Minimizing and managing burnout

• Kevin Behan -- "natural dog training" theory / "Your Dog is Your Mirror"
  • Dogs operate on emotions, going back to wolves
  • Stimulation is driven by emotion, but dogs don't have a way to handle the overstimulation; they are taught that skill
  • WE have this problem when we are alone, isolated
  • Example: dogs maw, but don't bite -- there's restraint
• Like with taichi, you need to root yourself and ground yourself
  • Lightning rod metaphor: you must channel that energy into the ground
  • Find ways to have negative or overwhelming energy go through you into the ground and not hold onto it
  • Push against the wall, the wall pushes back
  • The goal is to not fall down
  • How animals can help you: they lean against you when you lean against them, it's their way of hugging
    • The intensity, the distraction, the circuit helps your body to realize it can release that energy
• Stress is on a spectrum: from DIStress (negative) to EUstress (euphoric)
  • Both affect your body and have a physical reaction
• Stress radar
  • How much stress are you making and/or receiving?
  • Metaphor of a boat on a lake: the ripples are either caused by you, or by external factors
  • A lot of people notice the stress when it's at the center of your radar -- when it's too late, it's already overwhelming
• Physical manifestations of stress without being able to pinpoint the cause
  • The cause doesn't matter as much as focusing on getting yourself back to center
  • Need a technique, a way to reduce tension
• What about exhaustion?
  • Discipline: you need to do the THING you've been practicing -- a movement, a practice, going to a space, etc
  • Once you find your center, it becomes a reference point for you and no one can take that away from you
• Meditation: what is it?
  • Not the same as contemplation or guided imagery, although that can help you get there
  • A feeling of evenness and integration: "you are a round ball"
• Meditation in easy steps
  • Sit on the edge of your chair, hands on knees, and press your feet into the ground. Feel that energy going through you.
  • Focus on your breathing.
  • Meditating with pain or discomfort: make adjustments, stand up, you don't have to be static