You finish work and go home.
Just when you finally sit down, you start scrolling through your phone.
‘Stretches to relieve fatigue’,
‘Nighttime habits to improve sleep quality’,
‘Breathing techniques to regulate the autonomic nervous system’
I believe these are all beneficial for the body. In fact, trying them can sometimes make you feel better.
But, as I look at the screen, I suddenly think.
I used up my body again today. I kept thinking about my patients. I did the charting, the handovers, and the preparations for tomorrow.
And yet, even after coming home.
I have to stretch.
I have to regulate my breathing.
I have to go to bed early.
I have to recover properly for tomorrow.
Even though work is over, a new ‘job of recovering’ has begun.
Do you ever have nights like that?
■ You recommend rest to patients, but you add tasks for yourself
Healthcare professionals know the importance of adjusting the load.
For patients with severe fatigue, you incorporate rest. If their movement is unstable, you provide more support. You change the amount of exercise according to their condition that day.
If necessary, you reduce the planned tasks.
However, when it comes to ourselves, it is a little different.
I’m tired, so I have to exercise.
My shoulders are heavy, so I have to stretch.
I can’t sleep, so I have to improve my sleep habits.
You adjust the load for patients. For yourself, you add a load for recovery.
It is not that self-care is bad.
However, even if it is a good method, for a tired body, it can sometimes become ‘one more task’ for tonight.
■ Sometimes ‘resting properly’ doesn’t actually let the body rest
You start stretching.
You worry about where you feel the stretch or the difference between your left and right sides, and wonder if you should keep going a little longer.
You try a breathing technique.
If you still don’t feel calm, you wonder if you are doing it wrong.
Even after getting into bed, you find yourself looking at the clock.
‘How many more hours can I sleep?’
‘I have work tomorrow, too.’
Even though you are trying to rest, your mind continues to grade your performance.
Did I do it well?
Did it have an effect?
Will it be useful for tomorrow’s me?
Even your rest time has become time to produce results.
At times like that, at NAMI, we think about something else before adding another self-care method.
What is a task I don’t need to add tonight?
■ Before fixing your body, look at the conditions under which your body is working
When your shoulders feel heavy, rotating them or stretching them is one option.
But before that, look at where you are supporting the weight of your arms.
Even though you are sitting on the sofa, are you holding your smartphone with your elbows floating?
Even though you could use the backrest, are you continuing to hold your posture without leaning back?
Are you worried about tomorrow’s schedule and checking it over and over in your head?
Rest your arms on a cushion.
If you can use a backrest, lean back a little.
If you need to, write down tomorrow’s plans in a note.
That doesn’t necessarily mean your fatigue will disappear. Even so, you might be able to reduce by one the number of tasks your body and mind are still holding onto.
Before trying to ‘rest better,’ reduce your current burden by one thing.
That, too, is a way of engaging with your body.
■ Self-care is not a nightly obligation
If you like exercise, you can exercise.
If stretching feels good, you can stretch.
There will be days when you want to take a long bath or listen to music.
But you don’t have to do the same things on days when you are exhausted.
A method that felt good yesterday might feel like a chore today. That is because your workload, your level of fatigue, and the errands you have left are different from yesterday.
That does not mean you have failed at self-care.
What NAMI wants to change is not the habit of self-care itself.
It is the state of feeling that ‘I must do something for my body, or I am not allowed to rest.’
Do it.
Do a little bit.
Try a different way.
Don’t do it today.
Being able to choose again, according to your body and situation that day.
That is where the entrance to Return lies.
■ You don’t have to try hard to do nothing
Even when told ‘you don’t have to do anything,’ there are nights when doing nothing is difficult.
When you sit quietly, you end up thinking about work. When you put your phone down, you might feel even more anxious. The more you focus on your body, the more you might notice discomfort.
At times like that, if you try hard to ‘stop thinking’ or ‘return to your body’s sensations,’ you end up starting a new task just to rest.
NAMI does not mean to imply that doing nothing is the only correct answer.
Do not add unnecessary work.
You can listen to music. You can look at your phone. You can lie down.
If you don’t want to do anything, you don’t have to do anything.
You don’t have to turn rest into another ‘rule to follow’.
■ Tonight’s Return | 30 seconds before you begin
If you think about doing something good for your body tonight,
before you start, try asking yourself just one question.
‘What is something I don’t have to do tonight?’
It might be stretching.
It might be part of your preparations for tomorrow.
It might be a thought that doesn’t need an answer right now.
Even if nothing comes to mind, that is perfectly fine.
If you are sitting in a chair, check to see if you can use the backrest. If you are lying down, you can just let your body sink into the futon.
There is no need to keep searching for something to feel.
You can just pose the question and stop right there if you like.
After that, if you want to stretch, you can.
If you decide you’d rather skip it today, you can skip it.
If there is something that needs immediate attention, you can take care of that first.
There is no need to time yourself for 30 seconds or complete every step to the end.
You are free to choose whether or not to engage in self-care.
■ Don’t blame yourself for days when you couldn’t recover
The reason you can’t shake off fatigue isn’t just a lack of self-care.
Workload. Shifts where it’s hard to take breaks. Staffing levels. Night shifts or irregular schedules. Roles you carry at home. Pain or health issues.
There are conditions you cannot change on your own.
In such situations, if you keep thinking, ‘I should just rest better’ or ‘I need to find the right self-care for me,’ you end up carrying the burden of recovery all by yourself.
There are limits to what an individual can do.
You don’t need to replace necessary rest, consultation, work adjustments, or medical support with self-care alone.
Don’t blame your own lack of effort for not being able to recover.
NAMI looks not only at how you use your body, but also at the conditions in which that body is placed.
■ You don’t have to treat today’s body as a tool for tomorrow
Healthcare professionals try to prepare their bodies for tomorrow.
Because they will support patients again tomorrow. Because they must focus again tomorrow. Because they want to work safely again tomorrow.
That sentiment is important.
But your body tonight does not exist solely for tomorrow’s work.
It is a body that has stood up, walked, thought, and responded many times today.
The reason that body rests is not just to increase productivity for tomorrow.
Because you are tired today.
That alone is reason enough to rest.
■ Tonight, clock out even from the job of recovering
Today, too, you worked for someone else.
You observed changes in patients. You thought about what was necessary. You kept records. Even after returning home, you did many things.
Even so, there may still be things you haven’t done.
Stretching.
Exercise.
Reading.
Preparing for sleep.
Those habits you heard were good for your body.
But tonight, you don’t have to do any of them.
Let your back rest against the chair.
Let the weight of your arms rest on a cushion.
Let your body rest in your bedding.
So that tomorrow’s work can be thought about tomorrow.
When you can’t carry it all alone, pass it on to people or systems when necessary.
What a tired body needs is not always a ‘better way’.
Tonight, instead of adding one more method, it’s okay to subtract one more task.
The body is not something to be ‘fixed,’ but something to return to.
Return is a present location where you can choose once again.
Even if you, who have supported someone again today, haven’t achieved a single thing for your body.
You don’t have to do resting ‘properly’ either.
Tonight, it is okay to clock out even from the job of recovering.
■ On nights when you want to return to your body | Free Return Audio
Return360 | Don’t carry it all yourself. A 6-minute session to set some of it down
For when you can’t stop thinking about work or tomorrow. This is an audio guide to help you separate what you need to carry now from what can wait, and to let your body lean into the support available to you, like a chair or the floor.
Duration: 6 minutes 31 seconds
There is no need to turn listening to this audio into another task. You can also choose to rest tonight without listening.
■ Returning to your body through other entry points
The feeling that ‘I must do things properly’ keeps your body standing.
An article reflecting on the ‘I must do things properly’ mindset that keeps us moving even after work is done.
On tired days, you need a backrest more than good posture. | Not supporting your body all by yourself
An article written from the perspective of using the support you already have, like a chair or a backrest, before trying hard to fix your posture.
NAMI Map | Choosing an entry point to return from your current state
A guide page where you can find articles and Return audio sessions based on themes close to your current state.
*This article is intended for thinking about daily rest and self-care. If you are experiencing persistent fatigue, pain, insomnia, or if your work or daily life is being affected, please do not rely solely on self-care and consult a medical institution or available support services.
#NAMI #Return #HealthcareProfessional #Caregiver #PhysicalTherapist #SelfCare #Rest #WorkStyle
