Preventing Burnout
Prior musings have outlined a method of optimizing physical, mental and spiritual health by focusing on self-care and embracing the mindful attitudes of non-judgmental acceptance, patience, curiosity, trust, non-striving,letting go and kindness.
This musing will focus on preventing caregiver burnout using mindful self-compassion.
Compassion is being aware of the suffering in others and wishing to relieve it. Compassion fatigue can occur if we give more than we receive. We are rewarded internally and externally when we help others, but we can easily exhaust ourselves. Self compassion is awareness of our own suffering and wishing to relieve it. Caring for ourselves as we would care for a loved one is helpful to maintain a balance of giving and receiving. From this strong,balanced foundation we can stay healthy,clear and effective.
Helping others is rewarding but can be difficult. Some situations are challenging because of the energy, concentration and time required to be compassionate. We may believe that giving to ourselves is selfish. The opposite is true: we are likely to be more effective at giving if we practice balanced self-compassion.
Drs Kristin Neff and Chris Germer write and teach extensively about self compassion. They describe it as the second wing of well being,the other wing being mindfulness. The warning signs of burnout are fatigue,resentment,avoidance, isolation and strong self criticism. The antidotes to these are the three main elements of mindful self-compassion: mindfulness, common humanity and self kindness.
Mindful awareness helps us honestly assess our energy and attitude as we are giving to others. Common humanity refers to relieving feelings of burnout and isolation by focusing on the fact that everyone has difficulty giving sometimes. You are part of the common human experience. The third antidote to burnout is self kindness. This reduces our tendency to self-criticize. Our inner critic is that harsh voice that tends to look at our faults instead of our positive attributes and intentions. Having a kind rather than harsh inner coach is important. A kind coach has been proven to be more effective in the long run. Be careful what you say to yourself because you are listening! Gestures such as gently hugging onself, putting a hand (or two) over our heart or folding our hands across our lower abdomen are physiologically proven soothing gestures that reduce the stress response and soften the self critic. This helps promote mental fitness and resilience.
Mindful Home Practice: Consider trying the following “one for me,one for you” exercise when you notice feelings of burnout. You can silently give yourself care and compassion on the in breath and give others care and compassion on the out breath. This technique helps maintain a balance of energy which prevents compassion fatigue. Remember to include yourself equally in the circle of care. Practice treating yourself as you would your best friend. Mindful self-awareness and kind intent is at the heart of burnout prevention and mindful self compassion. Please visit our website www.managestress.ca or Drs Neff and Germer’s website www.centerformsc.org for further information.