71. Listening to Your Body: Early Stress Signals Nurses Often Ignore

As nurses, we’re trained to push through—but your body often knows you’re stressed long before burnout shows up.

In this episode of The Nurses’ Breakroom with Jenny Lytle, RN, we explore the early physical stress signals nurses commonly ignore: shallow breathing, tight chests, fatigue, irritability, headaches, muscle tension, and that feeling of being checked out.

These signals aren’t flaws or failures. They’re information.

You’ll learn simple, in-the-moment ways to pause, regulate your nervous system, and respond with compassion—without needing hours of self-care or complicated routines.

If you want to prevent burnout by listening sooner instead of pushing harder, this episode will meet you right where you are.

✅ Takeaways / Action Steps

• Identify early body-based stress signals
• Try a quick 30-second nervous system reset
• Use grounding, breath, and posture to reduce tension
• Ask: “What do I need most right now?”
• Practice earlier boundaries, not bigger ones
• Respond to your body with kindness and curiosity

If you're feeling overwhelmed, burned out, or like there’s never enough time, I’ve got something just for you! Head to https://selfcareisntselfish.com to grab your FREE copy of my book, Self-Care Isn’t Selfish: The Compassionate Nurse’s Step-by-Step Guide to Personalized Stress Relief. It’s packed with simple, effective strategies to help you prioritize your needs—without guilt—so you can feel energized, focused, and ready to take on the day. Go to https://selfcareisntselfish.com 

Feeling stressed? Grab my quick and easy Busy Nurses' Guide to Less Stress for practical stress relief that truly fits into your life! https://www.jennylytle.com/guide

Looking for connection with people who get the stress and self-care struggles of nurses and caregivers? Check out https://thenursesbreakroom.com

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennylytlern/

More ways to connect here: https://linktr.ee/jennylytle

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Today’s Focus
• 0:40 Body Signals We Ignore
• 1:02 Stress Symptoms As Information
• 3:49 Quick Grounding Breath And Reset
• 4:31 Delay Decisions And Ask What’s Needed
• 5:52 Small Self-Boundaries And Micro-Shifts
• 6:51 Earlier Boundaries And Kind Responses
• 7:08 Self-Care Reminder And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:02

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Nurses Break Room with Jenny Lytle RN. Today we are going to focus on the the things that our body tells us that sometimes we ignore. The things that if if we continue to. And I feel like I'm just not breathing enough. You know, I feel like I can't take a deep enough breath. Maybe for you, it's a heavy chest or a knot in the stomach. And I feel some of that as well. I was diagnosed with irritable bowel years ago. And really, a lot of that is very stress-related for me. Sudden fatigue or irritability can be signals that your body is saying, hey, we need to do something a little different. Or maybe feeling numb or checked out, headaches or muscle tension that just shows up for no reason. And the thing is, these aren't weaknesses. They're not likely even strictly physical things. They're information. And here are some simple ways that you can help to counteract that quickly and in the moment. Just pause and take one slower breath out. So maybe that's, you know, closing your eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath in and let it out. Drop your shoulders and unclench your jaw. Put both feet on the floor and just really feel the floor beneath you. Notice that pressure and feel that grounding. Maybe you need to delay a decision instead of thinking, okay, I've got to do this right now. Um maybe pausing on that because maybe you're not in the headspace to make that decision. Maybe you don't have all of the information. So just saying, I'll get back to you if it's a decision with somebody else, and if it's a decision that you need to make yourself, then you know, remind yourself I don't have to solve this right now. And one of the things that I love to ask myself in the moment, especially when I'm feeling incredibly overwhelmed with all of the things to do, which is very easy to feel this time of year, is what do I need most right now? And this may be what do I need to do most right now, but often it's just what do I need most? And sometimes it's to sit down and make a list of the things I need to do instead of having them all swirling around in my head, then prioritizing them. Sometimes it's maybe I need to get up. Maybe I've been sitting too long and I need to take a break from it. Maybe it's getting a drink of water, maybe it's getting a snack, maybe it's getting some sleep, but just pausing enough to ask ourselves these questions. And boundaries don't have to be dramatic and they don't have to necessarily even deal with other people. There are boundaries that we can set for ourselves that really can make a big difference. So, just as a quick body check-in, just ask yourself, where do I feel tension right now? And what might decrease that by five percent? What's one small adjustment that I can make? Things like changing your posture or taking a sip of water, stepping away for 30 seconds, or just saying, Let me get back to you. Those are all very simple things that can be done in just a moment, but can have a big impact. You don't necessarily need stronger boundaries, but you do need earlier ones, and your body is already helping you if you listen. Notice one signal that your body is giving you today, and respond to that with kindness and compassion. Until next time, remember self-care isn't selfish. It's essential if we want to continue to care for others and live our best lives. Have a great week.