Speaker 1: 0:06

okay, now welcome back. Welcome back to the sweet spot. You are listening to self-care saturday here on the sweet spot, and it's been my pleasure to be your host for the entire week. We've had a great time, haven't we? We have been delving into this whole thing called the secret sauce, and so today, on Self-Care Saturday, my friends, we're unlocking even more ingredients that elevate the ordinary effort that we make in life into something that will have an extraordinary impact. So far, we've talked about SOS S, starting with soul, a aligning with authenticity. U, unleashing focus. C, committing with consistency.

Speaker 1: 1:04

And today, today, we arrive at the fifth and final ingredient in this acronym of sauce E for energy. Because here's the truth, my friend, you can't pour sauce from an empty pot. This episode, this Self-Care Saturday episode, is about protecting your flame. That's right, because, no matter how much heart hustle, hope you have, burnout will rob you of your brilliance, especially if you don't make rest a non-negotiable part of whatever it is that you do in life. Take it from me lots of times I'm not resting, and when I don't build rest into my recovery, I pay the price. I don know about you, but there are times when I'm just dog tired, I'm just running on fumes and it's so easy to do. So that's why my secret sauce has to include some contemplation about the E in sauce, which is the energy, the energy. And you know, as a board certified psychiatrist, someone who specializes in high performance, working with athletes and high performers, working with individuals who are in corporate and business, in law enforcement, in healthcare, I see the same thing. We run ourselves ragged, our self-care is like the last thing that's on our mind because we're so busy taking care of business. But, yes, in self-care Saturday, here we have to slow down and we have to protect our flame because your, because your sauce will burn out if you just keep going like that, right? So look, the science.

Speaker 1: 3:09

We always talk about science here on the Sweet Spot. It's no secret. We all know that we dabble in a little neuroscience from time to time. And let's root this in the science, because this isn't just vibes and candles. When I say self-care, this isn't just vibes and candles. When I see self-care Sometimes, when I see self-care Saturday, everybody thinks well, oh yeah, it's bubble baths, it's candles, it's aromatherapy and it's massages and, by the way, I love all those things. Just saying, yeah, let's root this inside when you rest deeply, my friend, your brain doesn't power down, it actually powers up. That's something that it's kind of hard to conceive, but people who understand medicine and science, they know that when you sleep your brain is more active. If you ever do a sleep study and they hook all these things up to you, if you ever do a sleep study and they hook all these things up to you, you'll be shocked at the end of the night when they bring the reading of what your brain was doing, how active your brain is while you're sleeping. So keep that in mind when you rest deeply, your brain is not powering down, it's powering up, my friends.

Speaker 1: 4:23

Another concept is neuroplasticity. We talk about that all the time here on the sweet spot. Neuroplasticity is important in self-care. Neuroplasticity, just as a reminder, is the brain's ability to rewire itself. The brain has an amazing capacity to adapt, rewire and reconfigure itself to handle things. So that doesn't only apply to learning a new task, it also applies to when you rest. Neuroplasticity. Your brain's ability to rewire itself actually accelerates during rest. Did you hear what I just said? Your brain's ability to rewire and reconfigure itself zooms up, it accelerates during rest. This is when your brain consolidates learning, regulates emotions and strengthens the pathways that support your performance, your resilience, your energy, your bounce.

Speaker 1: 5:29

My mom always tells me this let me sleep on it and I'll tell you what I think in the morning. And by golly, this woman is a genius. She always has an answer in the morning and I've started adopting that Just going to bed, resting and sleeping, checking in with the inner voice and having these ideas in the morning. You know why that's happening. I'm going to give you the neuroscience of what is happening with my mom. Her lymphatic system is helping her in the brain, not the lymphatic, as we know, in the body. Well, we all know about the lymphatic system in helping her in the brain, not the lymphatic, as we know, in the body. Well, we all know about the lymphatic system in the body, right In the brain. It's called the glymphatic system, g-l-y-m-p-h-a-t-i-c.

Speaker 1: 6:16

The glymphatic system is a system in your brain, system in your brain. That's like a deep clean cycle. It's only activated when During deep rest. Yes, my friend, during deep rest, your brain's glymphatic system cleans your brain, it rinses it, it clears out neurotoxins that cloud judgment and slows focus and dulls your edge. Your brain, literally, is so active when you're resting and sleeping, cleaning itself up, and it only happens during sleep. So this is my plug for you on sleep. We need to do a whole episode on a whole week on sleep. That's one of my favorite topics. We're not going to go deep into it right now. On sleep that's one of my favorite topics. We're not going to go deep into it right now. But you just need to walk away from today's episode saying, hmm, I didn't know that my glymphatic system was only active at night when I needed to sleep. Huh, I'm not going to stay up all night, I'm going to go to bed, I'm going to rest. I'm going to try to force myself to get some deep rest or some sleep, because I need my glymphatic system to clean my brain up.

Speaker 1: 7:29

You're walking around in the fog. You're not getting it. You can't remember things. You're studying for a test or an exam. You have a big playbook in front of you you have to remember. You better get some rest. You better get some sleep. You know why? Because your glymphatic system can't work until you do.

Speaker 1: 7:46

And listen, we're talking about the brain and self-care. Right now, when you're under constant stress, you're also depleting your brain of two chemicals that I want you to know, you've heard them before. They are success-driven chemicals, chemicals that help you be successful, and you know what they are Dopamine and serotonin. These are two neurotransmitters that fuel your motivation. They fuel your joy and your recovery. This is science talking to you today.

Speaker 1: 8:20

All right, this is self-care Saturday, but you've got to understand you are secreting certain neurotransmitters when you're happy, when you're rested, when you're feeling good in your brain. That must be replenished. Self-care and self-care practices is what helps you replenish your dopamine and your serotonin and others, so that you can have your drive, your agility, your swag, your stability. All of that is dependent on you getting rest. So that's my neuroscientific argument for getting rest. That's the secret to really having great self-care is to understand that your brain is powering up. Your brain is lighting up while you're sleeping and it's doing amazing things. It's accelerating, it's regulating your emotions, it's strengthening your path. It's doing so much while you sleep. So here's the neuroscientific bottom line Recovery, it's not weakness.

Speaker 1: 9:22

It's not weak to take a rest, no matter what the world is telling you. Recovery isn not weakness. It's not weak to take a rest, no matter what the world is telling you. Recovery isn't weakness. It's how champions reload All the best players, all the best performers, all the best business folks, all the best housewives, all the best fathers and moms and people that you really trust. They are at their best when they're rested, aren't they people that you really trust? They are at their best when they're rested, aren't they? That's so simple. And there's a reason that elite performers value rest.

Speaker 1: 10:01

The best performance lives somewhere between your boredom and your burnout. You've got to be in the middle. There's a sweet spot, and you know I'm partial to that term. Okay, because you are listening to the sweet spot, but no, this is a. This is a sweet spot, s-w-e-e-t. A sweet spot exists for performers between boredom and burnout. Boredom is when you have too little stress and you're just not motivated enough, and burnout is when you are too wired up and you're not in the zone. So sometimes you're so bored you're not getting anything done, you're just drifting. Sometimes you're so wired you're drowning. You don't want to drift and you don't want to drown. You know what helps you balance yourself Self-care.

Speaker 1: 10:46

Self-care keeps you in that sweet spot in the flow zone sharp, alert and emotionally in your rhythm. You see you have an autonomic nervous system that has two gears. Think of a light switch right. When you flip the light switch on, you're in your sympathetic nervous system. That's your go mode. When you switch the light switch off, that's your parasympathetic, that's your grow mode right. So your self-care helps you flip the switch between which nervous system is going to be active. The sympathetic nervous system is that fight or flight nervous system. It keeps you active, it keeps you up, it gets you ready to do work and to handle emergencies and stresses. You're a police officer, you're a doctor, you're a lawyer, you're a fighter Whatever it is that you do in life, your sympathetic nervous system is go mode. That's what keeps you going.

Speaker 1: 11:42

The problem is you also have a parasympathetic nervous system that needs to also be on. You've got to turn the light switch off so that that parasympathetic nervous system, which is also called the rest and digest nervous system, gets a chance to heal, you gets a chance to let your heart rate lower, let your blood vessels relax. And the issue is, when you do not rest and you don't take care of yourself, your sympathetic nervous system is in go mode. And let me show you how it happens for me. When I get too wired, I just can't sleep. There's always something else to do and I can be up till three or four in the morning just going project after project. And what's wrong with me? That issue, that's an issue. That is cortisol. That is too much sympathetic nervous system activation. I've got to flip the switch, get the parasympathetic nervous system to calm me down. And the neuroscience is clear on that. That's why the neuroscience tells you take a deep breath. That's why the neuroscience tells you go for a breath. That's why the neuroscience tells you go for a walk. That's why the neuroscience tells you to relax and let go, because it's trying to get you to go to parasympathetic mode. It's trying to get you to come out of the sympathetic nervous system mode. It's trying to get you to secrete a little more dopamine and to help you relax. And you know what? This ain't new. This is nothing new. With all due respect to my scientists out there, the ancient wisdom had already dialed into this eons ago. Listen, the Sabbath principle reminds us that even God, the creator of the cosmos, rested on the seventh day, not because he was tired, but because he was completing a cycle. Rest completes a cycle. It models sustainable success. Rest isn't what you do after the work. In other words, rest is part of the work. So I'm going to say it again, especially for my athletes and performers who are listening Rest isn't what you do after work. This is also true for those of you who are on the grind at work and you're constantly working. Rest is what you do. You do as part of your work, not what you do after the work. Build it in.

Speaker 1: 14:11

In Japan, the philosophy of itagi is considered your reason for being, and I'm sure I didn't pronounce that right. It's spelled I-K-I-G-A-I. It's a key, it's your reason for being. It teaches that purpose must be sustainable. It's a philosophy what you love, what the world needs and what you can give must always be tied in to your purpose. And it only works if you don't lose yourself in the process. This is already built into the ancient wisdom. This is Japanese ancient wisdom. It only works if you don't lose yourself in the process.

Speaker 1: 15:00

In Eastern philosophy from the Tao, there's a Wu Wei W-U-W-E-I. That's a principle of effortless action. It teaches that sometimes the most powerful move is no move at all. Like soil after seeding, like a muscle after strain, like spirit after struggle, you've got to not move. Let it occur. Let it occur. Traditional Chinese medicine says that forcing growth without rest is like trying to harvest before you've watered.

Speaker 1: 15:46

Burnout isn't proof of commitment, my friend. It's a sign that you skipped your recovery. When you're feeling burned out, when you're feeling haggard, when you're feeling worn down, the bottom line here is that you're not recovering, and that's important. I already told you about the brain. I already told you what your brain is going to be missing out on when you don't do it. Let's bring in a little soul wisdom.

Speaker 1: 16:10

J Cole once said don't save her, she don't want to be saved. Save yourself. Okay, j Cole, don't save her, she don't want to be saved. And I'll add this Don't save the world if you haven't saved yourself. That's the message. This is self-care Saturday. Your self-care is not selfish. It's a signal to your soul that I matter too. You got to tell yourself that. Say it, say it out loud. I matter too.

Speaker 1: 16:40

Erykah Badu, great singer. She said I pick my friends like I pick my fruit. That's not just about people. It's about what you feed your life, who and what you allow into your energy field. Pick your rest like you pick your influences. Pick it with intention and care, my friend, and the ancient wisdom of the Bible, the scriptures we never leave it out Spiritually. Let's ground ourselves with this. But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength and they shall mount up with wings like eagles. Isaiah, this isn't about idleness. This is about spiritual recalibration, about waiting in sacred silence, about letting your wings recover before your next flight. Think about that when it says like eagles, mount up on wings. Like eagles, eagles rest, they chill, and when they soar, they soar high. That's who you are right now. You're listening to me because you want to really embed in your mind this ingredient of protecting your energy. Strength is renewed in quiet, not in chaos. That's why we're spending time here on Self-Care Saturday on energy.

Speaker 1: 18:05

You don't protect your energy after you burn out. You don't do that. You protect it, so you don't burn out. Okay, that's a principle. You don't protect the energy after you burn out. That's the wrong time to be working on it. You got to work on it before you burn out.

Speaker 1: 18:20

The self-care is how you preserve the flame that fuels your purpose, because your sauce, it doesn't stay hot on its own, my friend, you have to guard that flame, you have to guard that fire. The grind doesn't glow without the grace of recovery Bottom line, bottom line. And when you're resting, you're not retreating, you're reinforcing, you're protecting the flame so the fire doesn't turn into ash. Every chef knows that. Anybody who knows about fire knows that you got to protect the flame If you want the flame to keep going. You got to protect the fire so it doesn't turn into ash. Another thing is you have to stir your sauce. You have to stir your sauce, but that's not enough. This is self-care Saturday. You have to let the sauce simmer, my friend. That's when it really comes together.

Speaker 1: 19:11

So give yourself 15 minutes today of intentional, guilt-free rest. No phone, no to-do list, just you, just your breathing and your quiet comeback. Let the pause become your power today. Let the pause become your power today. Invest in you. Love you, put you first. Let silence refill your sauce, because when you protect your flame, you're preserving your purpose, and somebody out there loves you. I love you, we all love you, and part of loving you is to tell you you've got to protect you, you've got to recover, you've got to rest, because the sauce isn't just what you give, it's also what you keep. All right now, thank you for listening to this Self-Care Saturday, ingredient of energy and protecting your energy. And if today you felt fed in your soul. I invite you to subscribe to this channel, if you haven't already, and I would love for you to share it with someone else who may need this recipe for the secret sauce.

Speaker 1: 20:19

Tomorrow, we're going to open up the spirit to the stars. Oh, I love Sundays. I love Slow Down Sundays. As we take the journey to a cosmic level, we start exploring the silence between the galaxies and the silence of stillness and the silence of our souls, and how the universe itself teaches us to rest, to reset and to realign. I can't wait. Trust me, you don't want to miss Slow Down Sunday. Your soul's orbit depends on you talking to me tomorrow and until then, stay in the kitchen, make your sauce, express yourself and don't just come to the table. Arrive at it with style and grace. This is Dr Derek Sweet. You've been listening to the Sweet Spot Sweets out.