The COMmunicator 2020-21 Vol. 2 | Page 20

If a wellness committee does not exist in your program, Christiana Care created a great handbook to get one started, linked here:

Sleep

Carving out at least 7 hours of sleep for yourself is easier said than done, especially with a racing mind after a long day of patient care. Headspace has a great sleep feature of the app, including meditations to utilize when you can’t get your mind to stop racing before you go to bed. Also, don’t underestimate the power of good sleep hygiene (a reminder lesson is linked here:

The big picture

The Nagoski sisters identify that the solution to burnout isn’t just self-care, it’s caring for each other. Therefore, the burden of wellness does not rely solely on us, it relies upon a supportive network of friends, colleagues and community that care about your well-being as much as you do. The world is full of problems that require creative solutions right now. We need as many people as possible to be as well as possible to come up with these creative solutions.

If I leave you with nothing else, let it be this quote from the Nagoski sisters: “To be well is not to live in a state of perpetual safety and calm, but to move fluidly from a state of adversity, risk, adventure or excitement, back to safety and calm and out again. Stress is not bad for you. Being stuck is bad for you. In this way, wellness is not a goal that you reach. It is a state of action. It is the freedom to oscillate.”

Follow me @drbouchardwellness on Facebook and Instagram for more wellness tips.

Stay well friends.  <>