March 12, 2025 • 25 mins
Access the S.T.O.P. Plan here, Friend.
- This is a free resource to support your journey toward a more sustainable rhythm of life
Welcome to another episode of the Disrupting Burnout podcast where we give you the strategies for pouring out purpose without burnout. I am Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson, but you can call me PBJ.
We think we're taking breaks throughout our day, but most of what we consider "breaks" are simply different forms of information consumption. Scrolling social media between tasks? That's not rest—it's just a different cognitive load. Even meaningful conversations with colleagues don't give our brains the downtime needed to process, release toxins, and reset. True restoration requires intentionally creating spaces where your mind can recover.
Silence has become a luxury we rarely experience. As I walk my dog Bella, I have to consciously remind myself not to reach for headphones, not to fill the space with podcasts or music—to simply be present in the moment. This constant stream of information is exactly why many of us live in perpetual overwhelm.
Your brain is miraculous in its ability to heal itself, much like how your body repairs a cut or recovers from surgery. But this natural restoration only happens when we allow it time. Throughout this episode, I share practical strategies for incorporating effective micro breaks into your daily rhythm—from the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique to conscious breathing exercises, from rediscovering the power of stretching to embracing simple, kindergarten-like activities that require presence without complex processing.
After decades of overworking and overachieving, learning to take effective breaks requires practice. But I challenge you to try: step away from problems that feel like brick walls, give your brain true rest, and watch how it rewards you with improved focus, creativity, and solutions that previously eluded you. Download my STOP plan through the link in the show notes and start incorporating these restorative micro breaks today. Your overwhelmed mind deserves this gift of recovery.
Upgrade to Premium Membership to access the Disrupting Burnout audiobook and other bonus content: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1213895/supporters/new
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In order to have a moment of silence, you have to
intentionally make it happen.
Silence is like a rare gift.
We fill our days and ouratmosphere with sound.
Even as I'm walking, bella, Ihave to intentionally tell
myself don't put your headphonesin, don't turn on another song
(00:22):
or another podcast or anotherbook.
Just walk, just be outside andwalk the dog, so that your brain
can rest and recover.
One of the reasons why we areconstantly overwhelmed is
because we are constantlyprocessing information, and not
(00:46):
all of that information is badin and of itself.
Not all of that information isoverwhelming in and of itself,
but it's just too much of it.
Hey, friends, I am Dr PatriceBuckner-Jackson, but you can
call me PBJ, and welcome toanother episode of the
Disrupting Burnout Podcast,where we are giving you the
(01:09):
strategies for pouring outpurpose without continuing to
suffer in the consequences ofburnout.
Friend, if you've beenlistening, you know that we are
focused on resetting our rhythmand, more specifically, this
month, we're learning how totake restorative breaks.
(01:31):
I know, friend, you don't knowhow to take a break.
You don't.
You don't know how to take abreak.
And you know what?
If I'm honest, okay, can I behonest?
I'm not that great at it eitherAll the time.
It's something that I have towork on.
All right, I'm going to startby telling on myself, because I
mean, why not?
We're here now, right?
So I'll give you a couple ofexamples.
(01:54):
One is right now, as I amrecording these podcast episodes
for you.
Between the episodes, you knowI'm going to take a break, and
those breaks have includedscrolling through social media.
I know I know better.
I'm here to teach you about howto take a break.
(02:18):
Failing to take a break, evenas I caught myself doing it, I
had to laugh and say now I'mgonna have to tell them, now I'm
gonna have to tell on myself,because here I am, we've got to
talk about and practice what areal micro break looks like, a
(02:44):
break where you are experiencingrestoration and recovery.
A real micro break.
I'll give you another example.
So last week I had the honor ofspeaking at the Women
Conference in Mississippi, atthe University of Mississippi.
So shout out to the WomenNetwork W-H-E-M-N.
(03:06):
These are women in highereducation from all over the
state of Mississippi.
And y'all, when I tell you thehospitality baby, listen.
They took care of your girl.
All right, but at theconference I gave a keynote and
then I led a panel discussionright afterwards.
(03:28):
And between those two activitiesthe host, dr Mead, shout out to
Dr Mead and all of my otherfriends from the planning
committee, said hey, pbj, take abreak.
You can go into that room overthere.
Have a seat.
Get a few minutes before youcome back out into that room.
Over there, have a seat, get afew minutes before you come back
out.
My assistant was with me and ofcourse she said PBJ, there's a
(03:49):
couch in the back of the room,because this room was glassed so
you could see in.
She said there's a couch in theback of the room.
You should probably go sit inthe back.
Well, are y'all praying forSharon?
Cause she needs it, cause I'mthe back?
Well, are y'all praying forSharon because she needs it,
because I'm?
I'm a mess to take care of?
Okay, because I did not listen,I said oh, I'm good, I'll sit
(04:10):
right here and I'm thinking well, I want to be close to the door
, so when it's time to get backon stage, I'm not late.
Blah, blah, blah.
I should have listened becausesitting there was like a magnet
and I loved it.
People came, we hugged, we tookpictures.
You know, there were tears allthe and I'm so grateful for it.
And I looked at a corner of myeye and Sharon was like now, I
(04:30):
told you to go sit back there.
So it wasn't a break.
It was not a break.
Was it fruitful?
Yes, did it fill my heart?
Yes, was I glad to hug thosenecks?
Yes, and it wasn't a break.
So we have to talk about andlearn how to take effective
(04:53):
micro breaks.
Micro breaks are throughoutyour day, throughout your day.
How are you taking breaksthroughout your day to reset, to
recover, to be refreshed, right, pbj?
I can't stop.
I don't have time to stop.
If I stop, all of this fallsapart.
(05:15):
We're short-staffed.
I don't have anybody that cantake my place at work.
I don't have support at home orat work to stop.
Friends, if any of thesethoughts come to mind when you
think about taking a break, youare the person who needs to stop
the most.
I want to offer you our stopplan Simple.
(05:38):
I want you to use the samestrategies and wisdom and skills
that you use at work and I'mgoing to guide you to using
those strategies to plan microbreaks.
I'm not talking about a month'ssabbatical, but can you
incorporate micro breaks intoyour life as a regular rhythm of
(06:01):
rest so that while you areserving, while you are giving,
you can have moments of revival,so that you can live the life
you're living sustainably.
Friend, you need to grab thisstop plan.
Make sure to click the link inthe show notes or wherever
you're watching or listening tothis, so that you can get what
(06:24):
you need right now.
It can't wait.
I know you do a wonderful job,but people don't know what it
costs you to be you, and youknow what the cost is.
Man.
It's time to stop.
Grab the plan today.
I want you to think of a realmicro break as a moment where
(06:48):
your brain gets to rest.
Let's get a little deeper intoit, because I think you think
you're taking breaks, but you'renot.
You think you're stopping for amoment, but you're not.
If you stop for a moment and,like I did today, start
scrolling and taking in moreinformation, to some point,
maybe doom scrolling, that's notrest.
(07:12):
That's more impact, moreinformation, more processing on
your brain.
That's not rest If you take abreak to have a conversation
with someone, even if it'ssomeone you love, and there is a
place for social rest, there isa place to engage with other
people, to feel connected, tohave that reciprocity.
(07:34):
But that's not what we'retalking about in this moment.
I'm talking about micro breaksthrough your day where your
brain gets the opportunity torecover, where your brain gets
the opportunity to releasetoxins, where your brain gets
the opportunity to kind of resetitself so that it can take in
more information.
And that is not having aconversation with a friend that
(07:57):
is not listening to a podcast,even if it's mine that is not
listening to an audio book.
That is not.
We are addicted to information.
We're addicted, we are addictedto taking in more and more and
more information.
(08:17):
You don't even have moments ofsilence right now.
In order to have a moment ofsilence, you have to
intentionally make it happen.
Silence is like a rare gift.
We fill our days and ouratmosphere with sound.
Even as I'm walking, bella, Ihave to intentionally tell
(08:40):
myself don't put your headphonesin, don't turn on another song
or another podcast or anotherbook.
Just walk, just be outside andwalk the dog so that your brain
can rest and recover.
One of the reasons why we areconstantly overwhelmed is
(09:04):
because we are constantlyprocessing information, and not
all of that information is badin and of itself.
Not all of that information isoverwhelming in and of itself,
but it's just too much of it.
It's too much information.
So I want you to reconsider howyou are giving your brain a
(09:28):
break, how you are taking microbreaks throughout the day to
allow your brain to repair, torecover and reset.
You know, these bodies that weare created in, these bodies are
miracles.
It's a miracle how your bodycan heal itself, how you can get
(09:54):
a cut and in a few days, thatcut has healed and new skin has
grown.
Or how you can go throughsurgery and through going
through that surgery, your bodybegins to mend itself back
together.
Or how parts can, cells canregenerate.
These bodies are a miracle, andthat includes your brain.
(10:17):
Your brain can recover, it canrefresh itself, it can release
toxins, it can reset, it cancome back better after a break.
But we have to allow time and wehave to be intentional about
taking micro breaks that areeffective.
(10:38):
So let me give you a few ideasof micro breaks that are
effective and, friend, I'm goingto tell you now.
There are things that you know.
There are things that you know,but they seem too simple, they
(10:59):
seem like things you reallydon't have time to do, right?
So I got a list here that Iliterally Googled, and then I
have a list that I've writtenfor you that I want to share
with you, right?
So this is just straight Google.
All right, let's not be deephere.
Straight Google.
When I put in restorativebreaks in Google, here are some
(11:22):
of the things that came up.
Move your body.
Even a short walk or a moderateexercise can improve your
concentration and cognitivefunctioning, whether that is
three squats or five squats.
Get up out of your chair to dothat, whether that's a walk down
the hall and back, or you shutyour door, you turn your music
(11:44):
up and dance.
Move your body, connect withnature.
Being in nature can berestorative.
I want to come back to that one.
Rest your eyes.
Take a break from screens.
Stretch.
Stretching can help you relax.
I want to come back to that oneMeditate.
You can listen to a guidedmeditation or attend a session
(12:07):
online.
Take a nap.
A short power nap can help youfeel more energized.
So let me talk about connectingwith nature.
I want you to think about howyou can walk outside.
I'm talking five or ten minutes.
(12:29):
Walk outside, and this is notmy meditation, but this is one
I've heard over and over foryears, but it helps.
It's a mindful exercise thatallows you to ground yourself in
your environment.
So let me tell you what I mean.
Walk outside and I want you toname five things that you see,
(12:55):
doesn't matter what it is A tree, a flower, a bee, a car, a
building, it doesn't matter.
Five things that you see.
And then I want you to namefour things that you hear.
For whatever it is, whatever itis in your environment, in your
atmosphere, for things that youhear.
(13:21):
So right now I can say I canhear Bella snoring.
I hope y'all can't.
I took her little bells off andI took all of her little ringy,
dingy things off so that shewould not interrupt our podcast.
And now she is snoring like agrown man.
Our podcast, and now she issnoring like a grown man.
All right, focus, pbj.
Five things.
You see, four things.
(13:47):
You hear, three things that yousmell, three things that you
smell, two things that you cantouch and one thing that you
taste.
Sometimes taste can be a littlehard, but just try it.
The goal is not to get thingsright.
The goal is to ground yourselfin your environment and allow
your brain to just center for aminute and the next thing is to
(14:12):
take a deep breath.
And when you're taking a deepbreath even if you're doing this
from your desk I want you totake a deep breath and hold it
at the top for four seconds andthen release it very slowly.
So you take your breath in One,two, three.
Hold One, two, three, four.
(14:37):
Release one, two, three, four,five, six.
Sometimes we don't even realizewe are holding our breath, or
we got our shoulders up by ourears or our tongue is stuck to
the roof of our mouth becausewe're not relaxed.
(15:00):
So, after a tough meeting orafter a big assignment or a hard
project or maybe you're stillstruggling with it and you
haven't gotten it done yet justtake a moment, take a moment to
ground yourself, take a momentto breathe.
I want to talk about stretching.
Stretching is something that Ihave rediscovered, I'll say, in
(15:24):
the last year or so.
So, growing up, I was always acheerleader.
Yes, I was, I was the captainof the cheerleading squad.
I was, I was the captain of thecheerleading squad.
I did not play Okay, I was aserious cheerleader.
But I remember, withcheerleading, stretching just
seemed like the throwaway thing.
We did it right Because we weretumbling and holding folks up
(15:50):
in the air and all the things.
So we did the stretching, butit just felt like something
extra.
Okay, we're just going to dothis to say we did it.
We checked the box.
It wasn't until I turned 40,friend, that I realized how
essential stretching is and howimportant it is to stretch.
Learning how to stretch hasliterally relieved pain from my
(16:14):
body my knees and my hips and mylower back and pain.
I'm talking chronic pain, dayto day pain working with.
Shout out to Dr G, dr SantresaGreenidge, with my wellness
sessions, dr G has taught me thepower of stretching and how a
(16:35):
stretching regimen helps mymuscles carry my body and do
what I need to do without pain.
So when I say stretching, I'mtelling you do not sleep on it.
Do not sleep on it.
Do not just check the box, butlearn how to stretch effectively
.
The box, but learn how tostretch effectively.
(17:01):
Dr G encouraged me to get astretch strap that helps me to
stretch more deeply.
Y'all just do it.
Okay, I'll link Dr G here sothat you all can reach out to
her if you need help.
But just I mean really.
I mean, learn how to stretchwell, learn how to stretch
appropriately, learn how tostretch effectively.
It will bring you relief,especially for my friends who
(17:23):
are 40, nearing 40, over 40.
Friend, you need to bestretching.
You need to be stretching.
I don't know if anybody toldyou, but you need to be
stretching.
And there are some stretchesthat you can do just sitting at
your desk.
There are some stretches thatyou can do just standing up in
the office, if you, or in yourclassroom, wherever you might be
(17:45):
.
But you need to learn how tostretch your muscles, not only
to relieve you physically, butalso to relieve you mentally,
right?
So I'm going to keep giving yousome tips for how to take an
effective break, a micro breakthat works.
So here are a few more things.
We talked about walking outside,deep breathing, mindful
(18:06):
exercises, breath prayer, whereyou breathe in and you breathe
out.
And as you breathe in, maybeyou breathe in a request and
then you breathe out a scriptureor affirmation or word that
encourages you, whatever worksfor you.
(18:27):
Maybe it's scripture that yourecognize or you've memorized
Whatever works for you.
But breath prayer is anotherway to take an effective break.
And then this last one I love.
It may not be your thing, but Ilove it.
Another way of grounding is toliterally put your feet in the
(18:49):
grass or your hands in some dirt.
Now, friend, listen to me, juststay with me.
Okay, like I grew up in thecountry, I grew up in
Crockettville, south Carolina,and my people are farming people
and when I was growing up Ithought inside was my assigned
place.
I don't want nothing to do withall that dirt, I don't want to
be out there, I don't want topick nothing, I don't want to be
(19:12):
in the heat, I didn't wantanything to do with it.
Right?
But as I've gotten older, I havelearned that having my hands in
the soil whether I'm replantingone of my potted plants or
whether I'm planting a new oneor putting a little raised bed
together having my hands in thesoil fuels my heart.
(19:35):
And I am not out therecalculating anything, trying to
figure it out, processinganything.
I'm just doing what I'm doing.
I'm just doing what I'm doing,and it is so refreshing to me,
it gives my brain such a break.
(19:55):
So when I say micro break, youdon't necessarily have to sit
there and just do nothing.
For a lot of us that isdetrimental, because then our
mind really starts to run right.
But you can do activity thatallows your brain to rest.
I'll give you one more and thenI'm going to let you go.
So last week I've told you alsoI have a community of women
(20:20):
called the Heart Work Communityand this community is
faith-filled women and we walkout our faith together.
They're also professional women,so we talk about work
strategies and how to getthrough things.
Women, so we talk about workstrategies and how to get
through things and we do lifetogether, from empty nesting to
retiring to getting new jobs, togetting married, to having
(20:40):
babies.
All of it is happening in thehard work community.
And last week we had acelebration.
We have some sisters in thecommunity who are getting
married and who got new jobs andwho are preparing to welcome a
new baby.
So we took a moment tocelebrate our sisters and in
that celebration I mailed theladies.
(21:03):
I should have gotten all ofthis to show you, but I mailed
the ladies a packet and I toldthem not to open the packet
until we were all together onZoom, because they live all over
the country Until we were alltogether on Zoom and we opened
them.
And before they opened them, Itold them that the theme of our
(21:24):
celebration was BTK Day and Ihad them guess what BTK was.
Some of them got pretty closeonce they saw what was in the
packet.
But BTK is back to kindergartenday and this is something that I
would do with my collegestudents as they got into
midterm time or exam time andthey were all stressed out.
(21:47):
I would call a BTK day, and forBTK day I would bring coloring
books.
Btk day, and for BTK day Iwould bring coloring books.
So I sent all the ladies acoloring book and I sent them
some colored pencils and someplay-doh and mini puzzles and um
, I think that's it, I can'tremember if they're.
Oh, we, we got some specialheart work, um, heart sister
(22:12):
keychains made.
So they got their officialkeychains.
But what I told them was Iwanted to offer them the gift of
simplicity.
I wanted to offer them the giftof simplicity because when
things are chaotic, simple is agift.
So I encourage them.
(22:34):
If they felt like coloring, ifthey felt like playing with
Play-Doh, if they felt likeputting together a puzzle, I
encourage them to embracesimplicity in the middle of the
chaos.
So maybe in your micro breakyou want to keep a coloring book
and some pens in your office,or maybe a little mini thing of
(22:59):
Play-Doh or a little puzzle.
I've been thinking about how Ican take my life back to a
simpler time.
In the middle of chaos,simplicity is a gift.
In the middle of chaos,simplicity is a gift.
So I've been intentional about,instead of the scrolling,
(23:19):
instead of the information,instead of the devices, what can
I do that allows my brain torecover?
So maybe you want to color oryou want to play with Lego
blocks or whatever fuels you,friend, but I want you to
(23:39):
practice and it takes practice.
If you have been overworkingand overachieving for over a
decade, it's going to take morethan one time trying for you to
get this right, for you to getthis right.
(24:00):
So I want to encourage you topractice taking effective micro
breaks throughout your day.
Give your brain a chance torecover and restore itself, a
chance to release toxins, achance to process information
from earlier in the day andwatch how your brain will reward
you by coming back more focused, more productive, more creative
(24:20):
, more strategic.
Friend, you can get the thingdone.
You hear me, the things thatare frustrating you, the things
that feel like brick walls likeyou cannot find the solution.
I dare you to give your brain abreak.
I challenge you Walk away fromit.
Give your brain an effectivebreak and watch how your brain
(24:42):
will respond in giving you whatyou need.
All right, friend, I got to letyou go, but I hope you got what
you needed.
And my challenge to you is topractice taking effective micro
breaks throughout your day andthen let me know, let me know
you did it and how it went, andkeep trying.
(25:04):
All right, friend, as always.
You know you are powerful, youare significant, you are
brilliant and you are loved.
Love always.
Friend PBJj, I'll see you nexttime, bye.
In order to have a moment of silence, you have to
intentionally make it happen.
Silence is like a rare gift.
We fill our days and ouratmosphere with sound.
Even as I'm walking, bella, Ihave to intentionally tell
myself don't put your headphonesin, don't turn on another song
(00:22):
or another podcast or anotherbook.
Just walk, just be outside andwalk the dog, so that your brain
can rest and recover.
One of the reasons why we areconstantly overwhelmed is
because we are constantlyprocessing information, and not
(00:46):
all of that information is badin and of itself.
Not all of that information isoverwhelming in and of itself,
but it's just too much of it.
Hey, friends, I am Dr PatriceBuckner-Jackson, but you can
call me PBJ, and welcome toanother episode of the
Disrupting Burnout Podcast,where we are giving you the
(01:09):
strategies for pouring outpurpose without continuing to
suffer in the consequences ofburnout.
Friend, if you've beenlistening, you know that we are
focused on resetting our rhythmand, more specifically, this
month, we're learning how totake restorative breaks.
(01:31):
I know, friend, you don't knowhow to take a break.
You don't.
You don't know how to take abreak.
And you know what?
If I'm honest, okay, can I behonest?
I'm not that great at it eitherAll the time.
It's something that I have towork on.
All right, I'm going to startby telling on myself, because I
mean, why not?
We're here now, right?
So I'll give you a couple ofexamples.
(01:54):
One is right now, as I amrecording these podcast episodes
for you.
Between the episodes, you knowI'm going to take a break, and
those breaks have includedscrolling through social media.
I know I know better.
I'm here to teach you about howto take a break.
(02:18):
Failing to take a break, evenas I caught myself doing it, I
had to laugh and say now I'mgonna have to tell them, now I'm
gonna have to tell on myself,because here I am, we've got to
talk about and practice what areal micro break looks like, a
(02:44):
break where you are experiencingrestoration and recovery.
A real micro break.
I'll give you another example.
So last week I had the honor ofspeaking at the Women
Conference in Mississippi, atthe University of Mississippi.
So shout out to the WomenNetwork W-H-E-M-N.
(03:06):
These are women in highereducation from all over the
state of Mississippi.
And y'all, when I tell you thehospitality baby, listen.
They took care of your girl.
All right, but at theconference I gave a keynote and
then I led a panel discussionright afterwards.
(03:28):
And between those two activitiesthe host, dr Mead, shout out to
Dr Mead and all of my otherfriends from the planning
committee, said hey, pbj, take abreak.
You can go into that room overthere.
Have a seat.
Get a few minutes before youcome back out into that room.
Over there, have a seat, get afew minutes before you come back
out.
My assistant was with me and ofcourse she said PBJ, there's a
(03:49):
couch in the back of the room,because this room was glassed so
you could see in.
She said there's a couch in theback of the room.
You should probably go sit inthe back.
Well, are y'all praying forSharon?
Cause she needs it, cause I'mthe back?
Well, are y'all praying forSharon because she needs it,
because I'm?
I'm a mess to take care of?
Okay, because I did not listen,I said oh, I'm good, I'll sit
(04:10):
right here and I'm thinking well, I want to be close to the door
, so when it's time to get backon stage, I'm not late.
Blah, blah, blah.
I should have listened becausesitting there was like a magnet
and I loved it.
People came, we hugged, we tookpictures.
You know, there were tears allthe and I'm so grateful for it.
And I looked at a corner of myeye and Sharon was like now, I
(04:30):
told you to go sit back there.
So it wasn't a break.
It was not a break.
Was it fruitful?
Yes, did it fill my heart?
Yes, was I glad to hug thosenecks?
Yes, and it wasn't a break.
So we have to talk about andlearn how to take effective
(04:53):
micro breaks.
Micro breaks are throughoutyour day, throughout your day.
How are you taking breaksthroughout your day to reset, to
recover, to be refreshed, right, pbj?
I can't stop.
I don't have time to stop.
If I stop, all of this fallsapart.
(05:15):
We're short-staffed.
I don't have anybody that cantake my place at work.
I don't have support at home orat work to stop.
Friends, if any of thesethoughts come to mind when you
think about taking a break, youare the person who needs to stop
the most.
I want to offer you our stopplan Simple.
(05:38):
I want you to use the samestrategies and wisdom and skills
that you use at work and I'mgoing to guide you to using
those strategies to plan microbreaks.
I'm not talking about a month'ssabbatical, but can you
incorporate micro breaks intoyour life as a regular rhythm of
(06:01):
rest so that while you areserving, while you are giving,
you can have moments of revival,so that you can live the life
you're living sustainably.
Friend, you need to grab thisstop plan.
Make sure to click the link inthe show notes or wherever
you're watching or listening tothis, so that you can get what
(06:24):
you need right now.
It can't wait.
I know you do a wonderful job,but people don't know what it
costs you to be you, and youknow what the cost is.
Man.
It's time to stop.
Grab the plan today.
I want you to think of a realmicro break as a moment where
(06:48):
your brain gets to rest.
Let's get a little deeper intoit, because I think you think
you're taking breaks, but you'renot.
You think you're stopping for amoment, but you're not.
If you stop for a moment and,like I did today, start
scrolling and taking in moreinformation, to some point,
maybe doom scrolling, that's notrest.
(07:12):
That's more impact, moreinformation, more processing on
your brain.
That's not rest If you take abreak to have a conversation
with someone, even if it'ssomeone you love, and there is a
place for social rest, there isa place to engage with other
people, to feel connected, tohave that reciprocity.
(07:34):
But that's not what we'retalking about in this moment.
I'm talking about micro breaksthrough your day where your
brain gets the opportunity torecover, where your brain gets
the opportunity to releasetoxins, where your brain gets
the opportunity to kind of resetitself so that it can take in
more information.
And that is not having aconversation with a friend that
(07:57):
is not listening to a podcast,even if it's mine that is not
listening to an audio book.
That is not.
We are addicted to information.
We're addicted, we are addictedto taking in more and more and
more information.
(08:17):
You don't even have moments ofsilence right now.
In order to have a moment ofsilence, you have to
intentionally make it happen.
Silence is like a rare gift.
We fill our days and ouratmosphere with sound.
Even as I'm walking, bella, Ihave to intentionally tell
(08:40):
myself don't put your headphonesin, don't turn on another song
or another podcast or anotherbook.
Just walk, just be outside andwalk the dog so that your brain
can rest and recover.
One of the reasons why we areconstantly overwhelmed is
(09:04):
because we are constantlyprocessing information, and not
all of that information is badin and of itself.
Not all of that information isoverwhelming in and of itself,
but it's just too much of it.
It's too much information.
So I want you to reconsider howyou are giving your brain a
(09:28):
break, how you are taking microbreaks throughout the day to
allow your brain to repair, torecover and reset.
You know, these bodies that weare created in, these bodies are
miracles.
It's a miracle how your bodycan heal itself, how you can get
(09:54):
a cut and in a few days, thatcut has healed and new skin has
grown.
Or how you can go throughsurgery and through going
through that surgery, your bodybegins to mend itself back
together.
Or how parts can, cells canregenerate.
These bodies are a miracle, andthat includes your brain.
(10:17):
Your brain can recover, it canrefresh itself, it can release
toxins, it can reset, it cancome back better after a break.
But we have to allow time and wehave to be intentional about
taking micro breaks that areeffective.
(10:38):
So let me give you a few ideasof micro breaks that are
effective and, friend, I'm goingto tell you now.
There are things that you know.
There are things that you know,but they seem too simple, they
(10:59):
seem like things you reallydon't have time to do, right?
So I got a list here that Iliterally Googled, and then I
have a list that I've writtenfor you that I want to share
with you, right?
So this is just straight Google.
All right, let's not be deephere.
Straight Google.
When I put in restorativebreaks in Google, here are some
(11:22):
of the things that came up.
Move your body.
Even a short walk or a moderateexercise can improve your
concentration and cognitivefunctioning, whether that is
three squats or five squats.
Get up out of your chair to dothat, whether that's a walk down
the hall and back, or you shutyour door, you turn your music
(11:44):
up and dance.
Move your body, connect withnature.
Being in nature can berestorative.
I want to come back to that one.
Rest your eyes.
Take a break from screens.
Stretch.
Stretching can help you relax.
I want to come back to that oneMeditate.
You can listen to a guidedmeditation or attend a session
(12:07):
online.
Take a nap.
A short power nap can help youfeel more energized.
So let me talk about connectingwith nature.
I want you to think about howyou can walk outside.
I'm talking five or ten minutes.
(12:29):
Walk outside, and this is notmy meditation, but this is one
I've heard over and over foryears, but it helps.
It's a mindful exercise thatallows you to ground yourself in
your environment.
So let me tell you what I mean.
Walk outside and I want you toname five things that you see,
(12:55):
doesn't matter what it is A tree, a flower, a bee, a car, a
building, it doesn't matter.
Five things that you see.
And then I want you to namefour things that you hear.
For whatever it is, whatever itis in your environment, in your
atmosphere, for things that youhear.
(13:21):
So right now I can say I canhear Bella snoring.
I hope y'all can't.
I took her little bells off andI took all of her little ringy,
dingy things off so that shewould not interrupt our podcast.
And now she is snoring like agrown man.
Our podcast, and now she issnoring like a grown man.
All right, focus, pbj.
Five things.
You see, four things.
(13:47):
You hear, three things that yousmell, three things that you
smell, two things that you cantouch and one thing that you
taste.
Sometimes taste can be a littlehard, but just try it.
The goal is not to get thingsright.
The goal is to ground yourselfin your environment and allow
your brain to just center for aminute and the next thing is to
(14:12):
take a deep breath.
And when you're taking a deepbreath even if you're doing this
from your desk I want you totake a deep breath and hold it
at the top for four seconds andthen release it very slowly.
So you take your breath in One,two, three.
Hold One, two, three, four.
(14:37):
Release one, two, three, four,five, six.
Sometimes we don't even realizewe are holding our breath, or
we got our shoulders up by ourears or our tongue is stuck to
the roof of our mouth becausewe're not relaxed.
(15:00):
So, after a tough meeting orafter a big assignment or a hard
project or maybe you're stillstruggling with it and you
haven't gotten it done yet justtake a moment, take a moment to
ground yourself, take a momentto breathe.
I want to talk about stretching.
Stretching is something that Ihave rediscovered, I'll say, in
(15:24):
the last year or so.
So, growing up, I was always acheerleader.
Yes, I was, I was the captainof the cheerleading squad.
I was, I was the captain of thecheerleading squad.
I did not play Okay, I was aserious cheerleader.
But I remember, withcheerleading, stretching just
seemed like the throwaway thing.
We did it right Because we weretumbling and holding folks up
(15:50):
in the air and all the things.
So we did the stretching, butit just felt like something
extra.
Okay, we're just going to dothis to say we did it.
We checked the box.
It wasn't until I turned 40,friend, that I realized how
essential stretching is and howimportant it is to stretch.
Learning how to stretch hasliterally relieved pain from my
(16:14):
body my knees and my hips and mylower back and pain.
I'm talking chronic pain, dayto day pain working with.
Shout out to Dr G, dr SantresaGreenidge, with my wellness
sessions, dr G has taught me thepower of stretching and how a
(16:35):
stretching regimen helps mymuscles carry my body and do
what I need to do without pain.
So when I say stretching, I'mtelling you do not sleep on it.
Do not sleep on it.
Do not just check the box, butlearn how to stretch effectively
.
The box, but learn how tostretch effectively.
(17:01):
Dr G encouraged me to get astretch strap that helps me to
stretch more deeply.
Y'all just do it.
Okay, I'll link Dr G here sothat you all can reach out to
her if you need help.
But just I mean really.
I mean, learn how to stretchwell, learn how to stretch
appropriately, learn how tostretch effectively.
It will bring you relief,especially for my friends who
(17:23):
are 40, nearing 40, over 40.
Friend, you need to bestretching.
You need to be stretching.
I don't know if anybody toldyou, but you need to be
stretching.
And there are some stretchesthat you can do just sitting at
your desk.
There are some stretches thatyou can do just standing up in
the office, if you, or in yourclassroom, wherever you might be
(17:45):
.
But you need to learn how tostretch your muscles, not only
to relieve you physically, butalso to relieve you mentally,
right?
So I'm going to keep giving yousome tips for how to take an
effective break, a micro breakthat works.
So here are a few more things.
We talked about walking outside,deep breathing, mindful
(18:06):
exercises, breath prayer, whereyou breathe in and you breathe
out.
And as you breathe in, maybeyou breathe in a request and
then you breathe out a scriptureor affirmation or word that
encourages you, whatever worksfor you.
(18:27):
Maybe it's scripture that yourecognize or you've memorized
Whatever works for you.
But breath prayer is anotherway to take an effective break.
And then this last one I love.
It may not be your thing, but Ilove it.
Another way of grounding is toliterally put your feet in the
(18:49):
grass or your hands in some dirt.
Now, friend, listen to me, juststay with me.
Okay, like I grew up in thecountry, I grew up in
Crockettville, south Carolina,and my people are farming people
and when I was growing up Ithought inside was my assigned
place.
I don't want nothing to do withall that dirt, I don't want to
be out there, I don't want topick nothing, I don't want to be
(19:12):
in the heat, I didn't wantanything to do with it.
Right?
But as I've gotten older, I havelearned that having my hands in
the soil whether I'm replantingone of my potted plants or
whether I'm planting a new oneor putting a little raised bed
together having my hands in thesoil fuels my heart.
(19:35):
And I am not out therecalculating anything, trying to
figure it out, processinganything.
I'm just doing what I'm doing.
I'm just doing what I'm doing,and it is so refreshing to me,
it gives my brain such a break.
(19:55):
So when I say micro break, youdon't necessarily have to sit
there and just do nothing.
For a lot of us that isdetrimental, because then our
mind really starts to run right.
But you can do activity thatallows your brain to rest.
I'll give you one more and thenI'm going to let you go.
So last week I've told you alsoI have a community of women
(20:20):
called the Heart Work Communityand this community is
faith-filled women and we walkout our faith together.
They're also professional women,so we talk about work
strategies and how to getthrough things.
Women, so we talk about workstrategies and how to get
through things and we do lifetogether, from empty nesting to
retiring to getting new jobs, togetting married, to having
(20:40):
babies.
All of it is happening in thehard work community.
And last week we had acelebration.
We have some sisters in thecommunity who are getting
married and who got new jobs andwho are preparing to welcome a
new baby.
So we took a moment tocelebrate our sisters and in
that celebration I mailed theladies.
(21:03):
I should have gotten all ofthis to show you, but I mailed
the ladies a packet and I toldthem not to open the packet
until we were all together onZoom, because they live all over
the country Until we were alltogether on Zoom and we opened
them.
And before they opened them, Itold them that the theme of our
(21:24):
celebration was BTK Day and Ihad them guess what BTK was.
Some of them got pretty closeonce they saw what was in the
packet.
But BTK is back to kindergartenday and this is something that I
would do with my collegestudents as they got into
midterm time or exam time andthey were all stressed out.
(21:47):
I would call a BTK day, and forBTK day I would bring coloring
books.
Btk day, and for BTK day Iwould bring coloring books.
So I sent all the ladies acoloring book and I sent them
some colored pencils and someplay-doh and mini puzzles and um
, I think that's it, I can'tremember if they're.
Oh, we, we got some specialheart work, um, heart sister
(22:12):
keychains made.
So they got their officialkeychains.
But what I told them was Iwanted to offer them the gift of
simplicity.
I wanted to offer them the giftof simplicity because when
things are chaotic, simple is agift.
So I encourage them.
(22:34):
If they felt like coloring, ifthey felt like playing with
Play-Doh, if they felt likeputting together a puzzle, I
encourage them to embracesimplicity in the middle of the
chaos.
So maybe in your micro breakyou want to keep a coloring book
and some pens in your office,or maybe a little mini thing of
(22:59):
Play-Doh or a little puzzle.
I've been thinking about how Ican take my life back to a
simpler time.
In the middle of chaos,simplicity is a gift.
In the middle of chaos,simplicity is a gift.
So I've been intentional about,instead of the scrolling,
(23:19):
instead of the information,instead of the devices, what can
I do that allows my brain torecover?
So maybe you want to color oryou want to play with Lego
blocks or whatever fuels you,friend, but I want you to
(23:39):
practice and it takes practice.
If you have been overworkingand overachieving for over a
decade, it's going to take morethan one time trying for you to
get this right, for you to getthis right.
(24:00):
So I want to encourage you topractice taking effective micro
breaks throughout your day.
Give your brain a chance torecover and restore itself, a
chance to release toxins, achance to process information
from earlier in the day andwatch how your brain will reward
you by coming back more focused, more productive, more creative
(24:20):
, more strategic.
Friend, you can get the thingdone.
You hear me, the things thatare frustrating you, the things
that feel like brick walls likeyou cannot find the solution.
I dare you to give your brain abreak.
I challenge you Walk away fromit.
Give your brain an effectivebreak and watch how your brain
(24:42):
will respond in giving you whatyou need.
All right, friend, I got to letyou go, but I hope you got what
you needed.
And my challenge to you is topractice taking effective micro
breaks throughout your day andthen let me know, let me know
you did it and how it went, andkeep trying.
(25:04):
All right, friend, as always.
You know you are powerful, youare significant, you are
brilliant and you are loved.
Love always.
Friend PBJj, I'll see you nexttime, bye.
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