This blog post is specifically aimed at those who work shifts and/or those who are struggling with mental health during this difficult time. I would like to take a quick note to thank Claudia for inspiring this post and the associated wellness talk that I had the opportunity to give to the hardworking healthcare professionals that she woks with.
My advice to anyone who is reading this. There is a lot of information here and much of it may be new to you. Every person and every body is different therefore not all of it may suit you, or at least not at this moment in time. Take one piece of advice from here that resonates with you and run with it. Try and include it in your life and see what happens! Come back for the rest later ;)
Sleep and Routine
The circadian clock is a biological/biochemical cycle within the body that is synchronised with solar time. The biological behaviour changes depending on the time of the day. Sleep is very important for the circadian rhythm, however, we often ignore body signals due to working shifts, choosing more exciting options or maybe we are disconnected with our bodies. Studies show that during 10pm and 2am our bodies heal and repair damage from throughout they day. Repair is important for multiple things including brain and immune system function.
Try to follow the same routine each day. Your body works on a 24 hour cycle and needs its rest time to perform vital functions whilst you sleep. Therefore, it is unadvisable to skip sleep during the week, only to ‘catch up’ on weekends. This is actually the equivalent of getting jet lag every weekend and explains why it can be so difficult to get back into routine again. Your body expects to prepare for sleep and waking at the same time each day and waking at a different time can be confusing for it.
Getting a good nights sleep starts from waking up the morning before. If you have trouble waking in the morning, don’t worry, it takes time and I have a few pointers that might help.
Add a morning movement as the morning is the time time for your body to exercise. If you already exercise then this is the time to do it. If not, try to include a movement session in the morning, shortly after you wake up. Your body will begin to recognise this as part of your routine, begin to prepare for it each morning and this will help you to feel more energised and willing to get out of bed. It can also help you to feel more awake for the rest of the day. It doesn’t have to be an hour long intense workout, unless thats what you want. It can be a five minute walk to the end of the garden, a short run, twenty star jumps or even yoga.
Get outside. Our bodies, whilst we often see them as something separate from nature, are very much still in tune with nature and the seasons. Getting out into nature in the morning can give our bodies signals that it is time to wake up and prepare for the day. The cool air on our skin, the morning sky light in our eyes. Getting outside as soon as possible can help you to wake up in the most natural way. Even if you can’t get all the way out, even opening the window and letting your face soak in the morning air will help.
Add a mindful morning practice. This can be breathing or meditation, which I will discuss later on in this blog.
If you work different shift patterns:
Take some time to look at the shift patterns you are doing. Look at what time is best to eat dinner and get sleep at roughly the same time each day regardless of the shift. For people doing night shifts, try to keep your food intake to the same times.
How to do this; have breakfast when you get home from your shift. Have your largest meal when you wake up and close as you can get it to lunchtime and then eat a small snack later on in the day. Either before the start of the next shift or during the first break you get. Don’t eat during the night. Avoid bringing in snacks or eating those brought by others. Try replacing those snacks with water, or herbal teas like a fruit tea (not green tea).
Nutrition for Brain and Mental Health
Please check out my upcoming video on this topic where I talk about specific foods and nutrients that help brain function and subsequently me natal health. I also recommend some supplements to take. I will include the link here when it is released.
Journalling, Gratitude and the Present Moment
Sometimes our thoughts can become too much. Humans are maybe the only species that can create problems out of thin air just by thinking of them. Focusing only on the present moment can help to reduce unnecessary stress and anxiety.
For example, lets stay you are at work, having a bad day. Maybe the car is in the garage and you are worried its going to cost you a lot of money but you won’t find out until tomorrow when you pick it up. It might be hard not to worry about it but if you take five minutes to check your thoughts, you might find you are thinking about it, possibly distracted from work or even being snappy to your colleagues. You can bring yourself into the present moment and ask yourself, ‘what can I do right now?’ Some solutions may be to speak to your manager to see if there are any extra shifts you could pick up. But on the whole there isn’t much you can do until you get that phone call tomorrow. So why worry about it now, its unproductive and a waste of energy.
But how do we stop worrying? Because thats the hard bit, right? There are tools you can use. One is journalling. Maybe you have something that you don’t want to talk through with others or you feel you don’t want to burden others. Journalling is a productive way to collect your thoughts and extract them from your mind. Sometimes when you begin writing them on paper and you read it back to yourself, you realise that isn’t as bad as you thought. It can also work as an exercise to find solutions. It can be easier to look at the problems on paper and actively find solutions rather than have it all chaotically swimming through your mind where your emotions are entangled and its hard to grasp the situation objectively.
You don’t have to write pages, some journals are simply one line a day. The most important event, thought or feeling you have that day that sums things up. It can also be used to find gratitude. Gratitude is so important as it can bring a new perspective on all problems. Gratitude can make you realise or reflect on how good your life is, even when things aren’t going so well. It can make you remember the achievements you have made and how proud of yourself you were when you made them. It can’t fix problems and its not going to make everything better. But when you are in a situation where there isn’t a solution, gratitude can at least help to take the edge off. Ways to include gratitude more in your life are to write them down in something like a journal. You could even include it in your morning routine. Maybe write three things you are grateful for today. It could even be as simple as I am grateful that I have warm running water today.
Breath and Meditation for Relaxation and Stress Relief
Breathing has a direct effect on the nervous system and is a tool that everybody has with them to deal with stress, anger, anxiety and nervousness. Breathing slowly and deeply can actively relax the muscles, slow the heart rate and reduce blood pressure. Studies on monks who practice meditation with breathing techniques can actively control their own blood pressure. Your breath is the one thing that you can only do in the present, you can’t breathe in the past or the future. So focusing on the breath can bring your mind to the present moment.
Your brain can’t live without oxygen. People who have poor posture, who breathe shallow and fast may not be optimising their oxygen intake. Standing straight can increase lung capacity by 5%. Pranayama (breath control) can bring a higher amount of oxygen to the brain and subsequently encourage good brain function.
Meditation is essentially learning to control the mind and the thoughts that enter the mind. It can be used to cultivate those happy, positive thoughts whilst reducing the negative, unwanted thoughts. Meditation is essentially an exercise for the brain, just like you exercise a muscle. With practice you will get better over time. Meditation allows you time out of life. To take a step back and evaluate things from a different perspective. It can allow you to watch your thoughts like you are a separate being watching your mind on a tv screen. You can witness the thoughts in your brain and make a decision, is this benefiting me or is it pulling me down. It can bring clarity, calm ad stillness to the mind.
Meditation is the practice you do at home, but then the skills you gain from meditation can be brought out into every day life, including work. Rather than getting sucked in to the negativity of the workplace, you can take a step back, do some deep breaths and think, how is this affecting me, what can I release and how can I bring more happiness into this space. Happiness is from within and only you can decide how you react to things. Someone might say something nasty to you and you can choose to react negatively, feel hurt or sad or argue back. Or you can decide that someone else words are a reflection of them and not you, you can choose to let it go and calmly move on. That is a power of the mind that meditation can cultivate. And thats not to say that you are now a pushover, you can still speak your mind in a calm manner and actually rise above the situation. The outcome of that situation is that the person that said something is still feeling negative or angry and you come out feeling calm and happy. Only they are in charge of their feelings and only you are in charge of yours.
Meditation doesn’t have to be hours on sitting in silence in the Himalayas wearing a robe. Nor is it reserved for hippies or people who have some kind of spiritual practice (although, if you want that then definitely go for it as It can be life-changing). But meditation can be a simple practice available to everyone. Meditation might be only 5 minutes of finding a quiet corner, closing the eyes and focusing on the breath. The Dalai Lama recommends starting every meditation with three deep breaths. It might be a walking meditation where you go for a walk alone in nature and focus on the sound of your footsteps or the birds in the trees. Meditation can be in the form of exercise such as yoga where you focus on the movement of the body. Or you can even have mini meditations, I usually recommend three breaths. Close the eyes, sit or stand up straight and take three deep, slow breaths in and out and this alone can help to clear the mind and recenter the thoughts.
If you would like to practice a meditation, here is a great one for sleep and relaxation. I recommend doing this before bed.
Meditation for Sleep and Relaxation | Fly Amongst the Stars | 30 Minutes
Lottie.
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