Great Resignation and Not So Great Hyperventilation
I did not coin the term “Great Resignation” but I believe that I just invented the expression the “Great Hyperventilation”.
I’m sure you have heard in the news about a great social shift we are currently undergoing: people are resigning from their jobs or actively searching for opportunities with great work-life balance. For many people this translates into wanting to work from home while others hope to have a hybrid work schedule. Some people have even admitted that they will take a lower paying job if they could work remotely.
What does this tell us? It demonstrates that people have been stressed for a long time as they have found it to be very hard to spend all the day at the office and then come home to take care of their family.
My friend once told me that by the end of the day, when her children are already in bed, she is so tired that she is not even coherent. This friend was allowed to work remotely when the pandemic started, however she recently had to go back to the office like many other people did. She hates being in the office and plans to find a job where she can work remotely.
Is my friend unthankful? Is she lazy? Did she get too comfortable working from home and forgot what real life was about? Please allow me a chance to defend her.
Before the Great Resignation happened, I believe we, as a society, were involved in the Great Hyperventilation, and we still are! It is everywhere! Look around! Have you ever seen people who are stressed, tired, sleepy, unwell, and sick? How many people do you see in your company’s breakroom seemingly always drinking coffee?
According to a revolutionary discovery made by Dr. K. Buteyko (MD/PhD), hyperventilation (overbreathing) is responsible for causing many modern diseases or “diseases of civilization”. There are many factors that contribute to the development of hyperventilation. Sedentary lifestyle is one of the prevailing causes. Stress and a poor diet consisting of “food substances” rather than real food also cause overbreathing.
When people began working from home during the pandemic, they started eating better and exercising. The biggest benefit of working from home is an ability to stand up and move around. Remember what I said about the sedentary lifestyle? Leading a sedentary lifestyle negatively affects our breathing and causes overbreathing. People are not supposed to sit in their cubicles all day long.
For the first time in their lives people got a glimpse of what it means to decrease hyperventilation. It felt great. People moved more during the day, felt less stressed, exercised more, and spent more time with their loved ones. It all ended for many people when they got sent back to the office. There is no time for exercising or spending quality time with the family. Instead, people got the stress associated with being in the office. It explains why their hyperventilation became worse and why they started feeling worse physically. Many people with asthma, anxiety, and sinusitis have had their symptoms worsen after they went back to the office.
So here is my verdict. My friend is not lazy. She is not unthankful. She just wants to be healthy and to feel whole again. She is looking for a remote job. Great Hyperventilation caused the Great Resignation; this is how I see it. It is a human right to want to be healthy. We can’t tell people what they have to feel.
While it is great that some companies can offer their employees the option to work remotely, some other industries cannot because of the nature of their work. At the same time, some employers can offer a remote job opportunity, but they chose not to.
What can YOU do?
What if I told you that it is possible to tame hyperventilation, reverse asthma, sinusitis, and anxiety even if you commute to the office? It seems like an impossible task. Yes, it is possible and you will not need another cup of coffee to stay awake. Once your breathing is normalized you will feel refreshed and energized.
Learn the Buteyko Breathing Method, normalize your breathing, and reverse asthma, sinusitis, and anxiety.
Sign up now at https://www.restoreyourbreathing.com/offers/yFkJggsn/checkout
Breathe gently!
With love,
Svetlana Ivanova, Buteyko Breathing Method Practitioner
Life Improof, LLC
Official Representative of the Buteyko Clinic in Moscow