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17Feb

How Mindfulness Helped Me Stop Burnout Before it Started (again)

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Burn Out
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mindfulness helped me stop burnout

If you have been following along with my story and the podcast/blog for a few years, then you have likely heard me talk about my experience with burnout and chronic stress, and how it led me to leave the field, I thought permanently, for nearly 5 years. 

If not, you can hear more about it here.

What you might not have heard me talk about is how burnout and/or chronic stress started to creep back in a year after I came back to the field, even though I thought I was past it.

I took 5 years off from being an SLP, due to the amount of stress I was feeling each day, and how it was growing and affecting my life outside of work. In those 5 years, I worked in my “dream job” as a yoga teacher, mind-body fitness instructor, and assistant studio manager. It allowed me to let go of some of the stress from the demands of the SLP job, but also to learn about stress and the things that can help reduce it from the mind-body perspective. 

When I came back, I worked in teletherapy part-time. My first year, I worked 4 hours to start and eventually went up to 10. I loved every moment of it – the students, the families, the new way to provide therapy, and being able to be at home, with my daughter next door while I worked. It was really nice and had a lot of balance for me. 

The next year changed, though. I still worked for the same schools and company, but two major shifts happened. First, we moved to a new state, to a house that would be our dream home but needed a lot of updates, with a one year old. Second, I picked up twice as many hours, partly because I loved the work the year before and partly because it was more expensive to live where we moved to. I loved the work, but I didn’t realize the pressure that would be there from the move, adjusting to a new place, preschool/daycare, and the amount of hours that I had signed in for.

My schedule was really full that year. I was working hours, but then also had make up hours, paperwork, meetings, etc. Even with my daughter at preschool, I was feeling like I had no time.

I enjoyed being at home, but started to feel trapped by the schedule. There was not much downtime between sessions. And for someone who loves being outside and moving, I was inside, seated a lot. 

I was also trying to find time to work on the SLP Stress Management blog and reach out to other SLPs.

And my self-care practices – I was squeezing them in, without a plan, whenever I could. If i had a no show or a 10 minute break or if I had time before work started or a few minutes after – I was trying to meditate, practice yoga, go on a hike, whatever it might be. 

I was doing things that were good for me, but I felt the stress growing and knew I was headed to burnout. The reason? I wasn’t being mindful.

It’s true – I was pushing so much, and so focused on doing the practices to manage stress, that I was cutting out the mindfulness part and stopping them from actually working. 

Instead, it made them feel like one more thing on my to-do list that I had to squeeze in.

Mindfulness is defined as paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and without judgment. I was somewhat on purpose, not very present (always thinking about “”what’s next?”, and had a lot of judging what I was doing – was it enough, too short, too easy, actually working, etc.

But it was this same mindfulness that made me realize my lack of mindfulness around my practices, and kept me from heading further down the road to burnout. I was doing all the right things – self-care, moving, meditating, time for myself when I could – but feeling worse and worse. My stress was only growing.

Once I took pause to really get mindful – to observe what was happening and how I was experiencing the moment, to be in the moment, and to purposefully pay attention to it – I quickly realized why it wasn’t working. I was constantly trying and pushing to do more for myself, with no plan or mindfulness about it, and it made it much harder, and much less mindful of an experience.

Taking the pause to become mindful allowed me to adjust, to see what I really needed (more small breaks in the day, consistent time for self-care, and a different schedule), and this helped to manage the stress, reduce it, and turn it around before it became burnout. 

By having a mindfulness practice, and being familiar with it, mindfulness helped me stop burnout from starting, and becoming a burned out SLP, again.

If you are practicing some self-care or stress management tools, but seem like the stress is growing here are a few things you can to do help:

  • Take a pause to check in with yourself and see how you are doing, feeling in that moment
  • Bring mindfulness back to yourself – on purpose, present moment, observing
  • Look at your current tools you’re using – are they being approached with mindfulness?
  • Try something new if needed – new schedule, new tool, new approach

(You can also sign up for the “What is Mindfulness” workshop, on February 24th and available as a recording after, to learn more about mindfulness and ask any questions, live. You can join just this workshop, or as part of The Resilient SLP membership, with a 30-day free trial).

It’s not always easy, but taking a moment to be truly mindful, and look at what you are currently working tiwh, can make all the difference.

How has mindfulness helped you to prevent or reduce the chronic stress and burnout you face? Share below!

With Love and Light, 

Jessi

PS Want more mindfulness resources? Subscribe below for access to a FREE subscribers-only resource library.


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21May

How Yoga Helps Me Work on My Perfectionism

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Mindful Movement Perfectionism Stress Management
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yoga helps me work on my perfectionism

Perfectionism is something that a LOT of SLPs deal with each day – sometimes as a result of being an SLP and going through the rigorous (often unrelenting) grad school process, and also, sometimes, it is what makes the field and training seem enticing. 

Perfectionism can seem like a great thing – always getting it done and doing it right, no room for nonsense or errors. It can seem powerful and strong, but it can also be really harmful. No mistakes allowed is not realistic. Constantly trying to do more and do better and do best is not sustainable. Always being strong and powerful, with no give and no flexibility, can cause you to break. Making an error or not knowing something leads to imposter syndrome and feeling like you are “not good enough”.

And all of these contribute to major stress, overwhelm and burnout.

I know, because I can relate and have dealt with this myself. 

My Mom recently told me, when I asked her what my biggest behavior challenge was growing up, “Nothing like that. We would just have to try to convince you to put down the [school] books and stop studying.”

Growing up, I was an overachiever without realizing it. I was really hard on myself for not getting the top scores on standardized tests, not winning the entire school spelling bee, not making it into the gifted program on the first try, or not being seen as cool enough by my peers. All of this and more before the age of 10. Ugh.

In later years, it became competitions with my best friend to see who could get the better grade or SAT score. And then, after a brief stint of having no expectations for myself in college, it kicked back up so I could get into my one choice of grad school. And when I got there, I realized, my perfectionism was not just an inner expectation, but an outer expectation from the school itself. But with juggling a LOT of life stuff at this point, my school work was not perfect (but it was absolutely great) and so I would forever feel the “not good enough”, “we expected more”, “ we thought you could do better” that followed me into my career as an SLP. 

And, unfortunately, after talking and working with 100s of SLPs about this, I know I am not alone. Perfectionism often drives us into our career choice, and serves us well early on, but it can also be the thing that leads straight into chronic stress, overwhelm, burnout and the feeling of not knowing, doing, or being good enough. 

yoga helps me work on my perfectionism

It took me a lot of time (5 years away from the field) to really work through this, and I still deal with it every day, at work and at home. I often have feelings of not being productive enough, not doing my share enough, and knowing I could have done more, if only. 

But there are also things that I know can help my work through my perfectionism, and my yoga practice has been #1 in helping me do this. Time after time, yoga helps me work on my perfectionism, among other things. I started practicing more and more as I went through grad school and into my career as an SLP, eventually training to teach yoga. When I feel stress and perfectionism creep in, it is my go to, and often something I had stopped doing in order to tighten up on being perfect in another area. 

My practice has been a true light for me. It started as a fun physical activity, and has become a foundation for how I live my life. 

Here are some (honest) ways yoga helps me work on my perfectionism:

  • My practice is rarely perfect
    • I’ve been teaching for 10 years, and practicing for about 5 more. But it does not mean it is always pretty or that every pose is perfect. In fact, a lot of the time the practice rarely is. 
    • I wobble. I fall. Some days I am strong and others I am weak. Somedays I am flexible and others I feel like I might snap. 
    • I have one pose I have been working on for almost 15 YEARS. And I finally feel like I am making some progress. That is a far cry from perfectionism and it feels damn good. 
  • It challenges me to try new things
    • I never would have tried some of the poses or stood on my head or known I could balance on my arms (sometimes) if my practice had never challenged me to do so. 
    • It helps me to jump into something that I may not be perfect at, to explore it as something new, and to know that, because it is new and a challenge, that it might take time (15 years or so) to achieve it – and then there is always more to do. 
  • It challenges me to grow and expand what I think I know – new ways of doing things
    • It is really easy to get stuck in thinking that my way of doing things is the best way (we all feel this way at times, sometimes pretty often). Yoga helps me see that there are a LOT of different ways to do something. YOu can do the same pose day after day and feel it differently or get to it a different way each time, and you end up with a totally different experience. You can go into a pose from so many different angles or poses and it changes it too. 
    • As a teacher, I get to see how each student and each class varies, and how things can work or backfire differently for each one. 
    • Yoga has helped me see there is no “perfect” way to do something, and that different approaches work at different times. 
  • Sit with the uncomfortable
    • Being perfect is often used to ward off any feelings and thoughts that are uncomfortable. If I (you) am (are) perfect, then there will be no bad feelings, no backlash, nothing uncomfortable to sit with. And of course, this backfires and creates a ton of uncomfortable feelings (like stress) and these continue to feed the control of perfectionism. 
    • Yoga helps me to sit with the uncomfortable, in my body and my thoughts. While taking a meditation, I sit with what shows up, which can sometimes be tension in my body or unkind thoughts. The practice teaches me to just breathe, sit with them, explore them, and remain less attached to them. 
    • During the physical practice, things are NOT always comfortable. But I am cued (by my teacher or myself) to stick with it, focus on breathing, and see what shows up, what shifts, and what I can learn from that discomfort (sharp shooting pains, always move out of the pose, FYI). 
  • There are days when I feel like I nailed it, and others when I think it went all wrong.
    • This is so true, especially for meditation. Some days I feel like I conquered the practice. I was perfect, went beyond what was asked and really enjoyed it. And other days I struggle with the basics, am asked to do something that I haven;t yet mastered (and am therefore far from perfect), or my mind wanders all the way through my guided meditation audio and I realized I heard nothing they dais beyond “take a seat”. 
    • These days are hard, but remind me that it is a practice. It is not meant to be perfect. And life is the same way. 
  • Some days are really, really, unpredictably difficult
    • After practicing, and doing physically demanding classes (and things like running), I expect (aha, perfectionism alert) that my class will be easy. But there are many, many times that a simple, basic class is unpredictably difficult. I feel tight, tired and stiff, my breath feels tuck instead of flowing, and my mind is anything but focused. 
    • It teaches me that, even with training and planning, things happen. Being human happens. Life happens. And we can either get mad at it, or go with it, learn from it and keep on moving. 
  • It is never ending and there is no “perfect”
    • Even with the poses that I have learned, or with a style I am familiar with, there is no perfect. It is a practice. It never ends. Once you learn a pose and can do it without difficulty, there are still ways to deepen, to do more and learn more and take it further. Forever and ever and ever. There is no real perfect, only the process. 

All of these things, and many more, I have grown and worked through with the help of my yoga practice. It remains, after many years, a constant (even when my practice looks very different over the years) in helping me work through perfectionism, and manage my stress and overwhelm overall. 

If you would like to try out a practice, to help you work through some perfectionism, make sure to sign up for the SLP Toolbox for FREE yoga practice audios. You can subscribe below. (Already a member? Click here to access).

You can also download the “Mindful Movement Weekly Planner” available in the SLP Stress Management Shop, to help you start your journey and see how it helps you when you are practicing regularly. The Planner includes a journal and printable planner pages (or use in a digital pdf app), guiding you through what types of yoga (mindful movement) you want to try and when. The planner part takes you through the week, from creating your plan, keeping track of what you are doing and when, and then reviewing how it went and what your next steps are.

It is now currently 50% off (along with the entire SLP Stress Management Shop) for Better Hearing and Speech Month.

Do you practice yoga? How has it helped you with perfectionism, or how do you imagine it might help you? Leave in the comments below!

Much Love, 

Jessi

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30Apr

Top 4 Fitness Apps for SLPs

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Mindful Movement Self Care Stress Management
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fitness apps for slps

Top 4 Fitness Apps for SLPs

Stress can make you feel like both your body and brain are moving in slow motion. Your head is in a fog and you can’t think as clearly or swiftly as usual, and your body can feel sluggish, tired and overall lethargic. And both usually carry a bit of tension that builds right alongside the stress. 

One of the best things for reducing this stress and all that accompanies it, is also one of the most difficult things to do at times, and one of the things we tend to let go of when we are stressed – movement.

Moving is healthy for your body. You’ve probably been told to move by your doctor, coach or nutritionist and remember through the (dreaded) fitness tests back in elementary and middle school. Awful fitness test aside ( I failed nearly every year, but love to move now), movement is also great for reducing the tension you feel both mentally and physically from stress, as well as giving you a place to step away from stressful situations and reminders (aka your desk), and to drop in to your body and out of your head. It helps clear your mind, gives you back some focus, and builds up some energy. 

At least, when it is done mindfully and with a bit of enjoyment. The key is, actually doing it and finding easy ways to get started. 

Luckily, there are some really great apps and sites that can help you to get started moving more and reducing our stress, or to continue to build and vary your mindful movement practice. 

Here is why, in my opinion, these apps are these so great, especially for SLPs:

  • they are easy to use
  • not too expensive (In general. I know this depends on individual budgets)
  • have mindful movement practices for you to use
  • Are easy to access via app or bookmark

There are a lot more out there, even some that many of you suggested via an IG poll. Here is a list of the ones that I found to focus on mindful movement, some more reasonably priced (or come with a lot), and not affiliated with any particular gym or MLM (multi-level-marketing). 

*I have no affiliation with any of these, beyond my own personal experience, and of course, my own site (SLP Toolbox). 

Top 4 Fitness Apps (and sites) for SLPs:

  • Barre3
    • Main Reason:
      • Free Trial
      • Mindfulness is a priority
      • Movement blends multiple disciplines, as well as barre, to keep them creative and fun. 
    • What you get:
      • Mindful but challenging
      • A little more expensive (like paying for a studio), but has an in-person studio in many cities.
      • Also comes with recipes, lifestyle, monthly challenges, etc. 
  • EllenBarrett.com
    • Main Reason:
      • Free trial
      • Inexpensive and updated each month
      • Mindfulness is key
    • What you get:
      • Mindful movement in each workout
      • Fuses yoga, Pilates, barre, Tai Chi, walking, aerobics
      • New workout each month
      • Bonus videos some months
  • FitOn
    • Main Reason:
      • Free, but seems like you paid for it
    • What you get:
      • Tons of options
      • Tons of trainers
      • Lots of time lengths
  • YouTube
    • Main Reason:
      • It’s free, just with some ads at times
      • You can find so many things
      • Easy to access on your phone or tablet
    • What you get:
  • BONUS: SLP Toolbox: (My free resource library for SLPs)
    • Main Reason:
    • What You Get:
      • Mindful Movement and Meditation Audios, updated monthly

You can click on the names for each of these to head over and check them out. Sign up for access to a variety of Mindful Movement audios and more by clicking here: Free SLP Toolbox.

If you are looking to keep track of your mindful movement and create a game plan, make sure to check out the “Mindful Movement Weekly Planner” download/printable PDF, available in the SLP Stress Management Shop.

Do you have a favorite app or site you use? Share it in the comments below. 

Much Love, 

Jessi

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5Mar

Yoga as Magic, A Simple Anytime Flow: Mindful Movement for SLPs

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Mindful Movement Stress Management Yoga
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simple anytime flow

There are times when you just need a little break to get up and move around, especially after sitting for so long at your desk, or focusing really hard on something. Even when that work is enjoyable, it can create tension and brain fog. Getting up to move around, whether to take a walk outside or to stretch at your desk, can help you to feel refreshed, recharged, and refocused. 

One way that helps me, is to practice yoga. The combination of breath and movement, especially in a simple anytime flow-style class, for me, is a tiny bit magical. There have been a few times that I was incredibly stressed and felt like everything was falling apart (often related to work and feeling like I was in the wrong field or job or just wanted a little relief). My head was full of what-if’s, how can’s, and why this way, and my body felt tired and stiff. Once I made the decision (usually with some prompting from loved ones to get to a class), I immediately felt better, like a switch had been flipped and I was reset. 

  • There was the time I was crying over finally having a placement for the year (I had secretly hoped they wouldn’t have one, so I would have a real excuse not to go back), and I was contemplating over crawling into my bed at 3pm in the afternoon or going to my favorite yoga class. At the prompting of my loved one, I went to yoga. The teacher said everything I needed to hear (it was kismet), I cried. And I left feeling better, stronger, and ready to accept the position, even if I knew it wasn’t my forever goal (I left the field of SLP 6 months later). 
  • There was the time in more recent years where I had doubled my work hours and felt incredibly stressed and that burnout was creeping back in. I knew it was due to a lack of time for myself and some self-care. I was sitting far too much during the day and didn’t have enough creative time, nevermind time to move. Winter break was coming up and I was excited to have time (and some childcare for a bit) to head to a yoga class or two. But we all got the flu instead (hard) and I had one day before work started, and still had not gone to class. At the prompting of a family member who was visiting, I took time for myself and I went. And I felt an immediate weight lift off of me as I sweat, moved and breathed. It was my first yoga class in almost 2 years (motherhood, moving, new job), and it felt like coming home again. 

This feeling didn’t last forever, but each time it gave me a moment to breathe, to see a parting in the gray clouds that had taken over, and to feel that everything could be ok again, if I just took a  moment to breathe and move and tune in to what I really needed. It helped me see the magic of yoga again, and to feel empowered and more balanced for myself. 

Over the years, I have found that, when I am stressed about my job or life in general, yoga, especially a simple anytime flow type of practice, helps me to concentrate on something other than my work (this is also really helpful when I am having stressful or spiraling thoughts). When needed, it also helps to get back into my body, and less in my head, so my thoughts have a moment to pause and reset, and I can work out any tension that might be building from sitting to work all day. After yoga practice, I usually feel ready to get back to my work, at least for a little while. 

If you love yoga or are looking for a simple practice to help you when you are stressed, you can download a short, audio, 20 minute “Simple Anytime Flow” yoga practice in the SLP Toolbox, a FREE Resource Library full of tools to help you better manage and reduce your stress.

This “Simple Anytime Flow” is designed to help you connect your movement to your breath, so you can get out of your head, ease some tension, and find power within your body and mind. 

Sign up below to access this download and more.

What has your experience been with yoga? How has it helped you when you are stressed? Share in the comments below!

Much Love, 

Jessi

PS Have you checked out the SLP Stress Management Course? It’s an in-depth look at practical ways to manage and reduce your SLP Stress, and gives you the background into the stress you face, how and why it happens, and what will actually work to help it out (not looking at the brightside, ignoring the stress, complaining, wishful thinking, but real strategies that help your brain and body rewire the response to the inevitable stress you face.

This Self-Paced 8-week course is now available, but won’t be for long! (The LIVE version will be coming back soon).


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11Dec

Steady Yoga and Meditation Practice to Reduce Stress: Mindful Movement for SLPs

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Mindful Movement Stress Management
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yoga and meditation for SLP stress

Stress has a funny way of making everything seem as if it is moving at a faster pace, with a lot of components, and no time for any of them. As an SLP, this stress looks like too many extra tasks, too big of a caseload, too much productivity rates and way too much paperwork. And in 2020, it’s also too many changes thrown at you in a split second.

When stress hits, it can be tempting to try to speed up with it, in order to get more done and have more – more time, more freedom, more ease. But this usually ends up doing the opposite.

Speeding up feeds the stress mode you are stuck in and pulls you deeper into the “Cycle of Stress” (something we discuss within the SLP Stress Management Course).

You end up moving faster, which can lead to mistakes in your work and missing key pieces, mental exhaustion from constant multi-tasking, and feeling more stressed from the rush of trying to do it all. And once you are feeling stressed, it’s harder to turn down the response and switch into a more natural, less-stressed way of life.

One thing that can help you to slow down, when you are feeling more and more rushed, is a steadily-paced yoga practice. And one other thing that can help you even more is pairing it with a meditation practice. This combination of mindfulness practices allows you to tun into your breath, body and mind, so you can unwind, check in, and take care of yourself. The yoga and meditation for SLP stress combo help to reduce and manage it, while dropping you back into the present moment, your body, and out of ruminating or stressful thinking.

One great way to do this is through a “body scan” meditation, followed by a slow and steady flowing yoga class. This combination helps you to start slow, where you can tune into the body and breath, and then use movement to help stay connected to the breath and the present moment. This way, your brain is focused on “now”, you are reducing tension in your body, and you are turning down the stress response as you slow down.

Here is a quick yoga and meditation for SLP stress, available now in the SLP Toolbox, along with other meditation and movement audios, journal page templates, self-care checklists and more.

You can subscribe to this FREE resource library and access this Yoga+Meditation practice below:

If you are looking to dive even further into understanding and managing your stress as an SLP, make sure to check out the SLP Stress Management Online Course, now available in a Self-Study version. It includes the 8-module course, as well as bonus meditation and movement audios. You can find out more details here: SLP Stress Management Course.

Much Love,

Jessi

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