caffeine you can the next day, or binge snacks or wine or whatever it might be. The idea is that you end up ignoring the stress, but then it hits you again a little stronger each time.

Instead, the way to really reduce and manage this stress is to face it head on. It sounds like this would be the more stressful approach, but it allows you to check in, or tune in, and see what it really going on for you. That way, even if it feels uncomfortable and more stressful in the movement, you can see what you need to work on, what you have to work with, and the changes you can start to create. It’s not easy, but it is usually necessary.

One way to do this is through a basic mindfulness meditation for SLPs.

In mindfulness meditation practice, you take a few moments to just sit and observe how you are. No judgments, no changing, just seeing what is going on for you in that moment. From there, you become more aware of how you are in that moment, which helps you to see:

  • how you will show up in your day/the world with what you have going on
  • how the day/world may affect you
  • what you can do to better navigate your day and current circumstances (like avoiding a certain co-worker or getting to bed earlier or drinking more water or whatever it may be).

This simple practice can help you start to reap the benefits of meditation, such as turning down the stress response in your brain, and start to manage your stress with more awareness.

You can start by simply sitting for 5 minutes, breathing, and just seeing how the mind and body feel in that moment (without judging) or you can follow a guided meditation, such as the “Basic Mindfulness Meditation for SLPs” available in the SLP Toolbox, a FREE resource library full of stress management tools made for SLPs by an SLP.

You can sign up for access below:

If you are looking to go even further with reducing and managing your SLP Stress, including using meditation and learning exactly how it can help, be sure to check out the SLP Stress Management Course, now enrolling.

Much Love,

Tags:
24Jul

Love being a School SLP but feel like you want to quit? An Interview with SLP Toolkit: SLP Stress Management Podcast

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Podcast Stress Management Uncategorized
Comments Off on Love being a School SLP but feel like you want to quit? An Interview with SLP Toolkit: SLP Stress Management Podcast

SLP Toolkit

If you have ever heard me tell my “story” of how I ended up quitting being an SLP for nearly 5 years, dropped my license, and let go of my CCC’s, then you know that I often say it was the schools that “broke me”.

I worked in the school settings, after sending 2-3 years in the medical side of things, due to it being the only job available in my area. The school was lovely and my caseload was ok sized – big but not overly so. I took over from another SLP who was leaving to work in a hospital setting, and started with her schedule halfway through the school year. It was a primary school (pre-K thru 2nd grade) and had super supportive admin and staff. And I dreaded every moment of it.

The next school year, I was back on the same campus, but floated between the primary, elementary AND middle school. Again, it was a decent sized caseload and the students were all really great. I had another SLP working with me that I got along with, and the staff was ok to work with. But this is where I ended up leaving.

It wasn’t a big thing, it was a lot of small things that piled up over the year (half of 2 school years) and made me ultimately decide to quit and leave (in my mind forever and ever).

The sad realization is that I am not alone in this. There are a lot of SLPs who are feeling this way or have felt this way, and many do end up leaving or dreading every moment they are there. It sucks for them and for the students. It is especially disheartening when you LOVE the field of Speech Pathology, and enjoy working with students, but the overwhelming amount of “stuff” you need to do each day makes you want to quit.

In my recent interview with the founders of SLP Toolkit (and co-founders of SLP Summit), we talk about how this incredible stress and the desire to quit, despite LOVING the field and working with the students, led them to team up and create something to help other SLPs – SLP Toolkit. While it started as something for their school district, it ultimately became a fantastic tool to help SLPs streamline all of the “other” parts of the job, so they can enjoy the therapy, work with the students, and be the School-based SLP they always wanted to be.

You can check out the episode below or tune in here.

Resources:

SLP Toolkit

SLP Summit

If you are looking to dive deeper into managing your stress as an SLP, make sure to check out the SLP Stress Management Online Course, enrolling soon for Fall 2020.

You can also check out some FREE SLP Stress Management resources by subscribing to the SLP Toolbox below:

Much Love,

Tags:
15Jul

Turning your SLP Stress into Something Good with Marisha Mets of SLPNow: SLP Stress Management Podcast

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Podcast Stress Management
Comments Off on Turning your SLP Stress into Something Good with Marisha Mets of SLPNow: SLP Stress Management Podcast

SLPNow

Do you ever feel like your SLP stress would magically go away if you could only have more resources at your fingertips, or a better way to organize your materials, or have some plans done for you?

I have heard this a lot and usually coach that no amount of planning an prepping will manage your stress or magically make it go away.

BUT this is not completely true.

While it doesn’t magically take away all of your stress, having a system that is created for making your day easier, and taking that burden off of you, can free up a lot of brain space, take off some of the pressure, and give you a way to manage your incredibly jam-packed caseload. And this CAN help you to manage your stress better – because it gives you the time and energy to do it and to make the first steps towards less stress as an SLP.

It doesn’t teach you how to manage the stress, but it does help to reduce the amount of stressors you are dealing with daily. And while these might show up in other ways, it also gives you space to put some of your stress management tools into practice.

In this episode of the SLP Stress Management Podcast, I chat with Marissa Mets of SLPNow about her journey through SLP Stress, her struggle with a massive caseload and how it led her to create the resource site and membership program, SLPNow. In this episode, Marisha shares the upside of her stress and how she used it to create something that would help her slowly come out the stress she was stuck in – and make it through a year with a TRIPLE DIGIT caseload!

Resources from this episode:

  • SLP Summit, a FREE online conference with practical, real-world CEU courses for SLPs (FYI I’ll be presenting!).
  • SLPNow, membership site
  • SLPNow podcast

You can tune in to this episode below, on your favorite app, or check out all episodes here: SLP Stress Management Podcast

As always, if you are ready to take a deep dive into managing your SLP Stress, make sure to check out the SLP Stress Management Online Course.

And for more SLP Stress Management resources, subscribe below to the SLP Toolbox, a free resource library created for SLPs by an SLP.

Much Love,

Tags:
22Jun

5 Stretches to Do Next to Your Desk: Mindful Movement for SLPs

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Mindful Movement Reduce Stress Self Care Teletherapy
Comments Off on 5 Stretches to Do Next to Your Desk: Mindful Movement for SLPs

stretches for SLPs

Many SLPs went from working in schools or clinics or other in-person settings to providing services via teletherapy almost overnight. Some of the biggest hurtles were definitely trying to figure out how to hold sessions, schedule your students and clients, and what materials to use. But another thing you might not have realized would be a struggle is the potential lack of movement each day.

And with schools and clinics re-opening, but many going to partial status or keeping most sessions online, you might be faced with this lack of movement in your day for a little longer.

Working from home as an SLP can be amazing (by far my favorite setting), but it can also lead to a lot less movement. It can be really easy to end up stuck at your desk for the majority of your day. This lack of movement can cause tension and stiffness in your body, make it difficult to concentrate and focus after while, and can increase your overall stress. I have dealt with this first hand, even as a mind-body fitness and yoga teacher.

When I first started in teletherapy and working from home, this was the biggest surprise. I was so excited to build my schedule and add in more sessions, because I truly enjoyed the work and the connections with my students. After awhile though, it started to feel overwhelming and draining. I was so confused – why was I still feeling these symptoms and signs of stress and potential burnout, when I was actually loving the work? I realized that I was sitting for hours at a time, without even really shifting much in my seat, and my body and brain were not happy about it.

When you are already feeling stressed out by being an SLP and, right now, by all that is going on in the world, more stress from a lack of moving is not something you are looking for.

Getting up and moving, even for just s few stretches, can be a gamechanger.

Once I made it a point to get up and move during my day, I started to feel better.

  • I was less drained, physically and mentally
  • I had less tension in my body that would lead to headaches and backaches
  • I could focus better without the added tension
  • I felt more energized and excited to do the work

It wasn’t always something huge. Sometimes I would take my dogs out for 5 minutes, other times I would go for a walk. And some days, I would simply plop down on a yoga mat for a few quick stretches in between sessions.

If you are looking for something to do to get up and move, consider leaving a yoga mat off to the side, where you can hop on it and work out some tension. Use it in between sessions, if someone runs late or cancels, before/after your work day, or anytime you can.

For a short, guided yoga stretch practice that you can do right next to your desk, check out the downloadable audio “5 Stretches to Do Next to Your Desk” available in the SLP Toolbox. They are the perfect stretches for SLPs, who are short on time.

Not a member? You can subscribe below to this FREE stress management resource library full of meditations, mindful movement practices, and more, made for SLPs by an SLP.

If you are looking to learn more about SLP Stress Management, including a step-by-step system to help you manage stress, reduce burnout and find more balance in your life, check out the SLP Stress Management Online Course, enrolling now for a limited time!

Much Love,

Tags: