When I was in graduate school, burnout seemed to me to be something that would never happen to me. I exercised regularly, ate healthy, and had a well-rounded social life and many hobbies. I thought self-care was so easy.
10 months of my career: I quit my first professional consulting job to do a yoga teacher training and move to Australia. I was burned out and swore I would never go back to counseling.
As it turned out, the yoga teacher training was exactly what I needed to safely return to counseling. I would like to share with my fellow consultants some tips and tricks that I've learned along the way that go beyond bubble baths and training plans. These tips apply to everyone, regardless of fitness level, religion, age or experience.
Evidence-based breathing
Several breathing techniques have an evidence base to support their effectiveness. I am sharing them first because I know if you are anything like me you want solutions and you want them now. However, I encourage you to notice how you feel with each exercise. So many of the things that professional consultants do are result-oriented. Allow yourself once to do something just because it feels good.
Deep abdominal breathing: Most people know the advantages of deep abdominal breathing (diaphragmatic breathing). Inhaling into the lower abdomen stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and massages the vagus nerve. It's the fastest way to return to a state of calm, and yet it seems to be the most overlooked form of self-care.
Deep abdominal breathing can take place anytime and anywhere. Even so, people often don't know how to breathe into their lower lungs. First, practice lying on your back with one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach. Notice where the breath flows. It can be helpful to imagine yourself blowing your stomach up like a balloon as you inhale and deflating as you exhale.
As soon as you have mastered this technique, you can do it while sitting. This is where the real magic happens. You can take a deep breath in a meeting, at your desk, or even in a boring Zoom meeting that could definitely have been an email. It may seem simple, but it is the basis for any other breathing technique.
Breath retention: Breath retention should be carried out with caution. It can be very helpful for people suffering from anxiety and panic attacks. Paradoxically, it can be quite scared.
Respiratory arrest is the practice of holding your breath. This can be done at the top of the inhale or at the bottom of the exhale. Start with the slightest fear by practicing holding up on the inhale.
First take a few deep breaths into your lower abdomen. Count the number of seconds it takes to inhale and exhale and try to make them even. Then, while inhaling, hold down for a second before exhaling.
You can experiment by holding your breath longer as you become more advanced. Try to find the edge before you reach your tolerance window. Fear is not the goal. Instead, try to calm the mind and find comfort in the pause between inhaling and exhaling. Trust that the next breath will always come.
4-7-8 Breathing: Once you have practiced deep abdominal breathing and breathing arrest, you can put the two together and discover the magic of 4-7-8. In this technique, you breathe in until 4, hold until 7, and breathe out until 8.
Note that this is a practice of breathing deeply into your low belly while holding your breath. Another great way to stimulate vaginal tone and tap into the parasympathetic nervous system is to make your exhale twice as long as the inhale. This breathing technique has it all.
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Yoga-informed strategies
As a yoga teacher and Reiki healer, I have learned strategies to release the energy that is exchanged between students and teachers in a session or class. However, I was never taught how to deal with the spiritual and energetic exchanges that take place with my counseling clients. I think that's what led to my experience with burnout. Like energy workers and yoga teachers, counselors must have exercises to let go of the remaining energy after a therapy session is over.
In the years since the beginning of my yoga teacher training, I have taken up various yoga techniques that I have integrated into my self-care practice. Some of them come from my Reiki training, which is a form of energy healing. While these techniques are not evidence-based, I again encourage you to put yourself in their shoes and choose what feels right. Feel free to modify it in a way that suits your individual needs.
Energy sweeping: Energy sweeping is a Reiki technique. However, it is similar to a self-care technique used in Lisa Dion's Synergistic Play Therapy. The longer I work in both yoga and counseling, the more similarities I discover.
This is a mental and physical exercise to withdraw energy from the body. This can be a great practice for consultants at the end of the day or used for a quick reset between customer sessions. It might feel a little strange at first. I'll just double check my door is closed before I start.
First, place your palms on your head. Start with sweeping movements that move down and out. Work your way over your body using gentle movements. When you get to your toes, brush the rest of the energy towards a window or door and imagine it leaving your body. You can snap your fingers like you're snapping water off your hands.
Alternative nasal breathing: As an EMDR International Association certified therapist for desensitization and reprocessing of eye movements (EMDR) I love everything bilateral. Alternative nasal breathing (Nadi Shodhana) is supposed to connect both halves of the brain. It is also said to balance the body's energies. When I teach this breathing technique I call it a "911" breath. A few moments with this breathing technique can save me from any mental state.
First, take a comfortable sitting position. Take your right hand to your nose and place your left hand on your lap. Place your ring finger over your left nostril and your thumb over your right. First, inhale deeply into your stomach through both nostrils. Then block the left nostril with your ring finger and inhale through the right one. Switch and block the right nostril with your thumb as you exhale through the left. Inhale through the left side and switch again.
Complete a full cycle of breathing (inhale and exhale) through each nostril. Repeat this as often as necessary to feel a change in condition. I usually find one to five minutes is enough. Finally, exhale through your right nostril, place your hands on your lap, and breathe in normally again. You can find a guided alternative nostril breathing exercise on my website at oliviaschnur.com.
Breath of Union: There are still moments when I am completely exhausted after a long week. If I'm too busy or distracted to do these little self-care rituals every day, I can get lost pretty quickly. The breath of union is another Reiki practice that has helped me come back to myself again and again.
First, bend your elbows with your right palm up and your left palm down on your sides. As you inhale, imagine energy moving up from the earth and down from the cosmos. You can change your sources to suit your belief system.
Hold your breath and bring your hands together in the heart, forming three clockwise circles. As you exhale, place your arms at the sides of your body again, but this time your left hand is pointing up and your right hand is pointing down. Inhale and circle your hands clockwise three more times over your heart. Exhale and point your right palm up and your left palm down. Your hands are in the same position as when you started.
This is a cycle. Complete the cycle at least three times. Continue for as long as you want, but stop if you feel dizzy, nauseous, or tired. Ideally, you will feel more balanced after the first cycle.
Make it a ritual
The biggest lesson I have learned from burnout is that self-care can only be saved at the end of the day or week. Self-care requires lifestyle commitments like eating healthy, exercising, relaxing, and having fun. However, no little self-care routine is complete without little life hacks that reset the nervous system and prepare you for another hour of energy exchange.
Each of these self-care strategies can be performed in less than five minutes. While I know the minutes between client sessions are valuable, save some of them to breathe and reconnect to yourself. At the end of the day, take at least five minutes to re-center and breathe before rushing out of the office.
Try to incorporate at least one or two of these practices into your daily routine. Here are some suggestions:
Practice deep belly breathing as you type your progress notes.
Try alternative nasal breathing after crisis meetings or challenging days.
End the work day with a quick burst of energy so you can leave work at work and be present for the rest of your evening.
Practice the breath of union on the weekends to reconnect with your purpose, higher power or source.
Whichever method works for you, make it sacred. This little routine is your mindful moment to reconnect with yourself. You replenish your soul so that you can fulfill your mission on this earth to help and heal others.
Practical and ethical concerns
Most of these exercises can be done alone. However, you should consider your unique health profile before starting any of these exercises. You can work with a yoga instructor or follow a guided online video.
To ethically and responsibly share these practices with clients, you should first receive formal training in the practice of yoga. Consultants should pay particular attention to Standard C.2. Expertise in the ACA Code of Ethics. Consultants who are interested in new areas of expertise are encouraged to continue their education and training and to gain supervised experience.
I began my formal training with the completion of a trauma-sensitive yoga certificate at Street Yoga. Trauma-sensitive yoga training can be enough to introduce breathwork into clinical sessions. For a thorough understanding of the anatomy, philosophy and ethics of yoga, however, I recommend a 200-hour yoga teacher training course. The registry for yoga teachers is the Yoga Alliance, which has its own code of ethics that yoga teachers must follow.
The last time I started in 2019 with the Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki training. I completed my Level 1 at Jai Westgard in Iowa City, Iowa. I completed my Level 2 with Mikah Jaschke in Decorah, Iowa. The registry for Reiki practitioners is the International Association of Reiki Professionals.
However, you do not need any formal training to take care of yourself. Yoga and Reiki are holistic, natural ways to take care of your emotional, mental, physical and spiritual self-care. I hope these simple yoga-informed self-care strategies serve as a postponement that will allow you to safely and effectively continue this life-changing work as a professional counselor for years to come.
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Olivia Schnur is a licensed mental health consultant in Iowa and a certified EMDR therapist. In addition, she is a 200-hour registered yoga teacher and a level 2 Reiki practitioner. She currently offers online yoga and Reiki on oliviaschnur.com. Contact her at [email protected].
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Opinions and statements in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to reflect the opinions of the editors or guidelines of the American Counseling Association.
