Mastering the Art of Relaxation

"Relax" easily said but how do you really master the art of relaxation? Especially when your future profession and or current profession is known for being one of the most stressful there is. 

I am by no means a complete master of relaxation but I do understand how important it is for everyone especially when you are preparing for a "stressful profession". Medicine is a profession plagued by burnout, stress, and suicide among other stress related issues, making relaxation that much more importaint and something we should all really look into not only for right now but also in preparation for our futures.

Here are 6 tips I've picked up over the years that are helpful relaxation techniques for me.

1. Take a small amount of time everyday even 1-2 minutes to give your worries and stresses up. I do this through prayer, I give all of my worries and stress over to God because He said that His yoke is easy and His burden is light and all I have to do is trade what I have for what He has.

2. Breathing excercises. When I get so overwhelmed with stress and everything feels like it is starting to crush me or even before this point I take a minute to do a breathing excercise such as this one ⬇️

Or this one 

3. Reconnect with my body. Our stressess and worries do not define us; reconnecting with my body allows me to focus on the moment and who I am. I go running when I'm stressed or I'll even do a bit of yoga and meditation which is like excercise and breathing excercises combined. Excercising encourges the release of endorphins picking up your mood and if you are like me excercise can really ground you putting you in your body and not in your head where all of my worries sit.

4. Do something you love. A really great stress releaver is doing something that brings you joy for me that is playing the cello or even just listening to cello music or praise and worship while working on something. This is not always possible for me to do due to where I am but that is why I have several other ways I know I can release stress.

5. Peptalks. A Peptalk may seem a bit goofy but sometimes it is just what you need; it can be from  someone who cares about you or even from yourself.

6. Preventative matinance. You can't always prevent every stressful situation but you can prevent some of them by doing things ahead of time such as mauntaing good time management and taking care of your health (mind, body, spirit).

Stress can lead to a number of really devistating situations and sometimes we need more help; even after doing everything we know how, and no one should feel ashamed to get that help. We should all be there for each other, our goal is to be there for our patients in their time of need and it is okay that sometimes we are that patient no matter how much we don't want to be.

If you have any questions etc. please reach out and I'll do my best to answer any and all questions you have. Again I am not an expert but I can answer your questions from my personal experience and what has helped me in the past.