Welcome back to the Santa Clara Meditation blog!
This article is for you if:
- Youโve tried burnout recovery methods to the letter, but still haven’t broken free.
- You rested over the weekend but still feel exhausted on Monday morning.
- You want to rest deeply, even for just a brief moment in your daily life.
By the time you finish reading this post, your mind will quiet down, and you will be able to start your work with a slightly more comfortable heart. ^^
Did you go to work feeling burned out again today? Some of you might be raising children without even the boundary of commuting hours. Working all day, walking home with heavy steps, feeling like you are trapped in an endless loopโwhat do you do in moments like these?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Burnout Syndrome is an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed, leading to a state of mental exhaustion.
Many people have told us that even when experiencing burnout symptoms, they cannot simply “rest” because they have tasks to do, which makes it even harder. So, we thought about how Ma-eum Su-ryun meditation could help these individuals.
Below, we will share the reasons why burnout persists even after resting on weekends, along with 3 ways to rest even while working.
Why Burnout Persists Even When You “Rest”
When burnout syndrome hits, everyone tells you to rest. But as youโve probably experienced, itโs easier said than done.
No matter how deeply you sink into a soft sofa, you feel somehow anxious, wondering if itโs okay to just sit there. Your body rests, but your mind spins endlessly like a motor that wonโt stop. Thus, even when doing nothing, it is hard to easily escape burnout.
The reason lies in the brain’s activity of endlessly generating thoughts.
It is said that habits from about 7 million years ago are engraved into every single one of our cells today. In that era, staying still meant a highly probable chance of death. Roughly 10,000 years ago, agricultural life began, and the “time when you don’t die even if you stay still” gradually increased.
Even today, we have weekends, vacations, and annual leaves to rest, but the reason we rest incorrectly is that our brainsโshaped by about 6.9 million years of hunter-gatherer habitsโcontinue to work out of fear that we might die if we stay still.
“Scholars in this field argue that our brains and minds today are adapted to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Today we live in high-rise apartments with refrigerators full of food, but our DNA still roams the African savannah… This ‘gluttonous gene’ theory is widely accepted.” โ Sapiens, pp. 70-71
For survival, the brain endlessly produces random thoughts, anxiety, and worries. To keep you alive. Even though we can survive perfectly fine without doing that nowadays!
Since the brain keeps working even when the body doesn’t, it is natural to feel exhausted even after resting on the weekend. You are probably realizing that you need to rest not just your body, but your mind. If the brain rests well, things will be okay!
So, how can we make our brains rest properly, fitting for the modern era?
3 Smart Ways to Rest to Overcome Burnout
It is best to take a longer vacation than usual and rest by doing hobbies or activities other than work. But for those who realistically cannot, try these three methods.
1. How to take short breaks without disrupting work
Everyone has brief moments during the day when they aren’t working:
- Going to the restroom.
- Walking to the pantry to grab a cup of tea.
- Lunchtime.
During these times, you are going to trick your brain.
How do you trick it? By talking to yourself.
As you walk to the pantry, tell yourself: “I am resting right now!”
Are you worried if it’s okay to rest? Don’t worry! You worked with focus for an hour, so it’s perfectly fine. ^^ Just as muscle cells need recovery time when exercising, briefly trick your brain to let your brain cells rest. Because we have to grab that cup of tea and go back to work!
“The energy muscles use is ATP. If you only use energy without giving it time to replenish, you eventually get muscle loss. In other words, if you don’t rest enough, a movement you could do 5 times will drop to only 3 times.” โ A Fitness Trainer
Perfectionists who live diligently must intentionally say these words to themselves. Otherwise, your brain remains in “office computer” mode, constantly working, and inevitably getting exhausted. Thoughts like worries about work, anxiety, obsession, and the desire for recognition clutter your mind. You are the only person who can switch that off!
2. Feel the flowers, trees, and wind in front of you
Instead of stressing over the morning meeting or agonizing over an afternoon client pitch, how about turning your gaze away from work and toward nature for just 5 minutes?
If we apply the thoughts and actions we have while on vacation to our daily lives, the brain can rest sufficiently. When the sunlight is nice, how about taking a brief 5-to-10-minute solo walk after lunch? While walking, try this:
Look at a flower or a tree (like a dandelion or azalea) for 5 seconds. Notice what color it is, how many petals it hasโlook at it slowly and unfamiliarly, as if it’s a flower you are seeing for the very first time in your life. Gain courage by looking at a dandelion that managed to bloom a yellow flower even with a bent stem.
Pause for a moment and look only at that for 10 seconds.
It probably won’t be easy, right? You might think people around you are wondering, “What are they doing?” But still… will you give it a try this lunchtime?
3. Acknowledge these 3 things to rest with peace of mind
What should you acknowledge?
- Acknowledgment 1: It is natural to have random thoughts and get anxious when you stay still. You are not the only one. What a relief, right? Because it is entirely normal for worries to bloom when you stay still, you must first get moving. Clean up, put on some music and dance, or organize a cabinet. Move your body and focus on that action.
- Acknowledgment 2: Even if I put in 100% effort, others won’t acknowledge me 100%. Others are busy living their own lives, too. They cannot possibly know the work and effort you put in as well as you do. Therefore, it is difficult to receive the exact amount of praise or recognition you desire. Just recognizing that others also have their own struggles and circumstances similar to yours will make you feel a bit more at peace.
- Acknowledgment 3: I am living diligently, and I am doing a good job. Most people who frequently experience burnout have strong perfectionist tendencies. If they aren’t performing up to the standard they set, they constantly harass themselves. From now on, acknowledge yourself. Acknowledge what you didn’t do well, what you did well, and the mistakes you madeโbecause we are all capable of making them!
The pitiful hope that “I will be happy once I finish this task well” or the flawed hope that “I will be recognized if I do a great job on this project” do not exist in the first place.
Do not burn today away on hopes that only hurt you!
I hope you take 10 seconds to look at a dandelion during lunch today and make sure to feel the touch of the passing wind. ^^
Next time, I will return with a method on how to eliminate random thoughts. Until then, please take good care of yourself!
