If you are exhausted, sometimes you should be active instead of relaxing by doing nothing. An expert explains that there is more than one type of exhaustion—and that is why you need several types of relaxation in your life. The fastest way, as we recommend, is to play Azurslot to get some distraction and a break.
US internist Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith talks about how to improve your own relaxation: You have to learn to recognize why you are actually exhausted and then use one or more of the seven types of relaxation in a targeted manner: physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, social, sensory, or creative.
Dalton-Smith began to explore the topic of work-life balance due to her own symptoms of exhaustion. She identified various forms of stress and exhaustion and defined seven types of recovery tailored to them. Among other things, she concluded that sleep and rest breaks cannot remedy every type of tension. In 2017, she published a book on the subject.
The concept of recovery deficits
Dalton-Smith defines recovery as the regeneration of those parts of our body and psyche “that are particularly stressed in everyday life.” According to her, it is therefore “not just a matter of relaxing on vacation or on the couch, but of specifically addressing the areas where we have a recovery deficit.”
Dalton-Smith began her research into recovery with her own patients. Regardless of their social and economic background, their symptoms of exhaustion showed the same patterns time and again, she explains to Die Zeit.
According to the doctor, there are physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, social, sensory, and creative forms of recovery. A recovery deficit can arise in each of these areas.
Emotionally, mentally, or creatively exhausted? The symptoms
Symptoms of a physical recovery deficit include pain in the joints and in the back and neck area. In addition, there are lymphatic and cardiological irregularities, such as palpitations and water retention. People who are sensory overstimulated, on the other hand, often react with irritability and spontaneous outbursts of anger.
Mentally exhausted people show symptoms such as forgetfulness, poor concentration, and sleep disorders. A social recovery deficit manifests itself in feeling unappreciated or even exploited by others.
Sometimes, the forms of recovery cannot be clearly distinguished from one another based on the symptoms. According to Dalton-Smith, both creative recovery and spiritual recovery serve the search for a higher meaning in life, for example.
According to her, people who have to keep their own emotions under constant control—such as doctors or flight attendants—need emotional recovery. This is because they have to compensate for the emotions of others in their working lives, which can be stressful.
The types of recovery according to Dalton-Smith
As Dalton-Smith explains to Die Zeit, certain activities and measures can be used to resolve recovery deficits in all areas.
- Physical recovery can be active or passive: a person who sits a lot in everyday life should integrate regular sport and exercise into their life to compensate. Someone with a physically demanding job, on the other hand, should make sure they get enough good sleep.
- Dalton-Smith uses jogging as an example to show that some activities can help with different recovery deficits at the same time. This repetitive activity can serve not only physical but also mental recovery by allowing people to “switch off” their minds while running.
- The doctor sees spiritual recovery as finding a higher meaning in life. This can be belief in God and participation in religious community structures. However, belonging to a non-religious organization or social engagement can also be spiritually restorative.
- According to Dalton-Smith, emotional recovery deficit occurs when you are unable to express yourself authentically, for example, because you have to be polite and professional as part of your job. In such cases, it is important to create space for emotional recovery afterwards by sharing your feelings with a trusted person and showing vulnerability. Writing down your feelings can also help, for example, in a journal. Social recovery is possible when you spend time with people who don’t demand anything from you and with whom you can just be yourself. For most people, these are close friends. Dalton-Smith suggests various strategies for sensory recovery. Ideally, these should be practical for everyday use. For example, you can wear earplugs for certain periods of time when working in an open-plan office. If you spend a lot of time in front of a screen, it can help to close your eyes for a minute now and then or go into a darkened, quiet room. The doctor herself regularly switches off all digital devices for a day.
Creative relaxation occurs when you draw energy and inspiration from beauty. This can be achieved by spending time in nature or by playing music and painting.
