Announcer (00:00:04) - This is Dream Power Radio, the place where your dreams turn into reality. Here is your host, Debbie Spector. Weisman.
Debbie Spector Weisman (00:00:13) - Hello, hello, hello and welcome to Dream Power Radio. I'm your host, Certified Dream-Life Coach Debbie Spector. Weisman. This is the place where we talk about dreams, both daytime and nighttime dreams, and how you can use them to make the internal shift to a life you love and rediscover the truth of who you really are. Many, many years ago, long before I discovered dream work, I was a working writer. I wrote five young adult novels under my own name, and then I was hired as a ghostwriter. Over the next four years, I wrote 16 more books, five of them for what was then the most popular young adult series out there. Along the way, I developed ideas for my own series, but I couldn't make a sale. Then I spent a year writing a novel and despite my best efforts, just couldn't find a taker. I felt defeated and tired and just plain burned out.
Debbie Spector Weisman (00:01:14) - I didn't write again for another 25 years until I discovered dream work. But that's a story for another day and time. I wish I had someone back then like my guest today, Dr. Mary Sanders. Her mission is to help people overcome burnout and rediscover their authentic selves and bounce back physically, emotionally, and energetically. Dr. Mary is a medical intuitive, holding a master's in intuition medicine, as well as a doctorate in chiropractic and a certificate in positive psychology. And with that, welcome to Dream Power Radio, Dr. Mary.
Mary Sanders (00:01:54) - Oh, thank you so very much, Debbie. I feel so honored and glad to be with you and your listener. And quite honestly, just listening to your introduction about your dog, what a prolific writer you are.
Debbie Spector Weisman (00:02:05) - Well, yes, I like to call that my first career with this being now my third career. But yes, and I did really have total burnout in terms of writing. I could not write a word and I used Dreamwork, which helped reignite my writing passion.
Debbie Spector Weisman (00:02:24) - But like I said, that's a different story. We're here, though, to talk about the whole concept of burnout. So, Doctor Mary, tell me you started out your professional career as a chiropractor. I believe that was your dream job, but I understand that you two suffered from burnout. So what happened? Yeah.
Mary Sanders (00:02:44) - Debbie, my story is not unique. Meaning that there are similar theories or similar themes that you experienced. I started off just like you said, as a chiropractor. Literally, I was 100% in alignment with my purpose at that time, and my purpose was to lay my hands on a physical body for the purpose of healing. That's where I started out. And then what ended up happening? I became a businesswoman. I became the gatekeeper, if you will, of too busy, thriving, practice. Listening, and also governing over and watching over various different positions within the staff affiliated with it. So to make a long story short, my initial intention was to follow the alignment of my purpose and my passion, and I was very good at it.
Mary Sanders (00:03:35) - And over time, I lost my sight of what the intention was. I then shifted into an area that I didn't feel 100% in alignment with. It was then necessary to be a successful businesswoman. However, it cost me dearly. It cost me the balance. It cost me my physical vitality. It cost me my grounding. Eventually, I became very disgruntled, resentful, distrustful, and consequently physiological in my body began to start shutting down my adrenal first of no longer will operational. So I had maxed out all the adrenaline up and upper and norepinephrine DHEA that I could possibly burn through my system. I physically did so to the point where I was black light, meaning that I could go to work, and I could go home. I could no longer afford the luxury of my exercise routine, or any other miscellaneous activities that brought me joy. So the burnout was--and again, I am very careful in my word selection because I do believe that we hold that resonance within our body when we start to talk about past trauma.
Mary Sanders (00:05:00) - And so that part of my life was necessary in order for me to realign and to reclaim all the pieces and moving parts of my essence that I wanted to bring back into my physical body so that I could realign once again and reidentify once again what is my purpose here on this earth.
Debbie Spector Weisman (00:05:24) - Yeah. And I think that's probably what happens to a lot of people when they have burnout. They get into this situation of what do I do? And a lot of people will then try to relieve that trauma by just escaping either to drugs or alcohol or running away or doing something that is really counterproductive to really what they need to do. What are some of the things that you could say to people like that to say, maybe that's not the way to go when you have burnout?
Mary Sanders (00:05:54) - Yeah, the first thing that I want to share with the listeners is that you're not alone. You may be feeling isolated, right, due to the various different phases of burnout, but trust me when I say since COVID and the great resignation, there's so many people in today's world that are second guessing how they're choosing to spend their time.
Mary Sanders (00:06:14) - So first of all, you're not alone. And then I want to circle back. Debbie, what you brought up was the defense mechanism of how we are dealing with the various different traumas or emotional dysregulation that happened within our autonomic nervous system. And unfortunately, we do gravitate. We have a tendency of wanting to escape, whether that be too much internet time, whether that be too much TV, too much food, too much sugar, too much alcohol, too many drugs. And you are correct that it's just a symptomatology that know you are no longer in alignment with self, and that it's an opportunity to turn the reflection in. So my advice to listeners, if you are getting out there, the opportunity that Y in the road where you can turn right in power, your defenses and your escape mechanisms, or you can turn left into more healing opportunities, then I invite you to slow down around turn the reflection in internally, and act with the self to be able to identify what your deepest desires are. And then through that reflection, find the courage to take the necessary small steps to realign your direction.
Debbie Spector Weisman (00:07:30) - But what happens though? A lot of people will hear that, and I'll say, that does sound great. That sounds like something that I need to do. But then they encounter resistance. And they'll say, well, I'll deal with it tomorrow or I'll do something else. I'm not ready to deal with it. How do you handle that resistance?
Mary Sanders (00:07:50) - That's normal. That's absolutely normal. And so the invitation that I made earlier was to turn the reflection internally through meditation or some intentful activities, which is yoga, tai chi, breath work, qigong, just to name a few. And with these mindful movement exercises, coupled with breath. Then you'll be able to--once again, I'm going to make reference to the autonomic nervous system,--you're going to shift your neurological wiring away from the sympathetic dominance, that action-oriented go, go, go type neurology, and then more shifted more into the parasympathetic sub rest and digest.
Mary Sanders (00:07:50) - That's normal. That's absolutely normal. And so the invitation - It sounds counterintuitive but having counseled many people through this transition and having lived through this transition, I can honestly say the more regular that you step into the mindful movement associated with breath, there's something really beautiful and magical that happens and that you begin to fill yourself up from within your life force energy.
Mary Sanders (00:08:49) - Time and time again, that rejuvenation, that reclamation brought the dove the color. And so ultimately, when you are up against the resistance, you will find that lifeforce energy, that strength from deep within to be able to say, yes, I am up against that resistance, and I am going to choose to do something different.
Debbie Spector Weisman (00:09:26) - And you make a very valid point here that I think it is also important to stress, which is the whole idea of taking an action. You know, when we discuss dream work, we always say a dream is only a nice idea unless you take action on it. And what you're saying is that don't. If you're feeling this, don't just be there and lament where you are or complain or do something, but actually take those steps. And like you said, it doesn't have to be a giant thing, but just something small to get you started.
Mary Sanders (00:09:58) - Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying. And, Debbie, the Japanese have a beautiful word protecting their small sequential steps. And that's the kaizen effect. So small consistent choices will add up to a bigger energy, if you will. And I have to share with you. As I was listening to you talking about, you know, I know the personality of the people that are acceptably driven, that lead themselves to burnout. And there is a big pregnant pause that happened, because what ends up shifting is that this drive, the need for overachieving and the perfectionistic attitude then began to soften into possibly that base of self-compassion. So when I talk about the small sequential steps, they're done without perfectionism. They're done with the intention of some continuity, of some consistency. It's not about saying, I'm now a meditator. I'm going to meditate 20 minutes every day. And it's not about making that declaration. It's about I'm going to sit and turn my awareness internally. And today I had it. Five minutes.
Mary Sanders (00:11:11) - And then tomorrow I hope to have maybe seven minutes. Or maybe I have five minutes tomorrow, or I have ten minutes. And now did. From a place of self-compassion. Right. Which is buoyed in most of us that are in that perfectionistic overdrive, we get to soften into that. It's okay. It's okay to allow life to lead a forward, but with the intention of implementing the small kind of stuff.
Debbie Spector Weisman (00:11:36) - Yeah. And that's so glad that you mentioned that self-compassion, because a lot of people who suffer from burnout and say they're what we would call the givers, yeah, they're either like some kind of a helping profession, like a nurse, or it's doing some kind of social thing. Or they're a caregiver, either as a mother or as a literal caregiver for another person. And they give and they give, and they give till there's nothing left. What kinds of things should they be doing to replenish themselves so that if they're feeling burnout, they cannot get there before they feel to the point where I can't do this anymore.
Mary Sanders (00:12:23) - Then Debbie, this was such a brilliant question, and I'd like to offer up some tools and techniques to the listeners and respond to your question. But first and foremost, I want to go back and talk about how you're identifying that you are right about those people that are in the service industry, right? They are conditioned to be of service. And unfortunately, that means giving part of yourself away, or more often than not, Debbie, what I have experienced is that they are very empathetic people in the service industry, whether they be nursing, whether be being a caretaker or elderly, or whether being in the health care industry, or even waiting tables, or being a cashier at one of the local grocery stores. We're conditioned to be empathetic, right? That's one of our strengths being in the service industry. But when what ends up happening energetically is that we subconsciously make this choice to carry the energy of the other person with the intention of lightning their load, and the intention of making their life a little easier.
Mary Sanders (00:13:39) - We all do it. We say, oh, you're struggling in this area, let me help you. Let me carry that burden. And what happens energetically that the experience of the medical intuitive, that the person whose intentions were good ended up absorbing the energy of the other people, and they carry that specifically within the energy center associated with the second chakra, which is located just below the belly button. So then what ends up happening, right? So you carry, carry, carry other people's energy within your own bio field that you can no longer discern whose energy belongs to whom and what is your energy to deal with. That is critical for understanding when somebody is embarking upon the phases of burnout.
Mary Sanders - With that in mind, I'd like to offer up a technique that I learned during the first module at the Academy of Intuition Medicine under the guidance of Dr. Francesca McCartney in Sausalito, California. This technique is so simple. I wish I would have been taught it the first week I was in chiropractic school.
Mary Sanders (00:14:58) - I think that it should be taught in all medical schools, and in all nursing schools, and for anybody wishing to be in the service industry. And that is essentially what is called a neutral separation. Where at the end of the day, You simply, in a grounded and expanded state, sit in a place of neutrality and gift back all the energy that you have shared with these various different people. Now, you may be sitting there thinking, ah, that's a lot of people. And it is. It is. And so you can group, like in my example, I have one bubble with all of the patients that I encountered that day. I have another bubble of all of those in immediate family members, you know, those dynamic relationships that I have every day. I have another bubble filled with them. I have another bubble of social acquaintances that I may have engaged with via email or via phone or text. And then another one of those people that I may have just had spontaneous interactions with at the grocery store or the gas station.
Mary Sanders (00:16:07) - And so I literally will sit in an expanded state and imagine outside of my auric field.
Mary Sanders - So what that means is literally I would place the image in my mind of these bubbles outside of the dwelling upon which I sit. Your auric field traditionally only expands three feet away from the physical body, but in this exercise, I placed the bubbles outside of my, of my home, of my office, and I will set the intention to gift it to you.
Mary Sanders - Back the energy that we share. And so I imagine energy from the palms of my hand reaching out very much like a rainbow or a laser beam back to these individual bubbles, and I simply witness that these bubbles or these people absorb the energy, and they begin to fill themselves up, right? It's a gift.
Mary Sanders - It's a gift. They're happy to receive it. And once I feel as though that process is complete, then I respectfully say, now it's time for me to receive back all the energy that I also shared. So, then I intentionally feel the energy coming back into my auric field, my bio field, I choose to then drain the energy down and, and ground it out to Mother Earth for her to recharge and to recycle for another sentient being.
Mary Sanders (00:17:26) - And then I mutually separate. So I tie a bow, or I sever that rainbow connection, or that laser like beam, so that we then are two separate identifiable beings or groups. And I bring my awareness, and I simply state, Three. 3 descriptive facts about myself that make me separate and identifiable from these groups of people.
Mary Sanders - I can simply say, my name is Mary. I have on beige sandals today. I am going to have salmon for dinner tonight. And then what that does, it allows that energy for me to solidify my own personal container with strong boundaries and a sense of vitality within my own life force. So it's just the opposite of depletion.
Debbie Spector Weisman (00:18:31) - That is amazing and something that I probably want to take up for myself as well, and I hope the audience understands that. Also, we are going to take a short break here. We are speaking all about burnout with Dr. Mary Sanders and we'll be right back.
Announcer (00:19:18) - Welcome back to Dream Power Radio with your host, Debbie Spector. Weisman.
Debbie Spector Weisman (00:19:26) - Yes. Welcome back to Dream Power Radio. I'm your host, Debbie Spector Weisman, and we're talking about burnout and energy with Dr. Mary Sanders. Well, Dr. Mary, you gave us that very, very powerful technique to replenish ourselves after a day where we've given, and our energy is gone. You do a lot of work with energy and with the chakras. So I want to take a little bit of time to talk here about the chakras, why they're important, why we should pay attention to them.
Mary Sanders (00:20:01) - You know, I love this question because it's so open ended.
Mary Sanders (00:20:04) - I could talk all day about the energy centers located within our clinical body, but I really think Yeah, but I really feel like I want to break it down and essentially simplify it so that those that are not familiar with the chakra system can get a better understanding as to what their function is, what their primary reason is, right?
Mary Sanders - The chakra system is very much like traditional Chinese medicine, TCM. We know that there are meridians within the physical body, yet we cannot dissect the meridian out of the body. The same is true for the chakra system. Now, Debbie, when I'm referring to the physical body, I will be talking about the seven lower energy centers most intimately connected with our physical body. Now, the chakra system looks very much like a funnel. It's Y shaped with a wide mouth pointing away from the body in the narrow portion of the funnel, connecting into the body. With the vertical power current. Now, those listeners that are into yoga, this is also known as the Shushumna channel.
Mary Sanders (00:21:26) - And so this goes from up and down vertically within the body. So each energy center is connected into this vertical power current. Each energy center has its own frequency. And with that frequency is a spin. And that spin is what will electromagnetically pull the energy through the auric field into the chakra system, and it assimilate the information rate. That's the primary function. Number two the secondary function is that you have an opportunity to express it and connect yourself through these energy centers as well. And each energy center is associated with a frequency which I already talked about, which will then connect it to various layers of consciousness. So let's say we're talking about burnout. Let's take the very first energy center, the first chakra. known as the root chakra. And that is located deep within the pelvic floor. So we're talking about right over the pelvic folds, right deep in the center of the body. It is the lowest of all of the energy, the main energy system. And it resonates very closely to the frequency of Mother Earth the Schumann resonance at 73Hz.
Mary Sanders (00:22:58) - So this energy center is most connected to the earth and is used for grounding. Now, as we connect and talk about the first energy center, you will notice that there is a corresponding endocrine gland, and an endocrine gland is a gland that's responsible for producing hormones. It has a nerve plexus, essentially a highway of nerve that connect. The information of the endocrine gland into the central nervous system, then it has life experiences and body parts that are associated with this one energy center. So, let's talk about the 1st chakra located deep within the pelvic bowl, it is most intimately connected to the adrenal system.
Mary Sanders - I have already talked about the adrenal system, right? That's your fight or flight, get up and go hormone. And when we are experiencing a high driven, lifestyle, unfortunately, we chemically will max out the adrenaline production. So it compromises chemically and neurologically that energy center, right?
Mary Sanders - The nerve plexus associated with this gland comes out from the sacrum, which is the broad triangular bone at the base of the spine, and also the lumbar spine, the low back. The nerve intervention that controls your butt, your thighs, your knees, your ankles, your feet are all connected with those nerves.
Mary Sanders (00:24:37) - So anytime somebody has, like, plantar fasciitis, somebody who is having issues, ankle issues, feet issues, knee issues, varicosity also hemorrhoids and constipation, those are all physical symptoms that would guide us back into the energy center of the first chakra as well as burnout. The signs of adrenal fatigue nestled their way into that 1st energy center and that center most intimately connected to the physical to the physical body and to vitality. So if you're looking to overcome burnout, you can do the necessary nutraceutical. You can do the lifestyle modification. You can get more rest. You can begin more mindful movement through meditation, yoga, and things of that nature. You can also energetically set the intention to tonify that first energy center, and you do that through the mind's eye and through your creativity. Energy follows thought. So if you can direct your attention and your energy into how to find that energy center into a functional, healthy homeostasis, then you will help support your physical body.
Debbie Spector Weisman (00:26:10) - This is so important, and I'll have you back another time to talk about all the rest of the chakras. But we are getting toward the end of this discussion. I want to ask you quickly; do you ever use Dreamwork either for yourself or in your practice?
Mary Sanders (00:26:26) - You know, Debbie, I love to astrally travel every night. It's like one of my favorite and happy places. And so there are nights that I have, like, small dreams and then there are some nights that I have big dreams, which are more significant to what's happening to me on the conscious level or subconscious level. So, yes, I intimately do use and gather information. If you think about how many hours, we are asleep versus being awake. I think that's a wonderful opportunity for gathering that information.
Debbie Spector Weisman (00:26:58) - That is so important. And when you have these big dreams, are you talking with the people in your dreams or dream guides, anything like that?
Mary Sanders (00:27:09) - You know, I have various different locales, and that may sound perhaps not so interesting to you, but when I know that I'm having a bigger dream, is that there's always in some way, shape or form a critical information.
Mary Sanders (00:27:24) - And so I know that I'm at the locale in which I know I'm receiving spiritual guidance. So that's my trigger. That's my. You know, when I wake up and I'm like, That was a big dream. Now let look at it a little bit closer.
Debbie Spector Weisman (00:27:43) - Is so important. And you also advocate the importance of sleep in terms of helping to maintain ourselves and prevent burnout, right?
Mary Sanders (00:27:52) - I absolutely do. I think sleep is the most precious commodity that we have.
Debbie Spector Weisman (00:27:57) - Dr. Mary, how can people find out more about you and your work?
Mary Sanders (00:28:02) - Oh, you know what? I'm available to be reached. Contact one on one. I have discovery call option. You can find my information on my website at WWW. Dr. Marysanders.com. I also have a series of meditation guided meditation that if you're interested in downloading them. And I do talk about neutral separation and grounding and those meditation. So if you're looking for more practical, you know, less than 12 minutes, I highly encourage you go to the website- drmarysanders.com/meditations.
Debbie Spector Weisman (00:28:42) - Oh well thank you. And thank you, Dr. Mary, for being on Dream Power Radio today.
Mary Sanders (00:28:47) - Thank you. The pleasure had been mine and thank you for being you. And I do appreciate you and the listeners.
Debbie Spector Weisman (00:28:54) - We've been speaking about overcoming burnout with Dr. Mary Sanders. I hope you have enjoyed today's program. If so, please hit that subscribe button so you don't miss out on any future episodes. Until next time, this is Debbie Spector Weisman saying sweet dreams everybody!
Announcer (00:29:12) - You've been listening to Dream Power Radio with your host, Debbie Spector Weisman. For more information on Debbie or to sign up for her newsletter, go to DreamPowerRadio.com. This has been Dream Power Radio.