129. Meditation for Burnout

March 23, 2024

In this episode of the Joy Lab podcast, Dr. Aimee Prasek will guide you through a visualization exercise to tune into your body and observe the differences in sensations and emotions experienced during a day off of work compared to a typical workday. By stepping into the observing self, you'll watch a 'life movie' play out in two parts; one depicting a leisurely day without work obligations and the other, a busy workday. Throughout the visualization, the focus is on noticing bodily sensations, emotions, and the specific triggers of stress, constriction, or exhaustion. The aim is to cultivate awareness and identify possible contributors of stress along with opportunities for change.

Watch this episode on YouTube.

Key moments:

00:00 Welcome to Joy Lab: Unleashing Your Joy
00:26 Diving Into Visualization: Tuning Into Your Body
02:17 The Movie of Your Life: A Day Off Work
04:41 Intermission: A Moment to Savor
05:09 Back to Reality: A Day at Work
07:51 Reflecting on the Experience: Insights and Inner Freedom

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Episode Transcript

Welcome to Joy Lab!: Welcome to the Joy Lab podcast, where we help you uncover and foster your most joyful self. Your hosts, Dr. Henry Emmons and Dr. Aimee Prasek, bring you the ideal mix of soulful and scientifically sound tools to spark your joy, even when it feels dark. When you're ready to experiment with more joy, combine this podcast with the full Joy Lab program over at JoyLab.coach

Aimee: So this is a bit of a visualization. I'm going to kind of condense it, but feel free to do it again and maybe extend the experience a little bit longer.

Um, but we're really going to be tuning into our bodies for this. So, get settled, however that means for you. You could lay down. You could take a seat. Maybe start to really tune in to the sensation of your feet on the ground. You could softly close your eyes, if that feels good. Notice what your body might be touching, the feeling of that sensation.

And then we're going to be stepping into our observing self. So that part of your mind that is able to step back and observe. Without feeling drawn into thoughts or emotions. And so if, if it helps, imagine yourself maybe sitting in a seat at a theater. And you're there to see your own movie. The screen is what you'll observe as your movie plays.

You'll sit comfortably in your seat, just noticing sensations. If you get drawn into a scene, you forget to sit and watch, you maybe get up and try to make some scene changes. Normal, fine. But for our purpose today, let's just come back to that seat and just watch and feel.

So, the movie is beginning, and it is, in this first part, it is a movie about a day that you have off from work. So whatever that looks like for you, you have less obligations. So maybe see yourself waking up. Moving in the early part of your day. Watching it unfold and notice what you feel as you watch.

Notice if you feel calm. Or it could be anxious, agitated, certain thoughts pop up. No good or bad, just noticing what rises up for you and in your body.

The movie starts to move perhaps into the afternoon of this day where you have fewer obligations. You're sort of, quote, off work. Let that afternoon unfold and notice what you feel.

And then the evening.

Noticing what rises up.

You start to move into evening, near bedtime. You can see yourself settling in, perhaps, to your bed.

Just take a moment to watch what might occur as you settle into your bed after a day like this.

And we'll move into a bit of an intermission here. Maybe imagine yourself getting up, grabbing some Milk Duds at the refreshments, popcorn, whatever your favorite flavor is that you can savor here for a moment. And the soft bell dings and you head back to your seat for part two. So here's the second half and then this time, this part of the movie is about a day at work.

So whatever that means for you. But you're going to have a lot of obligations or the usual amount of obligations in your day. So you're in the office, so to speak. And see yourself waking up and let your morning unfold. And just notice any changes perhaps in your body. Anything that arises, just noticing.

Perhaps the interactions, folks you're involved with throughout the day, the tasks that come up. You start to move maybe into the afternoon, you can start to see that unfold. Just notice.

Maybe the evening, maybe you're off work now and you're coming into the latter part of your day, There's dishes to wash, perhaps. Kids to put to bed, perhaps. Other tasks. You can kind of see your evening unfold. Notice how you feel.

And then as you move closer to your bed. You can perhaps see yourself settling into your bed. Take a moment and just notice how that process after a day of work, how does sleep come to you in that evening.

And then credits start to play. You're the main character, of course. Lots of other actors. But the lights start to come up. Maybe you start to wiggle. Softly coming back to this space. Feeling again your seat. Coming back to the here and now. Maybe opening your eyes when that feels good .

So, I think it can help, if it feels good to you to spend a few minutes to think back on this experience and notice if there was a difference between Part 1, a day off, and Part 2, a day at work. So, maybe you notice some tightness or stress, rising up, some agitation, maybe feeling like a bit of constriction or exhaustion even as you're reflecting on those experiences, maybe on a work day.

Aimee: And if so, you know, what were those specific interactions or tasks maybe or people that made those sensations more pronounced? If that was the experience for you. And I know that it can be tough if you're, you know, in working roles that you feel like you have very little freedom in, perhaps. But I think there is always room for some inner freedom, even in those tough spaces, as we've talked about.

And that's a lot of the work that we do here, this inner work. And then with awareness, we can build the connections to create some change.

129. Meditation for Burnout

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