You know better than anyone all the complications that healthcare professionals face. The workdays are usually exhausting and have even been complicated since the start of the pandemic. The immediate consequence is a permanent fatigue that generates high levels of stress and anxiety. When that happens, the chances of making mistakes when caring for patients also increase. It is a vicious circle in which everyone is affected. To prevent this from happening to you, there are several alternatives and one of them is mindfulness.
Without falling into religious issues, it is a technique that allows you to achieve full attention in the “here and now”. It helps to know and appreciate what is around you to focus your efforts and manage negative emotions.
In this way, the mindfulness or mindfulness is dedicated to maintaining an internal tranquility so that you can project it to others. To carry it out, there are five essential steps that you can apply in your life outside the office and they are as follows.
stimulating breath
Breathing is a mindfulness practice that will help you boost your energy. In this case the technique of bellows breathing is well known in yoga like prana. Keeping her back straight and her shoulders relaxing, she begins to breathe in and out quickly through her nose. Keep your mouth closed and relaxed at the same time. Perform three complete breathing cycles per second. As you breathe in you may notice a rapid movement in the diaphragm.
4-7-8 breathing to reduce stress
This technique will help you relax as it works as a natural tranquilizer for the nervous system. It consists of inhaling while counting to four, holding your breath until you reach seven and exhaling to the count of eight, if you can speed it up it will be much better. Remember not to do more than four sessions, as you could get dizzy.
count your breaths
Counting your breath is a traditional technique for finding calm in any situation. Practice it for ten minutes when you need it and you will see the difference. To perform it, mentally count your breath to one and exhale slowly. Inhale again, count to two, and exhale slowly. Continue counting repeating the procedure until you reach ten and you will see that it is a good form of relaxation.
Paint mandalas or draw
Developing your creative part is always therapeutic. Dedicating a while or even a few minutes of your time to this activity will allow you to free your mind and let your thoughts flow while doing a relaxing activity.
walk and watch
Avoid using your phone and direct your attention to what surrounds you or where you walk to connect with nature. To do this, focus on sounds, sensations and smells around you, you will see that it is an effective formula to reduce anxiety.