Burned Out? Read This Book.

    I just finished listening to a couple of really great audiobooks in the non-fiction category, and one of them I think response very much too an aspect of mental health that a lot of us are facing these days.

    The book, Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski, was published back in early 2019, months before CoVid changed the world, but it feels like burnout is something almost everyone is facing these days. While the stress of the ongoing pandemic might be easier for some people in North America, where a significant percentage of the adult population has already been at least partially vaccinated. For all of us out here in Japan, waiting for the day when maybe they might start actually getting shots to adults under the age of 80, the pandemic very much rages on, though with a fraction of the casualties than the US has seen.

    While it's not pandemic specific, this book does offer some great insight and advice for how to deal with the overwhelming can't of current society. When one of the authors said in an early chapter, which might actually have been the introduction, that this book would be helpful, I was skeptical. I always am when people speak so certainly. Nevertheless, I found the information inside truly insightful and helpful, so in this case they were right.

    The big breakthrough in the beginning of the book is in regards to seeing stress as a cycle meant to be completed rather than a weight that accumulates. When we don't complete the cycle, we're stuck with residual stress, constantly on going, never quite ending. This speaks to me as my mind tends to ruminate, which wastes my energy and keeps me stuck in a cycle of stress regarding any topic I feel stress over.

    There are many great tips in the book on how to better deal with a lot of these situations, but the key to getting out of the stress cycle seems most easily to be physical activity. If you can squeeze in a workout or a bike ride or run or walk, you'll trick your brain into finding the end of the cycle. Even if all you do is lay in bed and tense every single muscle in your body and then relax those muscles again, it will still be helping to remind your body that the stressful thing is over and the cycle can end. You don't have to stay stressed, even if your stressors are current and ongoing.

    As things warm up all over Japan, find a way to squeeze in some physical activity and perform some self-care. We're all a bit burnt out.

Burnout : The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle is available on Amazon and Book Depository.