Shift work can be brutal, but it doesn't have to be. Welcome to a healthy shift. My name is Roger Sutherland, certified nutritionist, veteran law enforcement officer, and 24-7 shift worker for almost four decades. Through this podcast, I aim to educate shift workers using evidence-based methods to not only survive the rigors of shift work, but thrive. My goal is to empower shift workers to improve their health and well-being so they have more energy to do the things they love. Enjoy today's show. And welcome back to a healthy shift podcast. My name is Roger Sutherland. I'm a veteran shift worker and a shift work health coach. It's not all about supplements, you know, and it's not all about getting to the gym and running and exercise and resistance training. And where's that magic pill? My God, I need something for that. Today I want to talk about something that is so simple and it's free, but it's incredibly powerful. Something that you can do for 100% sure. I know you can do it. I know you can do it. I guarantee that you can do it. It's something that every one of us can do anytime and anywhere, and it will calm your mind and your body. And what we're doing is we're talking about checking in with yourself, seeing how you are, and then using your breath to bring down anxiety and stress. Now, you, as a shift worker, are already stressed through rotating shifts. That's one thing for sure. But in frontline health and emergency services and many other jobs that we have, we are exposing ourselves to a stress all the time. And that stress is going into our body. Remember, the body keeps the score and it keeps on building up and building up and building up. So I want to start with asking you this question. When was the last time that you actually checked in with yourself? No, not your emails, not your social media, not your TikTok, not your messages, you on yourself. When was the last time that you actually stopped and thought, how am I feeling right now? How do my shoulders feel? Are they tense, are they up or down? Am I breathing shallow or fast through my chest? Or am I taking slow, full breaths down into my belly? Because here's the truth your breath is actually telling your body how safe you are. And then your body responds to that message. We often think that it's our body that controls our breathing, but it's actually the other way around. Our breath informs the body. So when you control your breath, you are literally sending a signal to your nervous system that says, Hey, it's okay, we're safe. And when your body believes it's safe, your heart rate slows down, your muscles start to relax, and your thoughts become clearer, and this is critical. Your thoughts become clearer. Now, let's give you an example, because we've all had one of these moments, maybe in a tough shift, maybe in an exchange with someone during the shift, and certainly in an argument with our partners, where in the middle of battle we say something and we walk away, and when we calm down, we think, What on earth did I say that for? Why did I say that? How many times? How many times have you said something in the heat of battle or done something under under pressure at work and then walked away and thought, What on earth did I do that for? Now that's not you being a bad person or losing your temper. That's literally your biology at work. Because when we get stressed or anxious, our body shifts into a survival mode. Let's go into that. Our prefrontal cortex, the front part of our brain, is the part of the brain that is responsible for logic and decision making. In stress, it goes offline. It's like pulling the plug on your computer. That rational part of your brain, that thinking part of your brain, it stops thinking clearly and instead it just reacts. That's why I often say stress makes you stupid. You can't think straight because the brain's focus has shifted from thinking to surviving. And it stays that way until the body gets the signal that it's safe again. And where do you think that comes from? That's right. That's where controlling your breath comes in. Because when you take control of your breathing, you are sending a very powerful message to your body that the threat has passed. You're essentially saying, okay, we can calm down now. And you are in full control of this. Once that happens, that's when the prefrontal cortex comes back online. Your heart rate slows down and your thoughts become clear. Hello, what did I say that for? That's where that comes from. When you walk away and you start to calm down, that's when you think, why did I say that? Then you start making better decisions because your thinking brain is back in charge. Next time you're in an argument with someone, instead of yelling and screaming, start controlling your breathing. Go slowly. It'll drive them absolutely bananas. But you will be thinking clearly. Look at them and breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth. Breathe in through your nose, breathe out through your mouth. And you'll be informing your body and you will be continuing to think clearer right through the whole lot. And it will drive them crazy. Now, let's get into a simple breath work that you can do that is enormously effective in this situation. And it's called the physiological psi. It's simple, it's fast, and it's backed by really solid science. And it's a tool that you can use anywhere. You can be in your car, you can be on a break at work, you can be in the middle of a tough conversation, or even just lying in bed while your mind is actually racing before sleep. And here's how you do it get your pen and paper ready. Or you've got the podcast, you better listen back to this. Just come back to the seven-minute mark. So, what you do is you sit or you stand comfortably but relaxed. Put one hand on your stomach. The reason why we put a hand on our stomach is because it gives us a tactile connection. Because when it's there, we will breathe down into it. And that's exactly what we're about to do. Take a deep breath in through your nose, breathing down all the way into your hand that is on your stomach. Feel it rise as the air fills your lower lungs. And this is important. It's got to go all the way down there. Then, when you think that your lungs are full, I want you to take another small breath in through your nose, into your chest this time, and you will feel it lift a little higher. So now your lungs are full, your chest is full, everything's full. Then what we're going to do from there is we're then going to slowly release that breath through purse lips. Let the air out from your chest first and then from your stomach. That is one physiological side. Do that two or three times. You will be amazed at how quickly that anxiety disappears. How quickly that feeling in your body changes almost instantly. And why? As I've promised you, your breath is informing your autonomic nervous system, whether it should be in fight or flight, or whether it should be in rest or digest. And that physiological side is educating it that it needs to, it's, we're safe. Everything's good. We can rest. Heart rate slows down, blood pressure slows down, everything slows down. Your prefrontal cortex comes back online. You can start thinking again. So what's that actually going to do? So what's actually going on when we do this? All right. That second little inhale, the one up into your chest, helps to inflate those tiny air sacs in your lungs called alveoli. That these may have collapsed because we we tend to just breathe shallow all the time. Now, what this does is it allows your body to offload more carbon dioxide, which is one of the main drivers of that anxious, panicky feeling. That slow exile tells your vagus nerve, the main nerve that calms the body, the vagus nerve runs down the right through your body. But it's telling that main nerve to kick in. Your heart rate slows, your blood pressure drops, and your nervous system shifts from fight or flight into rest and digest mode. You're literally turning the dial from stress to calm. Using nothing more than your breath. You don't need to reach for tablets or a ventilin inhaler or anything else like that. Just control your breath. That's all you got to do. Remember, one hand on your stomach, breathe down into it, then breathe into your chest heavy, and then slowly out through purse lips, breathing out longer than we breathed in. Now, for us shift workers, this is gold. And I've spoken about that. We live in a constant state of push and pull in our life. We're running between jobs, running between shifts. We're dealing with unpredictable demands all the time. And we're working family and kids and school and study and extracurricular activities and everything else that's going on. And we're often working also when the rest of the world is sleeping. And it's easy for us to stay stuck in a low-level state of stress all the time. And it gets trapped in our body. But this tool, literally checking in with yourself and using your breath, gives you something solid, something that you can use anytime to reset your nervous system. Ask yourself, how am I feeling? Are my shoulders dropped? How am I breathing? How am I feeling within myself? Just check in with yourself and ask yourself. Because just checking in with yourself and using your breath actually gives you something solid, something that you can use anytime to reset that nervous system. You don't need a gym and you don't need a quiet room. You just need awareness and just a few breaths. And the more you practice, the faster your body will actually respond to it. It's like going to the gym and picking up a weight, and gradually you need heavier and heavier weight. It's like strengthening a muscle, and the calm response becomes your default instead of the stress one. Ask yourself what your new normal has become. Are you running around like a lunatic? Because that's going to take its toll. I've got clients at the moment that are actually, I don't know how, they keep up with themselves and they think, oh, that's just life. They don't realize that this is adding up. Their bodies are going to store this nervous energy all the time. So let's have a go at doing this together. Right now, wherever you're listening, take a moment. I want you to put one hand on your stomach. Breathe through your nose. Feel your belly rise. Ready? And then once it's full, take one more breath and expand your chest. And now let it go slowly through pursed lips. Chest first and then belly. Do it again if you can. And then I want you to check in. Can you notice how your body is feeling? Feel your shoulders drop. Feel your jaw loosen. And the mind, it just feels a little clearer. You know why? Because it is. And that is the power of just checking in with yourself. So next time you feel anxious, frustrated, or you're on edge, just pause. Stop. Ask yourself, how am I feeling? How am I breathing? Check in with your breath. How am I breathing right now? And if it's fast, shallow, or tight, or you're feeling stress in your body, take a physiological sigh. It's one of the simplest and most powerful things that you can do to bring your body back to safety, your mind back to clarity, and get your shift back in under control. You need to turn up for yourself. I hope that really helps you because it's a really, really good exercise that will or should help you to do that. The physiological science incredibly powerful. Thanks for tuning in today to a healthy shift. It's really, really important that we be aware of the simple things that we can do that will make such a huge difference to us. And if you found this episode helpful, please share it with a workmate who could use a bit of calm in their day. And remember, small and simple actions like this are what helps us not just survive shift work, but really thrive through it. Take care, breathe well, and I'll talk to you in the next episode. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you get notified whenever a new episode is released. It would also be ever so helpful if you could leave a rating and review on the app you're currently listening on. If you want to know more about me or work with me, you can go to ahealthyshift.com. I'll catch you on the next one.