If you’re feeling more tired than usual right now, the answer may not be more sleep.
Instead, the culprit could be mental fatigue.
Your Low-Stress Guide to Leveling-Up Your Bedtime Routine
Are You Burnt Out or Depressed?
When the body perceives danger/threat, it activates the stress response.
and our body gets ready to fight or flight, says Dr. Lam.
When we have all of these stressors, stress response never gets a chance to deactivate and rest.
Emanuel Maidenberg, PhD, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine.
This is because it is way harder to treat and improve, than it is to prevent.
Nourishing relationships
Our brains are hardwired for relational connection, Dr. Lam says.
This can be fostered through intentional quality time and open communication.
Sometimes its the people around you that are the first to observe patterns of depression or burnout.
This is why its important to have these relationships, too.
This is good for your body and mind.
Practices like tai chi, meditation, yoga, and more can offer some healing when youre burnt out.
Embodiment is the practice of paying attention to your sensations.
By paying attention to the body sensations we can gently wake up the body from numbness back into aliveness.
Emanuel Maidenberg, PhD, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine.
(you could even fake your commute if it helps.)
This new routine shouldnt just involve obligatory to-dos, either.
To reap the benefits, exertion needs to be moderate and at least 30 minutes in duration.
you might also enlist a buddy, says Dr. Maidenberg, to get you through.
What to remember
Its important to remember that it isnt your fault that youre burnt out.
There are a lot reasons that someone could be burnt out that they have no control over.
You deserve to rest and healdespite the pressures that society repeatedly places on people.
While mental fatigue can make brain-based activities more difficult, studies show it also complicates physical activity.
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