The Dive Podcast

36: How To Chill Out When It All Gets Too Much with Taylor Scanlan

• Taylor Scanlan • Season 2 • Episode 36

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Welcome back to the Dive Podcast! In this episode, I’m diving into a topic that’s been on my mind lately—burnout and how to reset amidst chaos. As I reflect on my recent busy schedule and birthday celebrations, I want to share some personal insights on managing overwhelm and nurturing your well-being.

Highlight:

I explore the signs of burnout and exhaustion and offer practical tips for resetting and reconnecting with yourself. From recognizing when you’re overcommitted to implementing quick and effective self-care practices, this episode is all about finding balance and prioritizing your health amidst a hectic schedule.

What to expect:

  • Insights into recognizing early signs of burnout and exhaustion.
  • Practical tips for incorporating self-care into a busy schedule.
  • A guided breathing exercise to help you return to a place of calm and peace.
  • Strategies for maintaining balance and avoiding overwhelm.
  • Personal reflections and actionable advice on prioritizing your well-being.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome back everyone to the Dive podcast. I'm so keen to actually talk about this today because this actual podcast episode is going to be kind of different I guess every episode is so different but something that I've been really just pondering over this past week I am still in Sydney doing Sunset Boulevard at the Sydney Opera House, and this week particularly, I've been on stage a lot more, and last week was my birthday I turned 29 and I had my fiance, alison, come to Sydney and stay over the weekend, so it was really busy. It was a busy time and at the beginning of the week my birthday was on Thursday, but at the beginning of the week I started off with some really awesome calls with people and students like yourself in the industry, to really just share with you an upcoming offer. I can't say exactly what it is yet, but what we're, what I'm creating, is going to be something that's going to massively impact how you approach auditions, how you actually can cut out all the noise and be really specific on how to stand out in auditions, how to navigate them in a way that is supportive and actually enjoy the process, so that you can go in and consistently smash out standout performances that you're proud of and that will help you become unattached to the outcome, because you're going to be so focused on your progress and focusing on what makes you tick and all that goodness. So we started the week off with that and then I went into my birthday and my partner was here.

Speaker 1:

I was on over the weekend, so it was a lot, and so the actual episode, what I want to share with you today, is a little bit on burnout, a little bit on exhaustion and what can we do to actually reset. Admit the chaos of when I've got this like thing coming in my head. That's all about when it rains, it pours, right. So when we the industry, or as a student yourself, when we come into auditions, usually auditions are happening all at once, like there's never just like one audition, right, it's like you come in and then all of a sudden, you're doing three auditions within the same week or something like that. So what can we do to reset, what can we do to understand early signs of burnout and exhaustion? And some tips that I've started to use into my life and previously into this last week, because I've started to feel exhausted, I've started to feel a bit overwhelmed and, instead of just completely stopping. There are some things you can do to recognize the signs early, and I'm going to share with you them today. And I just wanted this podcast episode to be a little bit more free, a little bit more open, so I don't know what exactly is going to come out. I just want to speak from my heart and from my experience, in hope that it can inspire you and help you to feel a little less stress, a little bit more connected to what the signs are presenting for you and how you can navigate that in a way that is going to be supportive.

Speaker 1:

All right, so let's get into it. So, what to do when it gets all a bit much? What do we do and how can we actually navigate that in a way that is supportive? So, okay, it's getting overwhelming and you can start to feel, maybe, that you're over committing to things. This was definitely my experience over committing to things, doing so much, or maybe not even over committing. You just literally got a booked calendar, which can be also awesome. You're working and then you're auditioning and doing all these things, but the moment you start to feel overwhelmed and like it's too much, signs can come in like you don't want to go to do it. You wake up and you're dreading to do this thing because what's happening is we're limiting the time that we're spending with ourselves and we're limiting the time that we're rejuvenating ourselves.

Speaker 1:

Because it's really funny thing that's happened to me in my life recently, and actually over my whole period of my life, is, when you start to become more aware of who you are, you recognize the patterns. You recognize the patterns that you give yourself. What I mean by that is there was this pattern going on in my life where I would do all the good things, I would journal, I would meditate, I would really do all the good things that we get told that should be good for us. And you know what? I felt freaking amazing, which is awesome. And so, because of that, I then started to take on more things because I felt good. Because of that, I then started to take on more things because I felt good, and the more I took on, the less I started to do those things that actually make me feel good.

Speaker 1:

And it's so common to forget this, because when you're feeling good, you're not thinking of like, oh, but I feel amazing. I don't need a journal today or I don't need to go work out because I feel good today. But it's that knock on effect of as soon as you stop doing the things that actually made you feel good in the first place is the first sign that you're shifting your direction, and it's only a matter of time before you start to feel burned out or you don't feel good again because you're not actually doing those things in the first place. So that's the first thing I would suggest is, when things are getting too overwhelmed, look at your life, look at your routine and what are some key things you can start to bring back into your routine. Doesn't even have to be much, it could be a short meditation, a walk.

Speaker 1:

Really, just think and ask yourself right now what brings me back to peace, what brings me back to joy and what brings me back to feeling my unique self that is energized, that is passionate, whatever your values are, what brings you a sense of that calm and clarity, and then see how you can bring those little things into your life. Because you know specifically even in that moment, because we can't just like go out on a holiday to Bali when we've got all these auditions and work and studies and all these things coming up, so you want to instead think like what can I do to help me, support and help support me in the best way? So this could be by going to work out or going for a walk, or even just sitting in the park, getting your feet into grass and actually just grounding yourself and taking a hot second. We all get the same hours in a day and I believe at the end of the day, you're either prioritizing your rest or you're prioritizing your burnout, and so we can do that happy medium of both. But really you can only perform as good as you're rested. You can only perform as good as you are rested. So really incorporating rest as a non-negotiable is going to completely turn around how you go ahead and present yourself but also perform.

Speaker 1:

Ultimately, we want to make sure that when we are doing the things we've signed on for and that we are showing up as our best self, and when we start to feel exhausted or we feel burnt out or we feel tired, we actually start resenting those things, not because we don't love it, but because we're actually not feeling good and that is all that matters. This is something that's really coming up strong as like a download or an insight that I really want to share now is that nothing is going to matter. Nothing is going to matter more than your health, nothing is going to matter more than your energy and actually feeling good in the moment, and I don't even know why I'm getting emotional about it, but I feel like we focus so much on the skill, we focus so much on doing the classes and showing up, which is so important, so so important to do, but at the end of the day, your health is priority. You know, whenever you're sick, you can't think of anything else than being better right, and the only way you're going to really feel fulfilled is by looking after your health. Really feel fulfilled is by looking after your health, and how you start doing that is to really get aware of how you're looking and treating after the human and the artist in you. So what you're wanting to do is to really look at that, take an audit for yourself and just go right. If I'm scanning through my body what's feeling good today, what's not feeling so good, what thoughts are not feeling so great and how can I start to reframe that. So that was a little download coming in and I think it's a really cool time right now to even just guide you through a bit of a just coming back because I know maybe this topic can be a bit different and if you're feeling a little bit overwhelmed, let's just take a second.

Speaker 1:

So, wherever you are, if you're feeling a little bit overwhelmed, let's just take a second. So, wherever you are, if you're driving, continue opening your eyes. Wherever you are, maybe even if you're walking, take a seat, just take a moment and maybe even stand. Let this part of the episode just bring you back to stillness, bring you back to peace, bring you back to a centered place. You back to peace, bring you back to a centered place.

Speaker 1:

So how we do that is to just, first of all, look around you, have a look at your environment. What can you notice? What's in your peripherals and what colors maybe that you see? And then from there I want you to start just focusing in on your breath. Let's take three mindful breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth. In through the nose and out mouth. In through the nose and out the mouth, and, if you feel safe to do so, or you can, just closing down the eyes just briefly, we'll go through this and then just placing one of your hands on your heart, maybe pressing into it a little bit, so you can just feel the heartbeat, noticing that you are in fact a human. You're not a machine. There's blood pumping, there's organs that are keeping you alive. Everything is working in this moment to support you and to keep you going, in whatever environment that you're in. So, just connecting into that heart, connecting to that deeper understanding that you are a human yes, you're not a machine. You are built to love and rest and create and do all these wonderful things. But at the end of the day, if we're not looking after this body, after this soul, after this being and putting it first, nothing else is going to matter.

Speaker 1:

So, just with a deep inhale, I want you to breathe in that expansiveness into the heart and then, as you exhale, I just want you to release a little bit of that tension, a little bit of that stress, a little bit of the baggage that you may be carrying. Just seeing it wash, as though you've got a beautiful stream of water coming from the top of the head all the way down to your feet and just washing it away. Inhale brings kind of that sunlight, that brightness, back into the body, and then exhale just allows all of that stress, all of that worry, all of the doubt to just wash away and one more like that deep inhale into the belly and then exhale, let it all wash away and then open your eyes, start to notice those colours and the place and the surroundings around you and just notice for a second how your body feels. It's okay if you still feel a little bit overwhelmed or stressed, but just knowing this micro moment of coming back to yourself is available to you at any point of the day, any point of the day. So just taking a breath to solidify that mini practice and letting it go so I hope you're feeling a bit better after that, your shoulders a little bit down, a little bit loose, and just know that, yes, you have something as simple as that that took not even a few minutes, can really benefit you into just taking a moment, taking a seat, because sometimes we feel like, oh, it's not going to work If I don't do 10 minutes, 20. Like, oh, it's not going to work, if I don't do 10 minutes, 20 minutes meditation, then it's not worth it. Or if I don't do a whole practice, then it's not worth it. I'll just do it in another time, but please just know that there is such beauty in little micro moments like that, just to reconnect.

Speaker 1:

I do a breathing practice like that before an audition, just to center myself, to bring me back into the space, no-transcript. So something like breathing is really, really helpful. I've taught about this before, but your breathing is a direct signal, it's a direct connection to your nervous system, and so your nervous system controls basically everything in your body, or really just looks after the body as a whole. And especially when your body is in an environment of stress, your breath is a really cool integral part to calm down the nervous system, and all you can simply do is to start breathing in a way that is long instead of short and sharp, because anything short and sharp is going to increase the anxiety and the stress in your body. So by exhaling longer than you inhale, you're actually going to massively impact the parasympathetic nervous system, which is going to help you rest and feel a little bit more centered and able to take in the information around you. So, okay, we are feeling a little bit more calm, we are tapping into right what is going to best benefit me Then.

Speaker 1:

One extra step I want you to do is just go ahead and write that down. Write down right now when you're actually going to do that. Put in your calendar. It doesn't matter if you end up doing it or not. Just the action of putting it out there, that you're going to put a little bit of a breathing exercise into your part of your day. Or maybe you're just going to write your gratitude in your morning, like it doesn't have to be every single day. Just start to position yourself in a way that is someone that looks after themselves, that puts themselves first, admits all the chaos.

Speaker 1:

A final little note on here I just wanted to share is that there's a few little things I want to share, but at the end of the day, I just want you to really understand that everything's going to be okay. I feel like a bit of a mother today. I don't know. Just this energy of September spring coming in is that everything's going to be okay and what we need to start to learn is to nurse ourselves a little bit, looking after ourselves and supporting ourselves in a way as though we would for a best friend or a brother, or you know how a mother looks after their child Like we have to start to be that person, because, especially when you're an aspiring performer and you're going out into the wild world, you don't really have those people around you to look after you, because no one knows what you're doing when no one's watching right, we don't know the little, they don't know the little habits that we do, they don't know how we talk to ourselves.

Speaker 1:

So we really need to start showing up as that person who does support you in the best possible way, because, at the end of the day, no one is going to want your dream, love your dream, support your dream more than you right. So we want to make sure that we are also nurturing and supporting ourselves in that way that is supportive. We want to make sure that we are also nurturing and supporting ourselves in that way that is supportive. So a thing that you can start to do as we wrap up this short podcast session is to really just identify, write down as a journal prompt what brings you comfort, what brings you joy and what brings you peace, and by actually understanding that is going to just help you identify a little bit further into what can help you feel regulated in your body, what can regulate you back to peace, what can regulate you back to that feeling of like, oh great.

Speaker 1:

So by understanding what brings you comfort, what brings you joy, what brings you peace, start to identify those things and start to place them in your calendar, around your schedule, so that you can don't have to wait until the burnout. You don't have to wait to the exhaustion to then. Oh remember, that was the pattern I was having. I was feeling so good that I just forgot about all the things I was doing. Well, until it got too late and I got sick or I got injured, and then I had to spend so many weeks to just like get the ball rolling again. So you don't have to be that way.

Speaker 1:

By identifying early on what brings you joy, what those things actually make you feel good, you could even go as far as like doing a food diary and like, when you eat certain foods, what brings you energy, what brings you vitality, and feels like, oh cool, I feel like great after that. And start to eat more of those things, start to drink more of those things. Start to drink more of those things instead of just selecting what's easy or going ahead and just selecting, you know, things that give you momentarily pleasure. Of course, there is time and period for that. But a lot of the things we're doing are that instant gratification, and what I urge to support you in is to go ahead and support yourself in making decisions that are going to benefit you long term and not just giving you that instant gratification of that food or that tv series or whatever. And I don't want to be like the no fun police, but I just want to ensure that you're looking after yourself in a way that is supporting you in the long game, in the longevity of the bigger picture of you as a professional artist. And by doing that we can just do a little audit, do a little audit of yourself and do a little audit of like, okay, what's working, what needs some readjusting and what can we do to position ourselves to that 2.0 version of you, that 2.0 version of you that is showing up, that 2.0 version of you that is really just setting yourself apart and really that number one supporter of yourself. So by doing that you're able to, yeah, not only enjoy the process, but you're actually going into it with a bit more vitality, because you're not only understanding who you are, but you're understanding the things that are going to help you feel your best when you are there. So that's the end of this podcast. I believe that's all I want to say.

Speaker 1:

I'm starting to share with you all, actually, some Spotify playlists that I have been creating, so if you're on Spotify, I'll add it into the show notes. These are just playlists that I have been creating, so if you're on Spotify, I'll add it into the show notes. These are just playlists that I've actually been using when things get too much, so you can go ahead and listen to them. They've been really, really helpful. I just play them in the morning as I'm getting up, just to make sure that the sounds and the things that are coming into my ears and my body are supportive. And I'll also share with you a really wonderful woman who I listen to. She has short spoken meditations that you can actually do on walks and you can do in the morning or even before bed, and they're really just really insightful, motherly playlists that you can go ahead and listen to at any point of your day that I believe that will benefit you, as that's what I've been listening to currently, as I want to start sharing things like that.

Speaker 1:

I want to share with you what I'm doing in my day that make me feel the way I feel that make me learn and that make me feel creative and that make me feel passionate and that make me feel really excited to be a part of this awesome industry that I really do love so much and this amazing community that I love so much. So go ahead, check it out in the show notes. Know that we have our private Facebook group, which is all about developing that professional mindset, but a mindset that supports you and empowers you. It's completely free. We have a five-day mindset challenge that we ran on there that you can go and check out, which has five in-depth mindset classes from me that are nearly half an hour each that are completely free you can go check out. And we also have five industry guest master classes that talk on topics like what it actually takes to be a professional in the arts and networking in a way that's authentic and things like that from five different industry professionals.

Speaker 1:

So if you're not in that, go ahead into the show notes and join us, as that's where that all will be ready for you to go and digest. And that's it. Have a wonderful rest of your day. I'm excited to bring you more podcast episodes and more professionals in the industry that are coming up and just know that this is your one-stop shop. This is your one-stop shop to feel supported, to feel connected, and please share with me your insights, your top highlights of this episode, as I love connecting with you. I hope you've found value in it and I'll see you on future episodes.