desk stretches for SLPs

One of the best things to do for stress is to incorporate some kind of physical movement into your day, like simple desk stretches for SLPs. Even small, short things, like stretching, can help you to reduce some tension, physical and mental, that leads to stress.

Your body can give you big insights into the stress you are feeling, and can sometimes cause you to feel tension. In yoga, you’ll often hear the teacher talk about “holding tension in the body”. They usually are referring to something in the shoulders or hips, that holds to more tension throughout the rest of the body.

  • Tension in your shoulders could lead to tension in your neck, upper back, jaw, or even chest. Think of sitting at your desk and having your shoulders scrunched up by our ears, and the discomfort this usually brings. This can cause headaches, back aches, and overall achiness that can lead to physical tension, which then creates more mental tensions.
  • Tight hips (huge muscles that connect to a lot of other areas in the body) can cause lower backaches, hip flexor tightness, knee pain, and, well, achy hips. This can create more physical aches and pains, as well as mental stress.

The trick here is that the physical stress can cause the mental stress, but the mental stress can cause the physical stress as well.

  • Stress causes you to tighten your shoulders and clench your jaw
  • Stress causes you to slouch and sink into your hips, causing your back to feel tense.

So what to do?

If you are stuck at your desk, and feeling tense (hello working in teletherapy or doing paperwork and reports), stretching while at your desk is key.

You might not have time to get up and move around, but you can sit back for a moment, in between sessions or notes, and stretch these key areas. Which causes you to reduce that tightness, take a breath and pause, and maybe even deepen your breathing while you do so, in turn reducing your stress even more.

My favorite stretches (as an SLP, someone working from home and in teletherapy, and as a yoga teacher) are ones that:

  • Stretch the hips
  • “Wring out” the spine aka gently twist
  • Relax the shoulders
  • Stretch the neck and shoulders (and upper back)

You can try some desk stretches for SLPs on your own when you have a chance, or check out the guided Mindful Movement audio download, “7 Stretches to Do at Your Desk”, available exclusively in the SLP Toolbox.

Not a member? You can subscribe below to this FREE resource full of SLP Stress Management tools created for SLPs by an SLP.

For more stress management, check out these CMH/CEU Professional Development webinars:

Much Love,

SLP Work-Life Balance PinterestFinding work-life balance as an SLP can be one of the hardest parts of the job. As an SLP, you have loads of paperwork and admin tasks, are often paid per hour or client, and might feel like you can never quite catch up. It means you end up bringing work home with you most nights (and even on breaks), constantly think about all you have to do (even when you are with your family or alone at home), and might even feel guilt about not working on your time outside the office.

For me, at the height of my stress and burn out, I often felt like my mind was on work, instead of being present at home, and it would leave me exhausted, drained and with an overall feeling of dissatisfaction in my day.

If you are finding that you are struggling between getting your work done and enjoying your time out of the office, here are a few ways you can start to find more work-life balance as an SLP.

Leave work at work.

This seems simple enough, to physically leave your work at work, but it is far from simple. If you are bringing your work home with you, it is most likely because you don’t feel like you have enough time to get it all completed by the end of the day. This alone can make you feel anxious and off balance, but the thought of leaving it at work can heighten this feeling.

To help lessen this stress, try two practices:

  1. Look for holes in your schedule where you are able to plug in some work. These might be small gaps that you didn’t realize you had, or it could be places where you are filling gaps with things to take your mind off of work (but ultimately leave you more stressed) such as scrolling through emails, FB or IG.
  2. Figure out the “Must-do” item for your week (the big report or IEP meeting that is due) and only take this work home, setting up a specific time to focus and get it done. You can find a template for this in the SLP Toolbox.

Remember, the work will never be caught up. It is continuous and constantly playing catch up will only leave you more exhausted.

Find a transition between work and home.

A lot of exhaustion comes from mental fatigue caused by stress. This is often due to constantly thinking about work, even when you are at home and you have left your physical work at the office. If your brain is constantly drifting back towards the work that you want to finish, the meeting you need to schedule and specific moments form your day, you are likely to feel exhausted and drained by the end of the day, and as if you can’t think clearly. And when you can’t think clearly, you aren’t present at home and you aren’t efficient at work, and your stress grows.

To help give your brain a shift out of work mode and into work mode, try having a transition at the end of the work day, before you head home. This gives you a clear break i your day, so you can start to leave work at work, physically and mentally. It can be any type of activity that you enjoy and that gives you a little boost of self-care in your day.

Try one of these:

  • Take a coffee/tea break on your way home
  • Stretch or go for a walk when you finish up
  • Hit the gym
  • Listen to your favorite podcast
  • Read a blog, book or magazine

Set up a Morning or Evening Routine:

Start and stop your day a moment for yourself.

Another way to help you feel find a little more work-life balance as an SLP, is to have a time of day that is routine and just for you. Often the mornings and/or evenings become rushed and are all about getting to work or preparing to head to work the next day. In order to bring in more work-life balance as an SLP, you can set up a morning or evening routine to help you ease into or our o f your day.

It gives you a moment of mindfulness and self-care, which are key to reducing stress, and sets you up for a more balanced day – either by starting on a positive and being in tune with how you are that day, or allowing you to let the day go so you can feel more physically and mentally well-rested.

They only have to take about 5 to 10 minutes. Here are a few to try:

  • Morning Routine: try a practice to help you build up some energy
    • Exercise or yoga
    • Meditation for focus or intentions
    • Journaling about your intentions and goals for the day, or 3 moments of gratitude
    • Starting the day with quiet (SLPs talk a lot and are surrounded by noise most days)
    • Go for a morning walk
  • Evening Routine: try something to help you unwind and let go of the day
    • Warm bath
    • Stretching or gentle yoga
    • Evening walk after dinner
    • Journal about 3 positives from your day
    • Meditation for sleep
    • 5 minutes of silence and a cup of tea
    • Read a book or magazine

While these can seem like a lot of things to add to an already busy day, they are key to finding more work-life balance as an SLP. They will take time to set up initially, and you might fond that some resonate with you more than others. Once you get going, they will help to reduce your feeling of being drained, exhausted and depleted by improving your overall stress, increasing your mental focus and clarity, and leaving you with a bit more energy.

If you are looking for more guidance, make sure to head over to the SLP Toolbox to grab meditations, journal templates and checklists that will help you get started on finding more work-life balance as an SLP today.

For even more resources to manage stress and reduce burn out, check out these CEU/CMH webinars, available now:

Much Love,

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SLP Work on Your Holiday Break (1)It’s the holiday season! Many SLPs are either about to be on a Winter Break for a few weeks, or are perhaps taking a few days off, finding the work load to be less, or having to juggle shorter days of work when their kids are off from school. For these SLPs, the lighter and often shorter schedule can be like a light at the end of the tunnel, especially if you schedule was a little hectic with meetings, make-up sessions, and getting it “all” done right before the break.

While this is a time to sit back and relax for a few weeks, perhaps traveling or spending time with your loved ones (or just a good book), a lot of SLPs find it hard to turn off their productive side and spend a lot of the time off catching up on work, and not finding much time to relax at all. Or, you might find that your burn out is full-blown and you spend the break denying (to yourself that you even have a job you have to go back to in a few weeks. Either way, it does not bring about much balance in your life, and will often lead to more anxiety and stress once you head back into work after your break.

So the question is, should you do SLP work on your Holiday Break?

The answer is dual-sided, and comes back to this –  You have to find (the seemingly mythical) balance. When you are on your break, there are times that doing work will be extremely beneficial for you, but too much of it means you don’t get a break at all.

Here is how you can break down what type of work is best for you, and when to do it (or not):

  • Beneficial to Work:
    • Completing a Project: If you have something that you don’t usually have time to complete, and it is not just paperwork, this might be a good time to work on it. make sure it is something that you enjoy doing, so it doesn’t feel like a lot of work, and that you set a time limit to when you will begin and end working on it.
    • Something Stressing You Out: If not planning for the month/week.year ahead stresses you out, go ahead and take some time to plan out your next month or so, but limit the amount of time you have by setting a timer. This way, you work on it, but you do what is most important and within a given time frame.
    • Passion: If you have something that you are passionate about and want to learn more about, create or launch, this is a great time to dedicate some of your time to work on it. Again, make sure to set up some specific days or hours, so you aren’t working your entire break, even if it is something you enjoy doing.
  • NOT Beneficial to Work:
    • Family Time: If you find you are spending more time working than with your loved ones, you might need to take a step back and re-evaluate. Go ahead and make a plan for when you will work, and when you won’t. Mark it on your calendar, along with any other family events that you have going on during your break (school plays, dinners, recitals, parties, etc), so you are giving yourself plenty of time and space to enjoy both things.
    • Vacation: If you have planned a vacation somewhere, whether a cruise, road trip, or visiting family and friends, give yourself some time to unplug from work. Allow yourself to be present during this time, so you can enjoy and benefit from it fully. Then, when it is over to before you go, carve out some time to take care of the work related tasks you have or would like to do.
    • The Entire Break: It might sounds silly, but if you don’t watch out, you might spend your entire break doing work, or thinking and ruminating on the work you need/should be doing. If you find this happening, get your calendar and mark down some specific times you will do work, along with what you will work on. The rest of the time, try to focus on what you are doing in that moment – whether it is a trip with family or sitting down to a cup of hot cocoa. This will give your brain some much needed rest and help you to feel less stressed and overwhelmed, during break and after.

Of course, this might be a bit different for you and your circumstances, but use this as a guide to help you decide if working during your break is something that will help reduce your stress and bring back some passion for your work, or if it is something that you are doing in order to feel productive and could cause burn out to flare up.

For more resources, make sure to sign up for the SLP Toolbox below. You’ll get free meditations to help you release stress and unwind, templates for your “Must-Do” lists, and even some journals and Self-Care guides.


Much Love,

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Feel Less Drained PinterestIf you are an SLP, you might feel like the good parts of your day are far and few between, and that they are outweighed heavily by the harder, draining, and “bad” parts of your daily work. It has nothing to do with patients or students (usually), and often has more to do with the stress that comes from the other aspects of your work – more emphasis on direct vs indirect therapy services, ever-changing paperwork and protocols for billing, less and less control over your caseload and schedule, and being “on” for 40 hours a week.

These things can often leave you feeling drained, exhausted (mentally and physically), and sometimes you might even feel anxious about the week ahead or dread going to work the next day. They also often have nothing to do with why you became an SLP in the first place, or the joy and passion you once had for your career.

When you start to feel this way, you are often overloaded with stressors that pile up each day, either because there are so many or because you have no way to manage them properly. This can lead to chronic stress and burn out. Your brain gets stuck in a pattern of being on the lookout for stress and then creating more stress because of it. It keeps you focused on what is not working each day, rather than noticing the things that are working. This is what you need to switch to feel less drained and exhausted as an SLP.

To create a shift in your brains patterns, and start routinely noticing things that are working and going well, you can do practices that create and cultivate more positivity in your day. This doesn’t mean you have to change jobs to one with less demands or overhaul your daily schedule – these things often can’t be changed and would come with a new set of stress if you did. Instead, you practice looking for the positive, and noticing moments that otherwise might go unnoticed, so you shift your attention to what is working for you, putting your energy, time, and thoughts into those things.

One simple way to do this is to create more gratitude through a journaling practice. Gratitude journaling helps you to shift out of the negative stress cycle in your brain and into a place where you are cultivating more positivity.

Gratitude Journaling Benefits:

  • Notice what is working each day
  • Shifts your brain patterns to notice more good moments
  • End/Begin the day on a positive note
  • Gives you a break in the day

Research in the field of Positive Psychology has shown that it takes 3 positive moments to make up for 1 negative interaction, and that if we end a moment or event on a positive note, the entire thing seems more positive. This is how your brain starts to shift and more “good” moments start to happen in your day, reducing your overall feelings of stress. This can be key to helping you feel less drained and exhausted as an SLP.

How to Gratitude Journal:

  • Write down 3 good things from your day
    • They can be small or big
  • Do this at a set times each day
    • Morning to set your intention for the day
    • After work to transition from work to home
    • Evening to end the day on a positive note
  • Aim for 5-7 days a week

Once you get started, you can do this most days each week, either in the morning, end of your work day or right before bed, to help you train your brain to notice what works, not just what doesn’t. When things do feel stressful, you’ll also have a journal full of good things that have happened on a daily bass, to help you shift back into a more positive state. It doesn’t mean you ignore the hard times, but that you are able to rebound from them easier and are less affected by them.

If you are looking for more ways to start a Gratitude Practice, make sure to join the SLP Toolbox, a free resource center for SLPs, where you’ll find printable Gratitude Journal templates, as well as meditation, self-care checklists and other stress-reducing resources designed specifically for SLPs.

You can access them by signing up below (plus you’ll get a free 7-day Stress Less Challenge sent straight to your inbox).


Much Love,

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Sunday Blues Pinterest
The “Sunday Blues”. It’s a phrase that floats around many of the SLP fb groups, forums and pages. It is something we talk about with each other, but only if we are sure it is a “safe” place and others are probably feeling it to – otherwise we might be judged, seen as not good enough, or perhaps even told we aren’t cut out for the gig.

The “Sunday Blues” is a feeling that many SLPs get at the end of the weekend, right as they start to wind down and get into work mode again. Some feel it lurking throughout their weekend, ready to creep out at any moment. While others send their weekend feeling completely disconnected form the stress of work, only to have it hit them hard when they start to wind down the fun and turn their focus onto getting ready for the week ahead.

The Sunday Blues can hit any SLP, any day of the week, and it is usually a feeling, in the pit of your stomach, that starts to grow and grow until you get to bed, sometimes keeping you from sleeping at night and leaving you feeling exhausted come Monday morning. Just in time for a new week.

These feelings are a form of anxiety, that can build from a gnawing feeling in your belly to a full blown panic and anxiety attack. The first time you feel this, it can be alarming, because you may not know where or why it is happening. There are many SLPs you have started to feel this Sunday Blues feeling when they have seemed perfectly happy and content with their work.

The feeling usually starts to happen because there is an imbalance in your work and home life. It might not be something you are aware of, or it might seem like you aren’t doing anything different than the other professionals you know – taking work home for the evenings or weekend, prepping on the weekends, running errands all weekend, spending time with your family and friends, sleeping in late or staying up late, etc. All of these things can start to build, and can throw your life out of balance before you realize it.

The further anxiety and panic can come from something called “future-tripping”, where you keep looking ahead, to the impending week and all there is to do, which builds the stress around the week. These Sunday Blues can make the week ahead and the tasks that are involved seem much more stressful and time-consuming than they really will be. By looking too far ahead and thinking about “what could happen”, you start to create a build up of anxiety and stress that might not be needed.

To help combat the Sunday Blues, in both forms, there are a few things you can do:

  1. Make sure your weekends are replenishing you, and not depleting you more.
    1. If you are running errands, paying bills, chauffeuring kids around, etc, you are just doing more work (or a different kind) at home. Give yourself time to do something for you that isn’t a task or errand.
    2. Don’t bring work home. There will be times that you have to, but it should not be the norm. Leave work at work, and find time there to do paperwork, and consider, as hard as it is, to plan less so you have more time at work for other things.
  2. Create a Must-Do list for your weekend Self-Care (you can find one in the SLP Toolbox).
    1. 3 things that you will do (they can be small) to make sure you take time for yourself.
    2. Think of things like a cup of tea, read a book, go to yoga, take a walk, wake up 15 minute earlier than everyone else, etc.
  3. Prepare for the week, but only in small doses.
    1. Make sure you have clean clothes, food, etc, but you don’t have to spend your entire weekend doing chores and meal prepping.
    2. Have the basics ready, but also give yourself time to enjoy the weekend.
  4. If you start future-tripping, try a breathing and meditation practice to bring you back to the present moment.
    1. This will help you to bring yourself out of your head and into your body, in this moment, so you can take action (or rest) where needed.
    2. Try this video for more tips or this meditation.

If you are feeling the pressure of the week ahead, it doesn’t have to continue each week or get worse each day. Take some time to bring yourself out of the moment of stress, so you can take action, find more time for self-care, balance your work and weekend, and maybe take the next steps in your career life as needed.

If you are looking for more ways to reduce stress, here are a few other things to try:

You can also subscribe to the free “SLPToolbox” for even more resources and meditation practices.

Much Love,

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Evening Routine Pinterest (1)

Stress. Overwhelm. Exhaustion.

If you are an SLP, you are probably familiar with these, and have felt them off and on throughout your career. As Helping Professionals, it is our job to care, completely, for our patients/clients/students, and when we give so much to them each day, and then add on the administrative (aka paperwork and billing) side of things, we are usually left feeling drained, overwhelmed and stressed.

When you are feeling stressed, one of the best ways to start to feel less stressed and overwhelmed is to start to create routines, habits, or rituals that help you to feel more calm, centered and in control of your daily life. These help to bring about balance, while also giving you the routine you need to know what is coming each day, within both your work and home lives.

Morning rituals are very common, since they help you to start your day on the “right” foot. They usually entail waking up a little early, having a movement and/or meditation practice, taking time for yourself and making sure you fuel with breakfast and coffee.

Evening routines and rituals, however, are a little less talked about but can have a HUGE impact on your daily life satisfaction.

When taking time to create a routine of some kind in the evening, you take the time to  let the tension of your day go, while creating new ways to reduce stress and help you relax before you drift off to sleep. It can help you to feel more relaxed and restored when you wake up, and also to get deeper sleep or to get to sleep more easily.

How to Create an Evening Routine:Copy of Ep 20 Graphic A

  • Carve out dedicated time each evening, perhaps right before bed or right when you get home/end work.  5-10 minutes can be enough to help you transition, by letting work thoughts stay at work (or let your mind relax before slumber) and releasing some of the tension you might be carrying form the day.
  • Find something that both relaxes you and helps you feel less drained and depleted. Try a Self-care practice that allows you to unwind form your day, but also nourished you on a deeper level. Bubble baths can be great, but deeper practices, such as journaling and meditation, can help you get even more out of your time.
  • Make sure you choose something that allows you to check in, rather than check out. Binge watching your favorite show might be all you feel like you have the energy for at the end of a stressful day. Go ahead and try it – but notice if it becomes routine. If you are doing this every night, just to make it through, you are likely to be checking out instead of checking in.  This will create more stress overtime and won;t really help you to destress. Instead, choose a self-care activity that helps you to face and let go of some of the stress.

And example of an evening routine to help you transition from work to home might look something like:

  • At the end of the work day, take a few minutes to write down 3 things you need to do tomorrow. If there is anything on your ind form work, go ahead and write about it to get it out of our head. Maybe even write down 3 good things from your day.
  • Meditate, stretch or deep breath for 5 minutes. If you have more time, go for a walk or try an energizing workout.
  • Grab some water, tea, coffee and a healthy snack for your commute home, so you are energized and nourished as you head to your duties at home.

For an evening routine closer to bed time it might look something like this:

  • Grab an herbal tea or water to hydrate for tomorrow (not right before bed though).
  • Take 5-10 minutes to meditate or deep breathe. If you have the time, take longer and add in some movement such as deep stretches and folds to help release tension from your day and prepare you for sleep.
  • Write down your top moment from the day, as well as 3 other small but positive moments that occurred.

When you carve out sometime for yourself, it helps you to check in with what you are feeling and needing, mentally, emotionally and physically, so you are more aware of how to move through in that moment and as you move into the next day. It also helps you to refuel and give back to yourself after spending the day giving back to so many others. When you do this, you are less drained and exhausted, which means you are of better service to others (and yourself as you move about the world.

What can you do today to create more routine? Leave a comment below and make sure to check out my recent interview over on SLP Happy Hour podcast, where we discuss Self-Care and creating an Evening Routine as an SLP.

You can also find more resources, such as meditations and stress relieving webinars, over on my education page. You can also subscribe to the “Balanced SLP” newsletter/magazine for monthly-themed self-care video tips, fresh blog posts, new meditation audios, recipes to-go and more.  You can subscribe below.

Much Love,

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Pumpkin Pie Pinterest

This season is all about the grounding flavors and spices of the Fall. While these flavors can be comforting, the season itself might have you feeling frazzled with all there is to do. You might even a little like you just want to curl up on the couch and check out for a bit, especially as the days grow darker. All in all, there can be an imbalance in your energy levels, which can make it difficult to maintain the energy you need for your work day, or to really fuel your day (something we talk a out a LOT in SLP Stress Management).

One simple way to make sure you get a lot of nutrients in a quick, portable meal (or snack) is to make a smoothie. This season, pumpkin pie smoothies are a great way to get the nutrition and fuel you need, while also taking advantage of those warm, comforting flavors of the Fall. It whips up in just a few seconds and you have a nourishing smoothie you can take with you on the go. If you need extra time, especially if you make this in the morning, you can prep your ingredients the night before, pop them in the blender when ready and blend it up in no time.

Pumpkin is a fantastic source of iron and fiber, and is said to be healthy for your heart, digestive tract, and even help prevent cancer. This smoothie recipe pairs all of these benefits with protein from high quality yogurt and natural sweetener from maple syrup. It blends together quickly and tastes just like a scoop of your favorite pie.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

Makes 1 large smoothie

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup Greek yogurt (plain, vanilla, or coconut)

3/4 cup vanilla, unsweetened almond milk

1 frozen banana

1-2 tsp maple syrup (if using sweetened almond milk, leave out)

1/2tsp cinnamon*

1/8 tsp ginger*

1/8 tsp nutmeg*

sprinkle of cloves*

*You can add more or less spices. The more you add, the grittier your smoothie may get. 

Add all ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth. If needed, add more liquid or scrape the sides and blend again.

Enjoy!

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PS Not medical or nutritional advice. 

 

 

When we think of being grounded, we often think of taking deep breaths or feeling our feet on the earth below us. We don’t always think of our food as grounding, probably because we assume it might be unhealthy, but food can be a wonderful way to stay grounded and stay sane when things get stressful.

When I am stressed, I often reach for really simple things to eat (some not so great, some pretty awesome), because I am short on time and even shorter on space in my brain to plan and execute a lengthy meal. It is what happens to many of us, especially in the mornings, when we are feeling the pressure to get out tot work on time and feeling rushed. It can be an incredibly stressful and ungrounding time of day, and one that might leave you forgetting to eat or feeling like it’s just one more thing that takes up your time.

Having something ready to go, like Overnight Oats, can help you have breakfast ready when you need it and give you some warming (even though it’s cold), comforting feelings of being grounded.

This recipe is tweaked from a food show I love to indulge in when I have a chance. It contains oats, flax seeds, chia seeds, apples, dried cranberries, all of which have loads of benefits for you.

Health Benefits of Overnight Oats:

  • Oats: High in fiber, protein and iron. A great source of sustained energy and whole grains.
  • Flax seeds: High in omega 3’s (healthy fats) and fiber.
  • Chia seeds: High in omega 3’s (healthy fats), fiber, protein and iron.
  • Almond Milk: easier to digest than dairy milk, less fat and calories (if you watch those things), good source of calcium
  • Apples: Good source of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and fiber.
  • Dried Cranberries: Anti-oxidants

It is also an incredibly simple recipe to make, so you are able to make it quick and have enough for the week. If you have the time, you can even heat it up for a really warming, grounding bowl of oats. Breakfast. Done.

Apple and Cranberry Overnight Oats

 Serves: 4 to 6  Cooking Time: 4 hours

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 chopped apple
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries (or other dried fruits)
  • 1-2 cups oats
  • 2-3 cups unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 tbsp flax seeds (ground)
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds
  • 2 tbsp organic sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Add all ingredients into a bowl.
  2. Mix until combined. If the liquid doesn’t cover your oat mixture, add a little more as needed.
  3. Store in the refrigerator overnight.
  4. Scoop and serve for breakfast. You can even scoop into a jar and take for work.

Try adding in different dried fruits, nut or flavors (honey, maple syrup, vanilla) to make it your own. You could even bring a few jars to keep at work, so it is ready for you when you arrive.

Enjoy!

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