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16Jan

How to Set an Intention that Lasts for Years to Come

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Perfectionism Podcast Stress Management
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set an intention

I was brushing my teeth the other morning when my husband came in and said “Did you set any intentions for this year?”. I laughed and reminded him that, yes, I set so many and we had talked about them, remember? He looked at me and said, “I thought those were all jokes?”. And he was right, they kind of were – finally finish rewatching The OC, bake/eat more cookies, continue to be awesome (j/k), eat more guacamole. 

I thought about it for a minute and asked him “What are your intentions?” and he shared his and I thought about what I really wanted to set as an intention – to get back to walking/hiking more, visit our trails and parks more, have a regular fitness routine. And to wake up and get out of the house on time. 

This was the big one that got me thinking. Logistically, to get out of the house by a certain time, we would need to wake up earlier than we had been last year, which meant get to bed earlier than we had been, which meant a more streamlined evening and nighttime routine. Easier said than done with kids. 

The first week, we maybe got out at the ideal time 3 out of 5 days. 

So, we could look at it two ways:

  1. We didn’t do it. In our first week, we failed at getting out of the house on time watch day. And maybe, it was too hard and we should just forget about it, or push ourselves to do better because we are not good enough yet. It’s pass/fail and we failed. 
  2. We didn’t do it every day, BUT we got three out of 5! That’s an improvement and it is making steps towards this becoming more routine and more easily done. On those days that things did not align ro get out in time, what was going on? Did we not sleep well, were the kids up at night, or did something else happen? What could make it easier – maybe pack lunches or plan clothes the night before, know where our bags are, etc. it’s all about the small wins. 

It’s still the same situation and scenario. Neither way of looking at it changes what happened, but it does change how we continue to move forward with it and what can happen in the future. 

The first viewpoint focuses on what went wrong and how it will not work. It gives no timeframe, no room to improve, and expects it to be right immediately. The second focuses on the truth – it didn’t happen every day – and also on what went well and worked, and ways to shift what didn’t. It gives more time, expects less to start, and focuses on continuing to learn, grow, and move forward. 

It takes it from being a thing to check off on a Resolution “To-Do List” and turns it into a skill to learn and use. 

While this is my intention for the year, it can also transfer into how you go about your stress management and mindset as an SLP this year, especially as you set intentions for the year ahead. 

New Year’s goals aren’t meant to make you perfect, but they can definitely drive perfectionism, which most likely is something you are already grappling with as an SLP. 

One way to shift out of this is to look at your intention for the year (or just for a fresh start at any time) is to look at the goal as a progression, not as perfection. Much like the goals you set for your students. Goals aren’t meant to be mastered immediately. They are meant to be worked up to, little by little, while learning the skills needed to master those goals as you go.

Imagine if you set a goal for your student and expected them to achieve it right away. They (and you) would feel defeated and likely give up after not being able to perfect the enormous amount of skill that reaching that goal right away entailed. You would both probably give up, feel stressed, and feel like you had “failed”. All because you expected it to be perfect right away. 

The same goes for the intention you have for yourself. If you want to work on reducing and managing your stress, then it is ok if you are still feeling stress for days, weeks, or months, or even years, after you begin working on it. It is not about getting it perfect, or reducing it entirely, but about learning new things and growing along the way. 

With perfectionism, the idea is that there aren’t challenges. If things are challenging, and you have to try to learn them and figure it out, then it must be wrong and not for you. But in order to grow and continue to learn, challenge is to only an OK thing, but a welcomed thing. While it seems nice for everything to be simple, easy and challenge-free, if it was that way, life would be stagnant.

Whether your intention is to recycle more, meditate regularly, move your body each day, have a morning routine, hold amazing SLP sessions, or feel less stressed in your work overall, aim for growth rather than perfection. 

Look at the two viewpoints I could take from my intention I mentioned before. 

The first viewpoint focuses on what went wrong and how it will not work. It gives no timeframe, no room to improve, and expects it to be right immediately. The second focuses on the truth – it didn’t happen every day – and also on what went well and worked, and ways to shift what didn’t. It gives more time, expects less to start, and focuses on continuing to learn, grow, and move forward. 

It takes it from being a thing to check off on a Resolution “To-Do List” and turns it into a skill to learn and use. 

When you are setting a goal or intention for yourself, or if you already have, here are a few things to try.

How to Set an Intention that Lasts All Year

  1. What is my expectation? Check in and see if this is something you are planning to have perfect right away or are going to keep working with over time. 
  2. What is my reason for this? Look at what you are setting and connect with it – what is the reason behind it. If you want to get up early, is it because you “should” and you “fail” at mornings, or because you want to ease into your day instead of rush. 
  3. What are some small steps you can take? Instead of an overhaul, look at one tiny thing you can do each week to build into the bigger picture you envision. 
  4. Where is this working? When you restart and as you go, check in and notice the places you are putting into practice, or where your strengths for this are. Then play off of those to help out the places you’re struggling. 

Here is something to remember and to remind yourself of: A little makes a difference.

Even if you are not seeing huge leaps towards your students goals, or you yourself are not making giant steps towards your intentions, that little bit makes all the difference. It is a small step forward, keeping the momentum building and the growth happening. It is not perfect and that means it is not stagnant. It is likely messy and that is learning. 

In fact, small shifts and changes, even little tiny baby steps, are more effective than giant, sweeping changes, because they build gradually over time and are easier to stick with once they are learned. 

So, rather than overhaul your life immediately with your intentions this year, and expect immediate changes with a pass/fail indicator, go for a big intention with small steps to reach it all year and into the years to come. 

When you take this perspective, it can help to give you more freedom and space, to feel less stuck and stressed, and to help with preventing added stress and burnout. 

What small wins did you have with your intentions this year? Share below!

Want some resources to help you keep taking those small steps towards less stress? Make sure to sign up for the FREE resources in The Resilient SLP Toolbox, including yoga classes, meditations and more. 

Sign up below for immediate access:

With Love and Light, 

Jessi

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15Jun

5 Ways to Shift Into Summer Mode

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Self Care Stress Management
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Shift Into Summer Mode

Summer Break, even when you don’t work in the schools, is usually a time when schedules get relaxed, vacations are taken, and there is time to finally decompress and take care of YOU.

At least in theory.

When you finally get that first day off, after the mad rush of doing it ALL to get there, it can be a little more challenging than expected to just let go.

And this goes for those shorter vacations, long weekends, and breaks during the year. 

I have spent more vacations and long weekends than I would like to admit, stressed and tense, pretty much right up until that last day or two before it ends. 

When you are used to being productive, go-go-going, and being very busy non-stop, it is super challenging to do the one thing you have been wanting to do for so long – nothing. Your brain and body have been trained to keep going and to keep doing, all year long. So, even though you are feeling mentally and physically exhausted and drained, actually relaxing and unwinding can be incredibly hard to do. 

It is not as simple as not working and feeling relaxed. There is a much bigger change and shift that might happen, or need to happen, otherwise you could end up spending the summer stressed about your inability to not be stressed. Which, of course, keeps you stuck in the Cycle of Stress, while letting it continue to grow. 

Let’s be real. Your brain is probably full. Your heart might be feeling full or feeling heavy. You are probably wanting to do a million different things with no idea when to start. You might not have the first clue on how to relax and “let go”. Or you might have a jam packed summer schedule that you are now trying to balance and figure out how to work. 

It is hard to shift out of productivity go-go-go mode, and to process the entire year, while also trying to do some other stuff. It is enjoyable, but really, it’s a temporary lifestyle change that can be welcoming and still challenging. 

To help, you can try using a few strategies to help you shift out of work mode and into whatever mode your summer needs. 

5 Ways to Shift Into Summer Mode

Allow time to shift:

Summer might start instantly, but you might not be ready in an instant – even when you soooo want to be. While ideally you would love to jump right into the summer schedules, plans, and sunshine, you might need a buffer to get you there. If you are feeling this way, try to take a day or two to just have nothing planned, or to do some things to wrap up the end of the year, so you can be ready for summer. Maybe you sleep a little more or read a bit. Maybe you grab a coffee or tea and then just relax for the day. Maybe you go to the pool alone or you let your kids know that you’ll just hang around for a day while you feel less exhausted. 

It might feel like FOMO or that you only have thismuch time to do all the things, but having that one or two days to just decompress, rest, and take it slow, can help you shift into a mindset where you will enjoy that time later even more. 

Have a transition:

Just like at the end of the workday, it helps to have a transition point – something to tell your mind to shift over into this new mode, and let the work go. 

It can be really easy to come home from work, and still be thinking about and mentally “at” work. And this is so very mentally exhausting, as you try so hard to be present but your brain is still in the office, at your desk, wondering about your paperwork piles and workload. 

The same can happen for the summer. 

You are physically floating in your pool and your mind is still thinking about how hard the year was, that one meeting that did not go as planned, how challenging that caseload was/is, and all the work that comes with the job. And you start wondering is it worth it, when will it be easier, is the stress going to continue or get worse, and on and on and on. 

Not an enjoyable float around the pool. 

Having a transition – something to signal to your brain that it is time to shift out of work mode – can help you at the end of the workday, but can also help at the end of the school year or before a vacation. 

Maybe you have a gathering with friends to celebrate. Maybe you toast or cheers or open the pool. Maybe you write down your thoughts and feelings about the year. Maybe you have a dance party by yourself. Maybe you find a class at the gym that you really want to go to, and now you can since it is summer time. Big or small, this can help you make the mental shift. 

Look ahead, a little:

While being in the present moment is absolutely a good thing, and the real goal of it all, it can also help to look ahead..a little bit. There might be some things that you want to do or places you want to go this summer break. Having this thing to plan and look forward to might be what you need to help you find a rhythm and routine for the summer. It can give you a purpose and a thing to do, not just for the sake of being productive, but to help you feel more fulfilled during the summer break, and like you have something that you are looking forward to doing, rather than feeling stressed about just wandering through each day with no aim. 

Grab a new hobby and keep it going

Another thing that is similar to goal setting or planning is to find a hobby – either a new one or one to get back to. This can help you find a way to do “nothing” this summer. But, it can also help you once you head back to work at the end of summer break, or your long weekend break. Having a hobby can help you set better work-life balance, and leave work at work, as well as give you that little shift to transition from work to home mode. You can get into a routine with it now, and then use that as your reason, if you need one, to not work long hours, to take time for yourself, and to have something that is your to plan to do. 

Take time to process:

Assess the year to help close it out and to process it all. There might be a LOT of things that you are feeling and thinking and still sorting out mentally from this school year. 2021-2022 was a tough one, maybe the toughest, for so many people working in the schools. And, when you are constantly going to get through, you might not have had time to process, really let it all sink in, or work through it. So that stress may bubble up to the surface, even though you’re just sitting back and reading a fantasy novel. 

One thing that can help is to try some journaling. One that is useful is the brain dump, which helps you to unload a scenario or thought that keeps swirling about your mind into a new place. Another is to look at both “what was challenging” and “what went well” as a way to look at those things that were particularly challenging and acknowledge them, and then also to see what you are doing well and what is working for you, so you can keep shifting towards those and using them. 

If you are feeling a little stressed about the ease of summer, or the lack of ease that is showing up, try one or a few of these and help yourself to shift into summer mode. 

Want more resources to help?

Join the Resilient SLP Toolbox for more resources to help you in this transition and all summer long. In the Resilient SLP Toolbox, you’ll find meditation audios, yoga and mindful movement class videos, journal templates and more. You can subscribe to this free resource, and access it immediately, by entering your email below. 

Which are you going to try to help ease into summer? Leave a comment or send a message to jessi@jessiandricks.com

With Love and Light, 

Jessi

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12May

5 Things I learned in yoga teacher training that (surprisingly) helped me as an SLP

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Career Advice New SLP Stress Management Yoga
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things I learned in yoga training

When I was in my second year as an SLP, three big things happened in my career and life: I finished my CF (finally), I started yoga teacher training (yay!), and I was laid-off due to budget cuts (wtf?). It was such a mix of joy and hardship and not knowing what I was going to do, and it absolutely sent me into some burnout and chronic stress in the year(s) to follow.

On the SLP side, I ended up going from a hospital setting, with inpatient and outpatient adults, to working in the schools with all ages. I was the solo SLP, aside from my supervisor.manager, and now I was one of three SLPs in my school. And I felt like I was the one who was faking it, floundering, and not as “into” it as they were. 

I had a tough caseload I was taking over. The schedule was set-up by someone else and was NOT compatible for my needs or life. I hadn’t really shifted to school-mode yet. And, a part of me really wanted to teach yoga more, which, at the time and where I lived, was not exactly something that was talked about or put into practice as an SLP.

I ended up leaving a year later, for 5 years. During this time, I taught yoga and mind-body fitness, and helped run yoga studios where I lived. I absolutely used my yoga teacher training to teach yoga – obviously.

But, it was when I came back to being an SLP, that I realized I could use it there as well. There were a few things I learned while training to teach yoga that helped me be, IMO, a better SLP. Or at least feel better about HOW I was working as an SLP. 

And they had nothing to do with incorporating yoga poses, meditation time, or even, really, mindfulness into my sessions. 

Here are 5 things I learned in yoga training that (surprisingly) helped me as an SLP:

1 You can’t look at someone’s face and tell if they are enjoying or getting anything out of the experience.

When I was going through yoga teacher training (YTT), one of the things that the current teachers would share, over and over again, was that you can’t look at someone and know what they are thinking or feeling during the class by the look on their face. They might be smiling, seeming to enjoy it, but internally cursing at you or thinking “why did I bother coming today?”. Or they might  be scowling, maybe even at you, or frowning, but only because they are working through something or concentrating, and fully soaking up and enjoying the experience. 

I learned this firsthand, in my very first class I taught. A woman in the front row had a look of disgust on her face most of the class. And I thought, “oh, sh*&, maybe I’m not very good at this teaching thing yet”. After class, she came up to me, as I internally panicked, and let me know she enjoyed the class very much and was surprised I was a new teacher – it was one of the best classes she had taken. It helped me know what was working as a yoga teacher, and where my strengths landed. 

The same goes for being an SLP Your student or patient  might look bored or annoyed during the session, or even a little checked out. This by no means is a reflection of what they are really thinking or feeling. They might be concentrating, thinking about how to use this in class or outside of the clinic, or trying to figure out what the next step in the task is. Instead of judging yourself and your work, talk to them about the experience after, if they are open to it, so you both can give feedback and shape things from there. 

2. Know what (class) you are teaching, and look at who walks in the door.

As a yoga teacher, you have to know what type of class you are teaching – hot or not, fast or slow, level 1 or level 2 – and have some sort of idea of what to do. But you also have to see who shows up for that class on that day, and what their needs and abilities might be, especially if you teach in a community center or gym, rather than a specific style studio. It might be a more advanced class that day, but, if it’s the only class at that time and the students are not advanced, or they walk in and are exhausted and tired, more than usual, then you have to tailor it to them, and their needs that day. 

This is what happens when you work with humans, having a human experience. 

The same is true for Speech Therapy. You can plan a little and know the goals for who you are seeing, but also see how they are when they show up. YOu might have to make some adjustments or try to grab a new resource to use if they are tired that day, if they are energized beyond measure, or if they are hungry or grumpy or being human in some way. Having this flexibility (no ygpa pin intended) will take you far, and help them more in the long-run.  

3. Having a “rolodex” of poses/resources is a better strategy than planning it all out exactly

(PSSST, this is probably the most important and used thing I learned in yoga training).

Here is a secret – I did not plan a single yoga class for YEARS, and rarely do now. There were no lesson plans or sequences after those first few classes I taught. And I never felt lost or stuck or like I wasn’t giving it my all or that my students would leave with “less” because of it. Once I knew the class style, and practiced or planned a class or two, I relied on the advice from one of the yoga teachers from my training – instead of planning out precisely, think about having a “rolodex” on file of how it all goes together. 

This “rolodex” was like a file to flip through, where you could pull out a pose, and then see who it was connected to  – what other poses could link to it and how to build them together naturally, and, often, in the middle of the class. 

It meant really and truly understanding how they worked together, rather than just what looked good on paper, and helped to make adjustments for who was in the class that day. 

In reality, it looked like knowing the style of the class, how that format flowed, and then choosing a pose to work to or to try or an area to focus on, and then building around it as it went.

As an SLP, this is the most helpful advice I was ever given.

It saved me from over-planning and prepping and feeling stressed to do more. And, because the over-planning does not come naturally to me, it helped me loosen the guilt around not spending hours before and after work plotting out each day and creating lesson plans for it. 

What it gave me was the insights to look more at what I was working on, what that goal was really for, and how to find a way to use it, know matter what materials I had on hand, what I pulled off a shelf or website, or what the student requested to use that day. It brought HUMANITY back to it. 

4. Something is better than nothing/Any bit counts for something.

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing each and every time. There were so many times that I wanted to share so many poses, to hit every part of the sequence, or every part of the body (hips, twists, folds, standing, seated, core, backbends, savasana), and it just didn;t happen. It might have been time-management, or that the students needed to linger in a pose longer than planned. And it was ok. The students still got a lot from it, and, maybe, got what they needed, which was better than hitting every piece exactly. 

While it is important to try and get as much as you can, and to work towards the goals you have in front of you for your students, there are times when it is not going to happen. Again, it is part of working with humans. You have plans, and they are living creatures. They might not always match up. 

Even if you end up spending the session talking together or laughing or not focusing on the specific activity you planned, it is ok. It is WORTH it. Because that day, you might be the only kind person they wrun tino. Or the only time they feel they can talk or share or try to communicate safely. Or the only moment they laugh. Or the only person who smiles at them. And THIS is huge. It is so important, and it does, absolutely, make a difference towards halogen them to improve their well-being – which is usually the ultimate goal. 

5. No one will know if you make a mistake or if it doesn’t go as “planned”.

I still have dreams (nightmares) sometimes that I get up in front of the class to teach, and I totally forget what to do and spend an hour trying to remember, until time runs out. Super fun. Very relaxing sleep. 

But, when it comes down to it, there are plenty of times when I have forgotten the next pose, not taught the pose I meant to in the moment, or accidentally changed the sequence or left out an entire chunk of it. And a funny thing happens. No. One. Notices. Or. Cares. And sometimes, it works out better than what I had in mind anyway. 

What I learned in yoga training was this – you can plan (not too much!) and if  you change it or make a mistake, no one knows!! Because YOU are the only one who knows the plan. If it changes to you, the students don;t know. There is NO mistake made to them. In their eyes, this is exactly what was planned.

I learned to just go with it. 

As an SLP, this is haaaaaaard to do. Because perfectionism is strong in our field. And judging and critiquing yourself is commonplace. 

But, if you have an activity or are trying to work on something, and you accidentally do it “wrong”. NO.ONE. KNOWS. It is ok that your plan shifted by mistake. Your students and patients will experience it as what you meant to do that day, and won’t notice. They will still get something out of it, simply because they are there with you.

Mistakes happen, it is ok to do. And you can usually learn something or maybe find a new therapy tool along the way. 

While I also learned some cool “yoga” tricks and tools to use in sessions, and some ways to be more mindful as a practitioner of Yoga and SLP, these are the big things that I learned in toga training that helped me to grow, be more comfortable, and to start to enjoy being an SLP. And, truthfully, they are what helped me feel most connected to my work, and, more importantly, to who I was working with. 

For more resources on yoga, meditation, and other ways to build resilience, enter your email below and get FREE resources to help you stay connected as an SLP.

Which one of these things I learned I yoga training surprised you the most? I’d love to hear how you are going to try to use them in your SLP sessions. Leave a comment below or reach out to jessi@jessiandricks.com.

With Love and Light, 

Jessi

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21Apr

4 Grounding Tools for Managing Your Stress

Posted by: Jessi Andricks Categories: Mindfulness Stress Management
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Grounding Tools

What comes to mind when you hear the term “grounding”?

  • A punishment from your youth
  • An electrical wire in physics 
  • A flight not being able to take off
  • Or maybe a less frazzled, scattered, stressed out state of being

In yoga, mindfulness, and coaching, the term grounding often refers to the last one – a grounding tool is something you can use to connect back to the present moment, and reduce the feelings of stress, such as feeling frazzled, scattered, unsteady, and unbalanced. Being grounded offers you a way to come back to your body and out of your head, and, well sometimes, connect with the earth and ground below you for a point of reference. 

Stress occurs when a stressor has triggered a response in your body and brain. This can often lead you to start focusing on the future outcomes, on things in the past that did not go well, and to lose your connection to the present moment, which leads to more feelings of stress and overwhelm. It continues the cycle of stress and keeps you stuck, and growing, in this pattern. 

It also pulls you out of your body – an intuitive place that is part of you and can help you to reduce tension and stress, and be more aware of when it occurs – and keeps you more in your head, where thoughts spiral and stress continues to build.

If you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed, here are a few practices, using, grounding tools, that will help you reduce your stress, by getting more present, out of your head, and into your body.

4 Grounding Tools for Managing Your Stress

Yoga Poses:

Yoga is a powerful tool for getting back into your body and the present moment. Grounding in a yoga practice focuses on feeling the connection to the earth, or ground, below you in any pose, whether it is your hands, your feet, your seat, or just one foot pressing down into the mat below you. 

The action of breathing and focusing on each pose helps you to get out of your head, focus on your body (and not falling), and keep you in the present moment, which helps to shift you out of the stressful though spiral that you may have found yourself in.

Poses that are good for grounding include standing poses such as Warrior I/II, Mountain Pose, and Triangle; balancing poses like Tree or Head to Knee or even Dancer; and seated poses such as a forward fold, Child’s Pose, or Savasana. 

Breath/Pranayama

Getting grounded through breathwork, or Pranayama, can help you to reduce the stress you feel, by sending a calming response to the Nervous System and brain. It also helps you to feel the body and breath in this moment, and to feel the ground below you, where you make contact. 

You can try bringin one hand to your belly and one to your heart, and take a deep breath (a count of 4 or 5 if possible for each inhale and exhale). As you breathe, notice the belly rise and fall, and the seat supported by the chair or mat below you. If your focus starts to wander, that is ok. Shift it back to the sensations of your breath and your body, even if you feel you do this over and over again. Try breathing this way for 3 to 5 minutes if possible.

Mental Check-In

It can be really easy to keep it all in your head – all the schedules, thoughts, stressors, worries – and not really see how you are doing with processing all of that stress. A mental check-in can help you to get grounded by giving you a moment to pause, see how you are doing in your mind AND body, and be more aware of what you need next.

Try stopping for a moute to get quiet, close your eyes and breathe. Notice your body and any tension you might feel, notice your feet on the ground, and then notice any thoughts or patterns that are there. 

Sensory Meditation or Journal

This grounding tool is one of my favorites. A “Sensory” check-in is a great way to get present and grounded, either through a meditation of a journaling practice. 

This tunes you back into the here and now, by noticing the space around you via your 5 senses. 

Try this, either making mental notes (meditation style) or writing them down.

  • 5 things you see
  • 4 things you hear
  • 3 things you feel
  • 2 things you smell
  • 1 thing you taste

Getting grounded, in the balanced sense, is a powerful tool for combating stress and building resilience. 

Try these out to see which works best for you – it could change depending on the time of day, the need, and where you are. 

Want to practice these grounding tools together and figure out how they can work best in your day?

Join this month’s workshop in The Resilient SLP to explore this further and practice these tools with a guide (me!) and get PD hours. Enter your email below for more info or click here to sign up for the membership.

Which grounding tool works best for you? Share your experience with it in the comments below!

With Love and Light, 

Jessi

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