Shrink Recovering
Stress, burnout, rest, and recovery.
Sleep (20)
Sleep Hygiene
Sleep hygiene is about creating the right conditions, not forcing rest.
Sleep Debt
Sleep debt is the quiet tally of the rest you didn't get.
Circadian Rhythm
The circadian rhythm is your internal daily clock, tuned mostly by light.
Sleep Architecture
Sleep has a structure, cycling through stages all night long.
Restorative Sleep
Restorative sleep is rest that truly refreshes, not just hours logged.
Sleep Pressure
Sleep pressure is the drive to sleep that rises with every waking hour and clears when you sleep.
Sleep Inertia
Sleep inertia is the temporary fog between being asleep and being fully awake.
Nap Architecture
Nap architecture is the way a nap's length and timing determine what you actually get from it.
REM Rebound
Missed REM sleep gets repaid with more REM on later nights.
Social Jetlag
A recurring clash between your inner clock and your social schedule.
Chronotype
Your biology sets when you naturally feel alert and sleepy.
Sleep Spindles
Short brain bursts during sleep that help store new learning.
Slow-Wave Sleep
The deep sleep that restores the body and locks in certain memories.
Melatonin
The brain's night signal that prepares the body for sleep.
Light Exposure
When you get light, especially bright light, tunes your sleep-wake clock.
Sleep Efficiency
A measure of how much of your time in bed is real sleep.
REM Atonia
A temporary paralysis in REM that stops you acting out dreams.
Hypnagogia
The vivid, drifting edge between being awake and asleep.
Two-Process Model of Sleep
Sleep timing comes from sleep pressure and the circadian clock working together.
Wind-Down Routine
A consistent set of soothing steps that ease you toward sleep.
Stress and Recovery (16)
Secondary Traumatic Stress
Helping people through trauma can leave a mark on the helper.
Vicarious Trauma
Long exposure to others' trauma can slowly reshape how you see the world.
Moral Injury
The wound that comes from violating or being unable to honor your morals.
Non-Sleep Deep Rest
Restful, awake practices that calm the body without sleeping.
Stress Buffering Hypothesis
Having support cushions the impact of stress on mind and body.
Tend-and-Befriend
Under stress, we often turn toward care and connection, not only fight or flight.
Fawn Response
Managing danger by pleasing and appeasing rather than fighting or fleeing.
Freeze Response
When overwhelming threat makes the body freeze rather than fight or flee.
Ultradian Rhythm
The body cycles through peaks and dips of alertness across the day.
Restorative Niche
Your own reliable way and place to recover energy.
General Adaptation Syndrome
Ongoing stress moves the body from alarm to coping to depletion.
Diathesis-Stress Model
A predisposition plus stress, not either alone, tends to trigger problems.
Stress Contagion
Stress travels between people through mood, tone, and behavior.
Forest Bathing
Unhurried, present time in nature that lowers stress.
Green Exercise
Movement in natural settings that boosts mood and lowers stress.
Scheduled Worry
Containing worry to a set period so it stops taking over the day.
Nervous System (13)
Window of Tolerance
The window of tolerance is the range where you can cope and stay present.
Nervous System Regulation
Regulation is guiding your inner state toward balance.
Vagal Tone
Vagal tone is a marker tied to how well the body can settle.
Parasympathetic Activation
Parasympathetic activation is the body leaning toward rest.
Breathing Regulation
Breathing regulation is using slow breath as a lever for calm.
Grounding
Grounding is anchoring yourself in the present through the senses.
Cortisol Awakening Response
A normal morning cortisol spike that helps you get going.
Heart Rate Variability
More beat-to-beat variation usually means better recovery and flexibility.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Systematically tensing and releasing muscles to calm the body.
Physiological Sigh
A natural breath pattern that lowers stress in a few cycles.
Box Breathing
A four-part, even-count breath that steadies the nervous system.
Autogenic Training
Guiding the body into calm with quiet phrases of warmth and heaviness.
Biofeedback
Watching your body's signals to learn to calm them on purpose.
Recovery (13)
Active Recovery
Active recovery is easy movement that helps you settle.
Psychological Detachment
Psychological detachment is switching off in your head, not just leaving your desk.
Attention Restoration
Attention restoration is how tired focus gets refilled.
Emotional Exhaustion
Emotional exhaustion is running on empty at the level of feeling.
Compassion Fatigue
Compassion fatigue is the quiet cost of caring for those who suffer.
Recovery Rituals
Recovery rituals are cues that help you shift into rest.
Recovery Debt
Recovery debt is the running total of rest you skipped, and it compounds until you pay it back.
Deliberate Rest
Deliberate rest is choosing recovery on purpose so it actually restores you.
Micro-Recovery
Micro-recovery is the brief pauses that top you up before the tank runs low.
Digital Fatigue
Digital fatigue is the drained, scattered feeling that builds from nonstop screen and information demands.
Rumination and Recovery
Rumination keeps stress running in the background, so rest can't fully do its job.
Detachment from Work
Detachment from work is switching off mentally from your job so off-time can actually recharge you.
Nature and Restoration
Nature and restoration is the tendency of natural settings to help attention and calm return.
Stress Science (9)
Stress Response
Stress is your system preparing to meet a demand, not a flaw in your character.
Fight or Flight Response
This is the built in alarm that gets you ready to move.
Acute Stress
Acute stress is the quick spike that comes and goes.
Chronic Stress
Chronic stress is the slow cost of staying switched on too long.
Eustress
Eustress is pressure that lifts you rather than flattens you.
Relaxation Response
The relaxation response is the off switch you can practice using.
Stress Recovery Curve
The stress recovery curve is how fast you come back to baseline after the stressor is gone.
Hormesis
Hormesis is when a manageable dose of stress makes a system stronger, provided it can recover.
Stress Mindset
Stress mindset is your belief about stress, which may modestly shape how you respond to it.
Human Operating Principles (7)
Homeostasis
Life depends on continuous biological regulation.
Allostasis
Healthy systems adapt.
Allostatic Load
Repeated strain leaves biological fingerprints.
Rest
Rest is stepping out of demand long enough to recover.
Sabbath Rest
Sabbath rest is a recurring, protected pause from work that you keep on a rhythm.
Recovery Mindset
Recovery mindset is the belief that rest is a necessary part of functioning, not a guilty indulgence.
Energy Management
Energy management is organizing life around your renewable energy rather than only your fixed hours.
Cognitive Performance (4)
Burnout
Burnout is rarely caused by one difficult day. It's usually created by too many unrecovered days.
Mental Energy
Capacity changes throughout the day.
Cognitive Reserve
Healthy brains build reserves over decades.
Cognitive Recovery Debt
Recovery skipped today becomes fatigue tomorrow.
Cellular Neuroscience (3)
Synaptic Plasticity
Learning changes how neurons communicate with one another.
Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)
Learning often strengthens the connections between neurons.
Long-Term Depression (LTD)
The brain learns partly by reducing unnecessary neural connections.
Brain Development (2)
Synaptic Pruning
Healthy brain development involves strengthening some neural connections while removing others.
Critical Periods
The timing of experience sometimes matters as much as the experience itself.
Neuroscience of Rest (2)
Default Mode Network
The brain stays busy during rest, doing reflection and sense-making.
Glymphatic System
A brain cleanup network that flushes waste, especially while you sleep.
Resilience (2)
Hardiness
Staying engaged, focused on what you control, and seeing stress as a challenge.
Sense of Coherence
A worldview that life makes sense, can be handled, and is worth it.