Work Day Wind Down - Recharge

The intention of this session is to help replenish your emotional resources when they feel depleted from work-related responsibilities, interactions, environments, and situations. This shorter track introduces some core practices that can help your nervous system feel more balanced, so you can take a few minutes to explore what most resonates in your Work Day Wind Down process.

You’re invited to recharge with this session as often as you want – whether it’s for a daily check-in, to refresh during draining experiences, or to mark transition points in your day. You’re also invited to explore our related tracks that take a deeper dive into integrating and aligning your work experiences.

Transcript

Welcome to Work Minded. In this Workday Winddown session, We'll focus on recharging your emotional resources if your nervous system is feeling depleted after responsibilities, Interactions, Environments, Or any other situations related to your experiences with work, Whatever work means for you. With the way work is designed these days, Our nervous systems can feel constantly depleted. But in this session, We'll introduce a few core practices that can help us move toward a sense of balance. You might consider it a sort of sampler of approaches so that you can decide what resonates with you for this particular day or time or context. Of course, You're always welcome to pick and choose what you prefer, Skipping over any that don't align or just don't feel useful in the moment. And if the full session resonates with you, Each practice builds on the one before it to help guide you gently toward recharging. We take steps to try to make our sessions as non-agitating as possible, Like not including recorded music, So that you can choose your own audio adventure that best supports you. But nervous system work can also raise a lot of emotional and physical sensations, And only you know your own boundaries and preferences. So in this session, You're responsible for your individual needs and can take as much time as you need to acknowledge and implement them. To start, You're invited to set an intention to honor those needs throughout the practice. This could include ensuring a setup that supports your safety, Giving yourself permission to step away at any time, And having supportive resources right at the ready. If there's ever anything you'd like to adjust for yourself before proceeding with the practice, You can always pause at any time, As long as you want, Until you feel comfortable continuing. We'll start by establishing a bit of distance from your work, To give us some space to explore recharging. Finding this space might take a number of shapes, Depending on your personal preferences and the nature of your work, And whether this session marks a break in your day or the end of your daily responsibilities. So, We can encourage a gentle or curious inquiry here. How might it look or feel to take space from work in this moment? Maybe you opt to go into non-work mode. Maybe you imagine a solid boundary, Like a decorative fence or even a big brick wall between you and your work. You might want to take a deep cleansing breath, Or to ground yourself by letting your body start to soften toward the ground. We'll take some time here to explore what could feel most nurturing to you. Whether something has clearly presented itself, Or you're exploring multiple options, You can invite yourself now to lean into something that feels most supportive or restorative, To get even just one tiny degree of separation from your work and toward a sense of balance. As we explore this space away from work, Your system might start to make room for some awareness about its needs. So, We'll take some time and space now to prioritize your individual well-being for what could very well be the very first time today. When an activated nervous system is managing our attention and resources, Intentionally checking in with these well-being needs can take a back seat without us even realizing. So, Another gentle or curious inquiry here. What is one thing that could support your well-being right now? It might be a sense of distance from a colleague who made you feel uncomfortable, Or some kind of boundary to insulate you from work-related demands. It could be something physical, Like a cozy sweater to warm you up, Or resting your eyes from a time of intense focus. Maybe it's an environmental cue, Like changing your location or putting away any work equipment that's in your area. You're invited here to consider even just one thing that would be supportive to your well-being, No matter how major or how micro. You might have a strong sense of one clear action that comes to the front of your mind, Or you might have a sense of many options floating around in your awareness, Or somewhere in between. And either way, You're invited to choose whether there's something supportive you want to implement now before continuing the session, Or whether you want to keep this knowledge in your awareness for future reflection or implementation. As you continue to intentionally focus in on your well-being, Your system might start to feel balanced enough to notice additional emotions or sensations that come to the surface of your awareness. The invitation here is to put your awareness antenna up, Even if it's just a tiny bit, To check if the body and mind have any messages for you to share that might have been somehow moderated during the workday. This particular practice isn't so much about working with any sensations or emotions that are distressing or uncomfortable. This is more about tuning your frequency to any signals your system might have been broadcasting when a busy day was keeping the volume button down. Is your mind remembering a moment from the day that maybe wants further attention? Is your body sending you signals of fatigue? We'll take a moment here to note if there are any emotional or physical sensations arising that you're comfortable inviting into your awareness with a sense of curiosity. We'll repeat again here that you don't need to take a super deep dive into anything that arises. This space is more of an opportunity to observe what might have been on mute while your system was focused on work. And similar to our well-being practice, You're invited to choose here whether there's a sensation asking for acknowledgement before continuing the session, Or whether you want to keep any messages from your system in your awareness for the future. If your system is beginning to open up communication between your sensations and your awareness, It might begin to feel possible here to explore some new perspective around your work. So we invite you now to take a moment to identify and acknowledge the contributions you've made today. Our work is our effort, Our time, Our physical energy, Our emotional regulation, And many other types of precious resources. And we don't always need to be actively doing something to contribute. Sometimes even just our presence can be that contribution. We're human beings before we're human doings. So you can explore here if you might want to recognize, Honor, And maybe even thank yourself for what you've given today to your work, And to anyone that your work might have influenced. This practice is less about outcomes, Like whether these contributions had some kind of expected or desired effect. The intention here is to elevate and to celebrate the significant contributions that we, And our nervous systems, Make to our work. As we start to develop this awareness of how our work relates to ourselves and our resources, It might also feel restorative to explore how our work connects with others. For a lot of us, Work is primarily designed to fulfill a business need, Not so much to cultivate a fulfilling sense of community. And we're on a mission to change that. But until we do, This is a good time to reflect briefly on your work community. For this practice, Community refers to any interaction that feels supportive, Whether with someone else or with yourself. It could be related to any contributions you've already elevated from your day, Or it could feel like its own exploration. You might notice a sense of connection to patients or students or clients that you work with all day. You might feel connected to others internally within an organization. Or you could find support connecting with a part of yourself or even a daydream that you cherish. Is there a supportive, Aligned connection from the day that you want to call forward here? If you've identified any interactions that feel supportive and nurturing, Whether with yourself, A loved one, A work team, A mentor, A plant, A space, Or anything else that came up for you, This can help you move toward a sense of balance that you can carry along with you as we begin to close out our session. And now we'll start to wind down these core practices. You might want to take a moment to check in with yourself to notice if there have been any shifts in your sense of emotional or somatic balance over the course of the session. We like to follow this with an intentional, Deep, Cleansing breath to nudge the body toward gentle movement. Then you can let your movements get bigger, Fluttering your eyelids or flexing your fingertips or circling your toes. Then maybe stretching or shimmying before coming back to full awareness of the space and place around you. You're invited to revisit this track regularly. It is especially useful after draining situations or between transition points in your day. And you're also invited to explore our related tracks that take a deeper dive into integrating and aligning your work experiences. In the meantime, We hope this Workday Winddown session helped you to recharge so you feel more balanced heading into what's next. Thanks for joining us.