Have you ever felt as your responsibilities are tying you down like the mooring ropes of a boat that keeps the vessel from recklessly floating out to sea? I have. Even if I proudly built…
Browsing Categoryburnout
Working Virtually – The Hyperawareness Trap
Living during a pandemic (and now also during very uncertain and volatile times) is a high stress situation. Our health and physical wellbeing and that of our loved ones’ is threatened. Living under social distancing and isolation are also stressful situations, as are experiencing a threat to global safety and stability. We need human togetherness to thrive.
Working Virtually – The Distorted Self-Image Trap
Are you obsessed about how you looked recently during that virtual meeting? Those bags under your eyes seem to get heavier each day. What about that double or triple chin and shiny forehead? There is a word for the hyper awareness of our looks ‘Zoom dysmorphia’.
Pandemic Flux – A Life in the Extended Liminal Lane
Living on ‘surge capacity’ for a long time can result in exhaustion, loss of motivation, and anxiety – the Pandemic Flux Syndrome. How to cope with a constantly changing reality that is mostly out of our control? How do we stay motivated and positive?
A Mindful Mountain Moment
The part of Finland where I grew up had no mountains. It was flat. With a hill popping up here and there. We would drive six hours north beyond the arctic circle to find a…
Gardening Therapy – Corporate Gardening for Wellness
Many books and articles have been written about the benefits of gardening. I am a constant gardener myself having inherited the gardening bug from my parents. Gardening, however, has shown to be very good…
The Seascape Escape
My favorite Disney movie is Moana. Set in the giant Pacific Ocean on an island. Why do I love Moana? It is not just the music, which I do enjoy, or the diverse characters. It is the splendid, friendly, dangerous, luring call of the sea that I love. And Moana, of course, a sensitive, strong and stubborn girl who listens to her inner voice telling her to ride the waves and save her community in the process of her own self discovery.
What does Moana have to do with wellbeing at work?
Force From the Finnish Forest – How nature is your secret to success
Nature and as such the forest provides for us a well of wellbeing. The environment where we live influences our mood. Research shows that our environment can increase and reduce our level of stress, anxiety and even our heart-health. Spending even a short time in nature lowers our blood pressure, reduces anxiety, improves our mood and physical health.
The Power or Perspective – Changing your Scenic View
Creating some mental and emotional distance to what your are experiencing or to your past can help your find new opportunities, creative solutions and reframe a painful past.
Think about what a frame is. It is something we place around a painting. The picture stays the same, but the frame can be changed. Different styles of frames bring out different aspects of the painting, or perhaps completely overwhelms it?
Are We Talking too Much About Being Busy and Burnout?
How do we talk about our work and life? What’s the narrative we are creating? Is our story all about our stress and busyness? Are we glorifying being busy? I admit I fall into this pattern myself. It was my need to be busy, to work hard and prove myself that contributed (only one aspect of many complicated ones) to my burnout. Being busy was an important part of my identity. It still is. I’ve had to re-evaluate my values and beliefs and my sense of self to create a way of living that is healthier and more in harmony with what I need and what I must do.
The stories we create about our lives and who we are shape our lives and who we become. Perhaps it is time to change the narrative? Is there a happy and fulfilled busy? A busy that does not result in burnout?