428 thoughts on “Shift-work with Ease”

1. What a turnaround, from barely surviving and getting through life and work, to absolutely loving it and feeling vital. Our bodies really do know how to live with and in maximum harmony and vitality- so long as we’re prepared to listen to it and actually do what it needs to live in this harmony, and not what we’ve decided we want to do.

2. I love this blog for its honesty and realness and the way you have described the simple practical changes that you have made for yourself Elizabeth is profound in that they have had big effects on your life. Reading this I get the impression that anyone could easily do this.

3. With the pressure to resolve events quickly in the IT industry I work in, I thought it was not possible to be gentle. However, I can be connected to my body and feel how it is to resolve things with such simplicity, being connected to a body that is tender and in a flowing rhythm instead of harsh and jarring movements.

4. It is always supportive to listen to the body. Sometimes it may be surprising what we are told, but if we trust the body’s wisdom, we get shown why.

5. Thank you, Elizabeth. Reading your sharing, I could feel how I have often had this attitude of holding something as an ‘ideal’ only to prove that it was not practically possible, or not true for me, because I had already refused to change my patterns even though they were pretty harming and abusive, and my way of ‘trying it out’ didn’t quite come from an innocent place – an example being us being sons of God.

6. Yes Elizabeth I too felt the impact of what alcohol was doing to me, I just knew I couldn’t do it anymore, the level of abuse towards myself and others just became too much. Working in hospitality and not drinking has been revolutionary.

7. I love how honest you are about how you used to see self-care at work as unrealistic. And how much things have changed for you now.

8. I agree “The teachings presented by Universal Medicine are very practical and down to earth” and yet at the same time the results are out of this world 🙂

9. When we make life ‘one life’ no matter where we are, for instance at home or at work, then in all that we do we will be in preparation of what is coming next.

10. What you have shared is truly amazing Elizabeth because we just tend to accept how challenging life feels at times and feeling tired, run down and awful in ourselves, needing coffee, carbs and sugar to survive. Even with the demands of shift work your attentiveness to your body and honouring how you felt with sleep, food and being gentle with yourself has had profound results. It’s actually inspired me to question the norms I’ve accepted in my life and keep looking at my self care routine to work towards more vitality and a greater sense of wellbeing.

    1. If we call life challenging, we in fact do diminish ourselves to only a physical body that lives in a world we think we cannot cope with. But when we let go of this idea and return to the intelligence of our body instead, life will rarely be a challenge any more, as the rhythms we then choose will be in support of the whole and will in no way allow any abuse to our physical or psychological body.

    2. Yes isn’t it strange how often the things we crave are the ones that harm us the most.

11. With our current ill health crisis it is inspiring to read the opportunity that you are offering all to re-imprint the way we are with our bodies whatever we are doing. We all have the choice to start listening to what our bodies are saying and make changes and explore what unfolds. Shift work is recognised as being challenging for the body but what you are offering is that there is another way to approach it which supports the body throughout and is a blueprint for so many other situations.

12. I love the practical approach you took to changing things, it’s quite simple when we listen to what works for our bodies, they are super loud and clear when it comes to what works and what doesn’t work.

13. This reminds us that the body responds best to rhythms not rules, to care and not disregard and ultimately to love.

14. It is amazing what the body can do when it is cared for. As you’ve shared, you were doing shift work before meeting Serge Benhayon but it is the quality factor and all that that brings that is now different. It’s not just what we do that leads to our state of health and harmony in ourselves and others but the how/quality we do it all in.

15. I find it incredible that shift work can be done with so much self-care and ease and flow. I really admire you for taking this on and for not giving up.

16. I have noticed how much we all watch one another and how quickly we notice if someone is doing something differently that makes our job easier, beautiful to read how you changed one thing at a time, not trying to rush through but gently allowing your body to make the adjustments and commit to a deeper connection with yourself.

    1. Yes a beautiful reflection for your colleagues offering them another way to be with shift work and themselves.

17. Indeed food can seem to be the short term remedy we reach for to stimulate our bodies into functioning when in reality it needs rest or sleep and a change in the quality that we live in.

18. Thank you so much, Elizabeth. I really appreciate the details of the sharing you have afforded us here. I work in the evening a few days a week and I have yet to establish a rhythm that really supports me in this and have been feeling all over the place a bit. You have just reminded me of the very basic of coming back to connecting with myself and bringing gentleness in every detail – so simple yet so overlooked.

19. You are an inspiration Elizabeth. “Universal Medicine introduced the importance of listening to my body and not over-riding what it was telling me.” Actually listening to what we are feeling does make a huge difference. Living like we do from our ideals and beliefs, constantly overriding what we feel is clearly not working as we see more and more people being ill and exhausted. If overriding our body would work we would see humanity thriving but humanity is not, so we need to look at how we are living.

20. I know that habit of registering when I am tired but staying up longer just because I can – but really what for? If my body is telling me it is time to rest and go to bed why am I being so stubborn? When I obey these obvious messages my life works so much better.

21. “What if people were to actually take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing through reconnecting with themselves and listening to their bodies? In my opinion it is certainly worth investigating.” Too true Elizabeth. Once i began to take personal responsibility for my own health I too lost weight without trying and now, ten years on, feel fitter and healthier than i did back then – a reversal of the normal trend as we get older.

22. I have been having Dutch classes of late which finish at 10pm meaning I am not in bed till at least 10:30 or later. I have meetings (because of the nature of my work) sometimes at 3 or 4am the next morning and the only way I have been able to do this and not feel overly tired, drained, exhausted or whacked from this is to simply honour my body and what it is telling me to do.

    1. Joshua this is very confirming of what Elizabeth has shared in her blog, the deep honouring of the body and what it means for our vitality. Shift work and early mornings aside, listening to our body everyday would bring an enormous change to our health, wellbeing, vitality, and our enjoyment of life.

23. To feel our own responsibility that we have to bring a body that is vital and loving where ever we go, changes everything, it begins with self love and honouring our body and it ends (although it never ends, only deepens) with love for all and in sharing the joy of living.

24. Elizabeth, I have a similar experience. I work shifts and from bringing love and care to my life, connecting with and listening to my body, my energy levels have turned around completely. I am in my 50’s and enjoying life and work. Most of my colleagues need a coffee in the morning to start the day, I don’t.. no caffeine, sugar or any stimulant needed and my energy levels and vitality are the best they’ve been all my life. Applying the teachings and principles of the Ageless Wisdom as presented by Serge Benhayon has profoundly changed my life.

    1. It’s the healing power of love and care Ruth. Often we can make changes in our life with diet and exercise however it’s not often these are prompted by the body itself, nor applied with gentleness, love and care. I feel that’s the difference – listening to the body and committing to self love.

25. To take the principles of the Ageless Wisdom and apply them to daily life requires us to deeply commit to human life and not withdraw away from it. This means being genuinely devoted to our area of service and valuing the very specific flavour we bring to it and thus to all.

26. Elizabeth this blog would be very supportive for anyone working shift work, it would be great to see this article published far and wide as so many people struggle with shift work and the impact on their bodies and most of the advice out there doesn’t have such simple, practical tips as you have shared with us here.

27. I used to work shifts and found it very tiring to the point of exhaustion, but part of this was because I viewed shift-work as difficult, challenging, a struggle and so therefore that was my experience of it, and I would override my body’s messages all the time so never really established a steady rhythm for myself. I now work daytime hours – some days longer than others with lots of travel, and can see how it is not the shift work that is the problem but more so our attitude towards it. Our thoughts and actions create our reality so if we think it’s going to be hard or intense then it is. If we support ourselves by honouring our body’s messages, we will have the energy for what is needed.

    1. Lucy thank you for your comment, much appreciated. Reading your words I realised that I have just accepted the exhaustion as part of a health condition I have and may expect my days to be a struggle when there may be other things I can do to support my body and improve my vitality.

28. The more society dictates that we live in a 24/7 world, the more exhausted people become because we are able to be in constant motion, we need to learn the art of rhythm and how our body needs stillness to recover and prepare for the moments of motion, in general the more we start to respect and listen to our body the less exhausted we become.

29. I have seen you become more and more vital while during shift work. Elizabeth, that is an extremely valuable and beneficial ability!

30. Elizabeth, I have read your blog already several times and every time I re read it I find your dedication towards yourself, your health, your work, or should I say the people, very inspiring and it feels as an invitation to look at my choices whether they support my shift work or not and to deepen my commitment in honouring my body.

31. It is so worth listening to our bodies and honouring them with loving appreciation for their signaling, not bashing and denouncing them. I worked shift work over international time zones for 17 years and the presentations offered by Universal Medicine were just the medicine I needed during that time, but wasn’t aware of. These days I listen and live what is natural medicine – to listen to my body.

    1. I love this quote Sandra, to “live what is natural medicine – to listen to my body.”

32. ‘when I connected with the true harm it was doing to myself and others.’ … and that is often something we don’t want to feel, but it’s key to understanding why we behave how we do and it underpins how we can change; it starts with being gentle with ourselves, observing and understanding how we are and being willing to experiment and find a way which works for us. And most of all it’s about accepting the choices we’ve made and not giving ourselves a hard time about them, just seeing how they are and how we are – honest and open inquiry and a willingness to change and let go what doesn’t support.

33. Very beautiful and inspiring to feel how you have committed to “listening to my body and not over-riding what it was telling me” and how that actually has brought changes to all areas of life. It’s so clearly not about ticking boxes and doing the ‘right’ things, there’s that connection first for us to know what would work for each of us, there’s no formula, this is a very personal relationship we are building.

    1. Yes, when we listen we get a very personalised treatment plan that works particularly well for us. Exactly, Fumiyo.

34. I have never done shift work, but I can see how it makes total sense to look after the body in every way possible. Shift work is out of rhythm with our natural body clock of going to be around 9pm and waking at 4am, so we need to give it all the support we can. I love how you brought in the changes and adjustments needed by listening to your body and feeling what worked for you. For example eating light before and during shift work would make sense because our digestive system is not used to being taxed when we would normally be resting.

35. The foundation of love and care for ourselves will support us in what we do and will determine the quality in all we do. The key to true change in our very unhealthy health system.

36. Very supportive Elizabeth thank you, shift work takes a huge toll if you don’t know how to adjust and take care of yourself in the way you describe.

37. What an awesome reflection you are not just to your colleagues but also your patients because you are clearly demonstrating how to lovingly care for yourself in what most would consider challenging circumstances.

38. The key to shift work it seems is to not log on and log off in the sense that how we live at home and those times we are not at work are just as important as those times we are at work. By not creating this division, when it comes time to ‘log on’ we do so with a foundation of great love and care that has been established during our ‘log off’ so we will not become drained by what lies before us because we are full of what is within us.

39. What a cracker of an article, you are now proving that self care is a crucial part of caring for others. If you really consider this, it is a very practical approach. Imagine a group of animals and one is in charge of the herd, keeping them safe and supporting an injury that a member of the pack may have, a mother cub for instance. Now, imagine that animal trying to “take the lead and care for others” when it is not eating correctly, not resting when its body is tired….it doesn’t make sense, naturally in order to care for others, we must care for ourselves
    .

40. Feeling tired means the body wants sleep, feeling sore when exercising means the body wants to stop. It takes a while to relearn what our body is asking for because some signals have been ignored for so long. In this I playfully ask my body questions and it moves in response. It’s pretty cool.

41. Elizabeth, I can feel all the changes you made in your life were not initiated all at once with the aim of a quick fix but with continual adjustments that allowed you to grow with the changes you were making in a way that allowed you to actually stop and reflect on these changes, solidify them as your foundations and then be open to what adjustment is needed next. Very inspiring.

42. I love how you systematically chose to apply the practical principles of Universal Medicine presentations and were able to experience the profound changes you have to live the vitality you do in the position you do. There is so much burn out in the world caused predominantly from overriding the messages from the body, that you can’t help but wonder the significant effect it would have on the industry if workers began to take responsibility for their health and applied these for themselves.

43. What I love about Universal Medicine too is that I can apply the teachings to myself and support others in everyday life and sometimes in a very practical way alongside the knowing there is more to life that what we are led to believe. It supports me to connect and become aware of the choices I make in the way I choose to live, The Way of The Livingness.

44. Long or heavy work loads can be worked with ease when we choose to connect to the key ingredient – honouring of ourselves in every moment.

45. I too have stayed up late in case I miss something, and started waking up more exhausted than I had been the day before, and caught myself saying to work colleagues I’d love to have an early night, my body was asking for it, and yet I was the one who was constantly overriding it. I now go to bed early, and my days of exhaustion are a thing of the past.

46. I have always wondered how shift workers manage, I have had some experience myself, yet only for short periods and my body was all over the place, until I set myself a rhythm and things became much easier. I loved the way you have embraced your shift work through changing what you eat, and also building a detailed rhythm for yourself.

47. The experiences you now have of shift work and the way you support yourself could help many people.

48. Big words and big actions from a very experienced person in their chosen field. I remember this when I did shift work, “I already felt cheated by having to do shift work, so the idea of cutting my day short when I was on a day off didn’t appeal to me.” It still kicks in on weekends as well at times and I remember it from a long time ago where you didn’t want the weekend to end or you didn’t want Sunday to end because that meant Monday and going back to work. So you would stay up late on Sunday only to find Monday was exactly how you imagined, you felt tired and regretted being where you were. What if you need to take more care around these times with how you are, setting up a busy day two days prior? Sounds like a plan and also I have seen it work, the way you are prior effects the way you are on the day.

49. The place I work, the security department works; two days 0700 to 1900, then two days 1900 to 0700 and two days off, then repeat. Most of these workers are young and always look exhausted. In a world that is increasingly becoming 24/7, it is at the cost of the disregard to our bodyies and ourselves.

50. Hi Elizabeth, your message is clear about how important it is to listen to our body and to not over-ride the wisdom it offers. Reading this blog does explain how easy it can be once we choose to take responsibility and focus on health rather than comfort. Awesome information for everyone especially those working shift work.

51. It is so interesting how going to sleep is often considered as time away from the fun things in life, like it’s a chore we have to do. I love reading here your changing relationship with sleep and bedtime and how it has become a very important part of your day that supports you in the other parts of your day, so no one activity is more or less important it is all the same and working towards the one purpose.

52. Very, very good stuff Elizabeth. What you have mastered here, in a challenging situation (as shift work surely is for most of us) is revelatory and inspiring. If you can bring this level of self-love and care to your shift work, well the rest of us surely can reap the rewards of same in our more regularly-run lives. What a positive impact this would have on the level of service we are able to offer others in our work – and in our lives in general. We have the capacity to be ‘on’ all the time, living a ‘one life’ of 24-7 service rather than having segments of the day where we switch off and check out with no awareness of what’s needed and when.

53. It is beautiful what you share, and how we can support ourselves and our body by making loving choices about what foods we eat that will support our body, to support us in our working day, whether it be day, or night. Preparation is so important and how we care for ourselves, something I have noticed as well. Working in hospitality we also have early mornings or late nights, and the body has to be rested and nurtured to live a healthy life.

54. A beautiful prescription for introducing the medicine of love and self-love into everyday life.

55. What you describe here is a ‘doing it yourself guidance’ to health and vitality and it works for many with everyone having their individual touch and timing to develop such a self-loving routine, with self-love being the main ingredient here.

56. I too have developed my way of life such that I can do a 7pm-7am shift and be totally rested, at ease and productive the next day. I would not have been able to do it (this quickly anyway) without the same man you speak of, Serge Benhayon.

57. Every shift worker in the world would benefit from reading this gorgeous blog Elizabeth. Simple choices and wisdom presented in a very practical way.

    1. I agree Stephanie, this would be a must read blog for any shift worker.

58. I can really relate to this at the moment as my working pattern and commuting has recently changed, it’s made me stop and appreciate how vital it is to maintain a healthy relationship with work listening to the body is. As when we do not take the time to prepare and support ourselves in work and life, then that’s where we become run down.

59. Elizabeth anyone doing night shift work should read your blog, it would be so supportive in recognising that the body needs to work to certain rhythms such as the body naturally wanting to go to bed around 8/9pm. If we honoured this, there is less likelihood of burn out and exhaustion which many night shift workers suffer from.

60. Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine have helped and supported many many people to completely turn their lives around from one of misery, exhaustion, depression and ill health to one of well-being, vitality, love and joy. Thank you for taking the time to write this and share a different way how to do shift work without coffee, sugar and exhaustion. It is crazy really how we actually feel how we are intolerant to foods and drinks yet completely override this and carry on doing what we know makes us feel awful ‘For years I had known that I could not tolerate gluten or dairy but had done nothing about it.’ However once we start to introduce changes that support us, even tiny ones, and notice and appreciate the difference this makes to our well-being the beautifull thing is slowly and steadily it becomes easier and what is unloving starts to fall away.

61. Great advice Elizabeth whether we are doing shift work or not.

62. Hello Elizabeth and it seemed like you have been nursing yourself and your choices which has completed a pretty remarkable story for you. You are showing us how much more work or how much more harder our body needs to be and becomes as a result of our choices in the past and our choices in each moment. The link between how you treat yourself and the quality of being you then are is also remarkable and well worth the read. I know a lot of people that have changed the quality of care they are having for themselves which then supports them and everything around them. You doing this in the industry you are in is great to see and what is more makes perfect sense. How can you truly and deeply care for anyone unless you are first bringing this to yourself, thank you for leading the way and nursing us back to truth health.

63. Hello Elizabeth – I so love having stumbled upon your article today – this is just what I needed to read about – how the connection to the body is key in allowing us to work in a way that goes against what we ‘think’ would not work, but actually does work, so long as it is always done with the best intent and holding the body with full respect and care at all times. Thank you!

64. Simple really yet profound benefits, ‘Universal Medicine introduced the importance of listening to my body and not over-riding what it was telling me.’

65. These simple principles of Universal Medicine of eating lighter and going to bed early by 9pm are life changing. Universal Medicine has an endless array of living tools to connect, nurture and care for the body. Universal Medicine has a simple revelatory life-style change for any emotional dis-order.

66. “Could this be a clue as to what is needed to deal with the health care crisis we now face all over the world? What if people were to actually take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing through reconnecting with themselves and listening to their bodies?” Beautifully said Elizabeth and the extra beauty is that taking responsibility for ourselves in the way we live does not cost the health service anything.

67. The simple practical choices that support a busy lifestyle becomes possible when we appreciate that what we bring to life through our own connection and presence is important, rich and joy-full in itself.

68. Elizabeth your story confirms what everyone says when they hear Serge Benhayon’s teachings “It just makes sense!”

69. In my aged care work I have found my self in the same situation of having to stay up late and all the strategies Elizabeth mentions have worked for me too. Eating light, resting when I can, not choosing stimulation to push through and bringing a quality to my movement so that the wind down period after 8pm is still honoured – all mean I get very restful sleep and can still enjoy early mornings and busy days with other work.

70. This is truly remarkable story. I was in the emergency department of the hospital the other day as my son broke his arm, it was extremely busy, we were waiting for 6 hours in total. I found the situation fascinating, like being inside a T.V show, it was high pressure for all the team on shift. It only makes sense that people in this type of job would really benefit from what you have shared in your article.

71. ‘I did this by using whatever form of stimulant I could find, be it chocolate, coffee or an emotional reaction.’ I haven’t considered emotions as stimulants before, but of course it makes absolute sense that they are. This nugget of wisdom is already reverberating in my body with an ‘aha!’ quality.

72. “I noticed that in order to keep going with my work I had to ignore or over-ride that feeling of wanting to wind down.” When we see something as a nuisance or as keeping us from doing something we want to, we so often try to override it in every way possible. Yet I found that when I acknowledge that I feel tired I can keep working gently and feel not totally whacked the next morning. And it is much more enjoyable to to simply accept where I am at.

73. Your blog shows that to do shift work we have to adjust every part of our lives to support us in that. It is not just about sleeping only or about food only – it is about all at once – a way of living.

74. I am almost a graduating registered Nurse, and now I can’t wait to try shift work after reading your blog, to find if there is a rhythm that can be supportive for working these hours!

75. interesting that you mentioned only eating a light meal before shift work and not eating at night. It is usually thought we need to eat for fuel, but this is simply not the case. What you have presented is introspective of a rhythm that takes into account our quality of being, and how we will feel after the shift work is done as well.

76. What you mention here is so key ” I didn’t know it then but I was actually taking on a lot of what was going on around me. This would leave me exhausted.” we often take on so much stuff that is not us, and if we worked on being in our centre then life could be very different!

77. What you share is so key Elizabeth! Thank you very much for re-writing this article, I’ll be back again and again! It’s a great point that you raised about questioning whether we could be self loving and nurturing even when we are busy, or work in busy places like hospitals! The health care sector is renowned for having tired/exhausted and burnt our workers, so your article is gold!

    1. True Harry, many people are experiencing burnout and exhaustion with shift work, so this article provides valuable insight into making choices that truly support the body to work shift work with ease.

78. Coming back from a case of burnout and exhaustion, I have found that it is not just the acts of self-nurturing, of eating well, and going to bed ‘early’, etc. but it is the absolute quality we bring to ourselves – of the quality of true self-nurturing, not where we attack ourselves with criticism, judgment, bombard ourselves with ideals of what we ‘should’ or ‘should not’ be doing, put ourselves in the wrong, give our power away to others, assault the body with stress, anxiousness, nervous tension – all of these things we are measuring ourselves according to something outside of us, and of course finding ourselves not measuring up. True self-nurturing begins with connecting to our inner essence, and living each moment from that essence, each movement confirming that connection, and knowing that we have it all within just waiting for it to unfold out.

79. Something that has been a bit of a revelation to me reading this blog is that having made some very similar changes in my lifestyle, I now enjoy going to work, to meet and connect with people and doing my job. I love to get into work early and set up my day and find my capacity for work is much greater than it once was. I no longer reluctantly drag myself there as many others seem to nor complain about my lot. Changing the rhythm of my day, going to bed when my body feels tired rather than when I can’t stay awake any longer, has made a big difference to how I feel all day long. Worth trying for sure.

80. I agree that there is a perception for many that giving up gluten and dairy is hard but I have done it too and find that this perception is not accurate. To make lifestyle changes such as these requires the commitment to do so and a bit of planning ahead to make different food choices but it isn’t nearly so hard as I imagined. There is a great deal of really good food that does not contain gluten or dairy and making this choice has for me meant feeling much lighter, losing excess weight, having a lot more energy and actually enjoying what I eat more consciously. It seems to me that we have a culture of relying on food for rewards and comfort and this is harder to give up than the food itself.

81. Once we get our culturally embedded beliefs out of the way, listening to the body does make perfect sense. We have become very focused on the mind being in the head and the mental being the centre of intelligence, but what I have found and am continuing to explore is that mind is a whole body thing and that our bodies have an innate wisdom that we can all connect to and choose to follow. My experience is that this brings us a much more true sense of balance and harmony in our lives – if we choose to follow it of course – very much worth exploring as Elizabeth says.

82. “It ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it” – I always thought they were just words from a cheesy childhood song – but no, it’s true. If we connect to our innermost, the fact that each and everyone of us is an equal son of God, and truly look after ourselves, quite literally all that we do will be beautiful.

83. It is definitely worth experimenting with a consistent daily rhythm – I have found how I make the seemingly little choices, staying up a bit later, eating some junk food, how I am in nervous energy or raciness, or how I actually support myself, make the world of difference to my day. I can bring a solidness and strength to deal with whatever is before me, or in the sabotage I end up overwhelm and stress – and this of course ripples on into my next choices and my next day. It is so great to see the pattern and then be empowered to make the difference.

84. What a sensical blog. Naturally our digestive system slows down during night hours thereby I can see not eating during the night will be beneficial for our overall vitality levels.

85. ” I love what I do and these days I love how I do it as well. ” That is an amazing thing to hear a nurse say, particularly as you are still doing shift work. The secret is in the ‘how’.

86. It is lovely to read the writers observations that what Universal Medicine offers to us all is deeply practical, and what can be used in our everyday life so that the every day ordinary becomes extraordinary.

87. Elizabeth,
    I am back reading your article today, as I know that shift work may well be on the horizon for myself and what you share here is a great support. I love that you have found a way to do shift work that doesn’t affect your body. I also love how you support your body leading into night shift. It gives me much to consider for myself, even before going into shift work. Thank you.

88. There is so much stigma attached to the words “shift work”. When it is mentioned in a conversation the levels of exhaustion are often equated with the odd hours worked. This blog is a great example of the what is not true about shift work.

89. I wonder how many of us struggle to deal with “overtime” or long hours or shift work simply because the rest of the time our bodies are already so run down by the way we live our life. Our reactions to life exhaust us way more than the physicality of life ever can.

    1. You are right Adam – our reactions are very draining and really add to feeling run down. The gift of listening to our bodies offers us so much – confirming that it provides us with everything that is needed if we pay attention.

       1. Above all else, it is our lack of commitment to our own presence of being that actually drains us the most. And as a result, we don’t have commitment to life.

    2. If we understood this truly as a nation or world population, there would be siesmic shifts in the way we went about our days, nights, weeks and years. We are actually underproducing whilst maxing out our bodies, this could be turned on its head, with efficiency levels and our health boosted simultaneously.

    3. Spot on Adam. I am constantly working on how, what, when etc I go into reaction, especially at work, because the ripple effect is definitely something that is felt in my body for hours/days. The more open I am to reflecting on myself the more pockets of hardness I am discovering. Exhaustion is definitely not caused by one single factor.

       1. This is great to read Helen – as you say ‘exhaustion is definitely not caused by one single factor’ – but it takes us being open and observant to notice when we go into any sense of drive, so that we don’t get to the point of being exhausted. To start to commit to something as simple as our presence can have a huge impact. Sometimes these changes are so simple that they are easy to overlook, but the more we build them into our natural rhythm, the more profound the result. It is a building each and every day.

90. I’ve never had to work shift work but your story is inspiring Elizabeth. It really shows how when we take care of ourselves and our bodies how we are with outside circumstances can change dramatically. Something that would perturb us greatly such as short work has nowhere near the same impact.

91. Elizabeth Dolan winner 2015 NSW Health Excellence in Nursing and Consumer Appreciation Award ‪#nurses ‪#nursesunite
    Thank you Elizabeth you are being accepted for the great reflection of love that you are.

92. Thank you Elizabeth, how simple and natural is it to rest and nurture our body with sleep, when it feels tired. “I made a decision to go to bed when my body naturally felt tired.” Could going to bed early be the start of preparing our body to live in a way that supports our “self-nurturing”? I have found that there is so much that supports me when I reset my body clock by feeling when I was tired and not over-riding it, by going to bed before 9.00pm. Even when traveling, if I honor the time zone I am flying to and then get to bed early by going into a 9.00pm sleep rhythm, I do not get jet lag.

93. What stands out to me about this blog is the simple and quite methodical steps that Elizabeth has taken through the areas in her life that she sees need addressing. No one has given Elizabeth a script and told her to follow it. Every choice has been made in response to what she has observed as happening in her life which she has decided she would like to change. This is great power and shows that anyone can do it.

94. Thank you Elizabeth for a really great blog, I used to do night shift some years ago and can recall how draining it can be, it is amazing how we know what the body is feeling but choose to ignore it, not realising that we have a choice, when “What if people were to actually take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing through reconnecting with themselves and listening to their bodies?” how different our lives would be.

95. I find this such an inspiring blog Elizabeth, great to read it again. Such simple and steady changes, honouring what your body needs. I love this about Universal Medicine, it is practical and common sense stuff with self responsibility being a key factor.

96. Every shift worker should read this sharing. Having lived with a shift worker who did have life saving heart surgery – we both came to the same conclusion it was the toll of those endless shifts that the body reacted too. Sleep deprivation, food choices etc all that you mention Elizabeth – having consistent patterns of self nurturing and listening to the body’s requirements makes so much sense at the end of the day. There is always a wake up call – a ‘STOP’ marker for us to listen/feel into – and it is our choice to listen to that sometimes very loud call and take responsibility for our lived choices. Lovingly so.

97. Absolutely brilliant account, Elizabeth.
    When I was young in my late twenties I used to do shift work and I can tell first hand it wasn’t easy. I did feel a need for stimulants like chocolate or alcohol in order to keep going and simply function doing the job and having a family with a small son.
    About six years ago a friend introduced me to Universal medicine and as yourself I started making changes in my life. Now I am 56 years old. Most of the days I work 12 hours a day with includes a lot of walking and physical activity. I just copied your words: “I am vital, my body feels amazing and I have more energy than most of my colleagues who are half my age. I love what I do and these days I love how I do it as well.” – that’s how I feel too.

98. Beautiful testimony Elizabeth to the fact that shift work with ease is possible. Your blog shows that there is no ‘magic pill’ but that there is a whole way of living that can make shift work easy and light.

    1. Thank you Elizabeth and Lieke, I agree, by simply listening our bodies how simple is that, yet it is profoundly true!

    2. Very well said Lieke, there’s no magic pill or solution. But there is always a true answer and it’s right beneath our very noses — within us.

    3. It is very inspirational that shift work is possible with ease, by living in way that supports shift work. The choices are really up to us in how we eat, rest and nurture ourselves.

99. I wish I had known about body rhythms and listening to your body when I was doing shift work as a nurse many years ago. We worked an 84 hour week – 12 hours a night for 7 days once a month. Not being able to sleep well in the day I was a wreck by the end of my night duty week – so what quality was I reflecting out to the patients on the ward? Sometimes when on day shift I would go to all-night parties and rock up on the ward at 7am without any sleep at all. Talk about disregard – and not only for myself. How differently I would behave now! Thanks to Serge Benhayon who has shown that there is another way to live.

100. Elizabeth like you it took me a long to understand exactly what Serge Benhayon meant by ” honouring yourself, being gentle, being self-nurturing”. My first reaction was to think this very selfish. I resisted for a long time because I had been pleasing others for so long it was ingrained in me. Bringing gentleness and self-care in my life, albeit rather late in my years, has open up so many possibilities for me. Instead of serving others I can now share with them, an entirely new ball game and I love it.

101. Yes indeed Elizabeth it is a continuous development; however reading your blog about your gentle evolution and deepening of self awareness is a great inspiration.

102. This notion of missing out if we go to bed early really is so misleading. By living according to our body’s natural rhythms, captured so truthfully in the phrase ‘early to bed early to rise’, we are so much more functional and aligned to optimisation. This means that our experience of life is way more vital, less in overwhelm and bringing a steadiness and consistency that serves as a foundational ballast in times of knocks and crises. Yet we have a society completely geared around energy depletion, late nights, candles at both ends. Is it any wonder exhaustion levels are through the roof?

     1. I concur fully Cathy. Having been a night owl in the past not wanting to go to bed for fear of missing out and literally falling asleep on the sofa, I can now say that life becomes so much more beautiful and full when we do claim an early sleeping time. Waking up in the morning feeling vital makes an enormous difference to your entire day.

103. Living in adherence to our body is very important as you have shown your life to have changed to Elizabeth. As this is an act of self-love and self-care it shows off its direct effect on not only the quality of your own life but also how you are in your workplace and interact with your colleagues and with the patients. As you say it was noticed by your colleagues and this is the way to go. One person can make huge changes in the world, just by choosing to connect to our body and live in accordance with how our body is feeling. By showing that lived to the world will give the reflection to everybody we need that there is another way to ‘deal’ with life and that life is actually fun instead of having difficulties coping with the demands of life when we are not that connected to our body instead.

104. I love coming back to this blog, what you’ve presented here Elizabeth is a simple but very profound truth about work, sleep, food and love, to support the body to do what ever is needed. You are showing us that taking responsibility for your health and taking the necessary steps is the way to live life and to be in service. And this is certainly worth investigating.

105. Thank you Elizabeth, this is a gem, being aware and respectful of what the body is saying, and with this wisdom honouring the bodies natural rhythm with self care, taking responsibility for each and every choice.

106. Elizabeth this is a great sharing and would support so many people. I work in hospitality and the hours can be long or later nights. When I first came across Universal Medicine, I never thought I could change my sleep patterns due to the nature of my work. But I did, I started like you honouring my body and going to bed early on my days off, this supported my late nights of working. My colleagues wondered how I can have a late night till 11pm – 12pm and be alert again at 3pm, the body is amazing how it can adjust and support when it needs to, as long as we are supporting it on the days we can, by going to bed earlier.

     1. Indeed Amita, I have experienced that too that my body can adjust itself so easily when I live connected to it and adhere to its rhythms.I am amazed by the fact what I do now on a day compared to how I lived in the past, when I lived more from my mind and less in connection with my body.

107. What I am finding in my own life is that everything’s got to do with space, giving myself and those around me space. So if I’ve got a long day, I can prepare in advance, rather than rushing in the morning. Or having prepared a lovely meal or somebody to cook for me if I’m home late. If we take the time to feel into what would be loving and supportive in a longer period of time than most of us choose to do, much would change. And what I found is that only because of the fact that I’m choosing the space, I’m allready much better prepared for long days. Because I’m taking the stress off and am aware of what I need and I experience less stress because there’s no (or at least less) worry.

108. Tony – you drop this pearl of truth like a master – beautiful.

109. The health problems from shift work make sense, I know for myself once it hits 8pm or sometimes earlier I am also tired, so if I keep pushing to stay up my nervous system activates and it can be much harder to fall asleep. I am wondering Elizabeth if there is an attitude or quality you go into when on a night shift that does not exhaust your physiology, as I am sure this is a significant factor for disease prevention in night shift workers?

110. Yes the fear of missing out on something is a HUGE one for us all. Great to call that one out and where possible, be free of those chains indeed. I have freed myself of many of those and love it.

111. There have been many times when I have thought that the way Serge Benhayon lives is not possible for me, so reading your blog Elizabeth and reading about how you were able to bring that harmony to shift work is very encouraging. It is so interesting that we have to feel what works for ourselves because each body will have their own needs. It is also great because we cannot blindly follow a formula, but really feel what is right for us.

112. Elizabeth I can so relate to feeling cheated by having to do shift work , and the sense of missing out on so much! I too used to burn the midnight oil constantly in an effort to catch up on the excitement and “me time” I thought I was getting by doing that. I have since learned that I am actually getting more ‘me time’, by connecting with myself, and feeling what my body truely needs in that moment. It’s amamzing to turn the tables on the concept of ” me time” and now get much greater quality in my life as a result of knowing what ” me time” is truely about,

113. It is amazing to read, that shift work can be with ease, if you really nurture and look after yourself – very inspiring. Thank you Elizabeth for sharing.

114. Awesome points raised here Elizabeth. Especially about the fact that when we connect to ourselves we connect to our whole body. We so often disregard the wisdom of our body to guide us in life. The mind has such preeminence in the world today. To our own demise and detriment, as everything is connected. So we need to learn to listen to this wisdom, as you have, and reap the benefits.

115. This should be read by everyone on this planet for it is so true and amazing and I totally agree it is so needed to actually investigate that.

116. This to me feels like a massively important piece of writing on shift work, what you present Elizabeth is so simple yet I can see the dedication it has taken and the refinement required to work shifts and nights without losing yourself into exhaustion. It is great to read from someone who initially felt it couldn’t be done to now be in a position where you have made a success of it and are managing this challenge. I feel the aspect of food is highly important, it is so ingrained that we need food for energy but too much food can be draining, particularly later in the day. Eating light to feel light is such a great message to follow. The other aspect of not feeling cheated when we go to bed early is also related to how we feel about ourselves, if we enjoy ourselves in the day then we don’t need a further reward of staying up late.

117. I remember well when I still used to work in the evenings, I always wanted to eat things. I had this belief that eating would support me in staying awake. Now I know that it is actually the opposite. The lighter I eat, like you share Elizabeth, the better and more vital I feel. What we eat has a big impact on how we feel.

     1. I agree Mariette, I have had the same experience. Even in a regular day if I eat too late I can now feel how hard my body had to work to deal with it overnight. It is never worth it.

118. Yes I love that line too, I love how peoplle can just play with whatever suits them to start off with, see how it impacts their body, energy levels. Then if it’s supportive for them and they feel better at work, they know for themselves it’s worth doing, if they so chose.

119. Thank you Elizabeth for practical tips on how to stay healthy when doing shift work, I like the simple and logical way that you have expressed

120. It is from your inspiration Elizabeth that I can now work night shift easily, as though it is just another shift. As you say ‘It will be different for everyone according to what his or her body feels’ and so I have adjusted your suggestion in a way that works for me. I eat as usual the day before, and as I normally don’t eat through the night, I also don’t eat while on night duty, although I do have a drink and a light early ‘breakfast’ around 4.30am (it’s also normal for me to be up at 5am having a cuppa anyway) and then when I get home it’s straight to sleep.

     When I first considered no food through the night, I was sure there was no way I would survive without it – I had been one to eat chocolate, sweets and chips to ‘get through’ in the past too. But it was the preparation beforehand that set me up to be absolutely fine…I did have a moment part way through the first night when I started to think about food, but then came back to focus on the task at hand, and that was the end of eating on night duty. It is the same on an evening shift now too…I stop eating and drinking at 9pm just like I would on a day shift or day off. My body gets its usual rest from digesting food every night now, whether I am working or not. It is a beautiful way to support our body’s rhythm, and your body will greatly appreciate it too.

121. “I love what I do and these days I love how I do it as well.”

     I love to work but it was always at my own expense, driven and giving, until I got burnt out and resentful. It wasn’t until I was introduced to all you talk about Elizabeth through Universal Medicine presentations and therapies that I can say I love how I can move throughout the day, there is so much joy in connecting to my body and being. I am amazing! As long as I am in my day, fully present with the glorious me then work is harmonious and absolutely a joy no matter what comes my way.

     1. I love how I do things now too at work, I can think of nothing better than feeling truely amazing and taking that feeling into my working day. There is simply no downside to being at work when all of me is there to do it.

122. You have revolutionised shift work, Elizabeth. What you have shared needs to be in the Health and Safety manual as many shift workers(including long haul truck drivers) put themselves and their patients (nurses, doctors and carers) at risk with the chronic patterns of fatigue they work with. Great sharing.

123. I have never done shift work so I can’t imagine what it would be like but I can see how building a loving rhythm and taking loving care of yourself would be super important. Elizabeth I am sure your blog would support many people who struggle with night shifts. I can feel that you have mastered this and your energy and vitality shine through the blog.

124. I love the idea of that Kev, that Elizabeth’s revolutionary approach to shift work could spread like wild fire! I love going to bed early too, and my body will quickly tell me if I have pushed it too far. Plus, it plays out so clearly the next day and so the cycle begins… ; ) What Ive realised though, and although it may seem obvious, is that if you go to bed early, you can get up early, so you’re not actually missing out on anything, just moving your day into a slightly different time zone!

125. yes this is very simple, I love how the ‘difficulties’ of shift work can be overcome and worked with by simple preparation, and gentle care of self.

126. Elizabeth, simple common sense really to connect with and take care of our bodies, so then we have us with us when we do things – it feels obvious and yet I know this is not how I lived for a very long time, it’s only been in recent years that I’ve begun to honour and respect my body more and actually go to bed early. Like you when I first started doing this, I was horrified but couldn’t ignore the obvious benefits in my body and over time I’ve realised that if I don’t take care of me, then I am not fully there with others, so what am I missing out on, being tired and me and others feeling that – I’d rather the more vital, alive version when I’m well rested.

127. I work part-time in health care and it is also my experience that when I stay connected as much as I can with everything going on, my energy level during the shift stays balanced without me grabbing something to eat. The night shifts however are a different story. They last till 10 pm but I am not in bed before 1130. I only do them once in a while but every single time they have thrown me right out of my rhythm and the next days I feel terrible. Inspired by your blog I will start investigating what changes I can make to assist me during these night shifts.

128. It’s so awesome hearing how you made a few changes to your livingness that have transpired into a new way of living that truly supports you personally and in your work which in turn benefits the people you care for and the people who work with you and so it continues benefitting all who are in contact with you. When I think of having to work a night shift I go into dread but you have shown it is actually possible to do and be connected and vital whilst doing it, this is so inspiring. “Doesn’t it make sense that if we re-connect to ourselves we then have ourselves with us in all that we do?” and nothing feels better than that!

129. Elizabeth, what you have shared is amazing and is gold. I hope your colleagues at the hospital will benefit from it too, working night shifts must be so demanding. I have noticed as well by going to bed early, or before 9pm, that it was helping me in a sense that the energy in my body was much stronger. The fact that I have cut gluten and lactose out of my diet gave me more vitality. Then I realised that sugar and chocolate had a strong effect on my body too, it would give a quick energy rush but I would then feel tired the whole day, and would need coffee to keep me awake, I can see this happening a lot around me too. I can see the coffee culture in France being very strong for a very long time like in Italy, then it caught up everywhere else in Europe, especially in the UK 15 years ago.

130. The self care and connection you are sharing as your personal experience Elizabeth, should be part of the Education for all Nurses and care workers, as the level of burn out and poor health, is high in this industry, which doesn’t make sense, these are the people who are looking after sick and unwell patients.

     1. I agree Thomas, the self care and connection that Elizabeth speaks of here should be on every syllabus. Everyone needs to be supported to provide the best service they possibly can, to enjoy providing it and not get burnt out by it.

     2. Really important points Thomas. In an age where we have more health and safety regulations than ever before we are still accepting the negative health impacts in certain industries far too readily. There is actually ample evidence, research and statistics that demonstrate nurses have higher rates of obesity, muscular skeletal problems and mental health issues than the general population. Yes they are looking after other sick people and that does not make sense but more importantly we have an industry of workers that are struggling. Telling them to avoid junk food and exercise would hardly be news to nurses – what Elizabeth Dolan and Serge Benhayon have to share is the substance and quality our nurses need.

131. I loved what you shared Elizabeth about how it is possible to stay in a rhythm that is very supportive even if you’re having to work nights and shift work, this should be something the world is educated about. There would be millions of people doing shift work and pushing and abusing their bodies just to get through, where, as what you are presenting are some very simple practical tools about self-care, which make a huge difference.

132. Elizabeth, you speak with such a real, down to earth voice and your sharing offers amazing practical advice for all, men and women equally. Brilliantly honest, thank you

133. Thanks Elizabeth, I have to say I am struggling with the shift work, especially the night shifts. My body wants to sleep and rest when I am working. Honouring myself and eating light meals before hand helps but I still feel like I am going against everything my body is telling me. I will keep deepening my care and connection with myself and hope that this part of my nursing career becomes less of a struggle and possibly enjoyable.

     1. Hi Gretel- I love the honesty you share here about how night shift is feeling for you right now- I would love to hear more about how you are refining this, what you find works and even what does not work.

134. What Universal Medicine presents is indeed so simple, and self evident once it is incorporated. As examples of what you say here Elizabeth – how you have learned about listening to your body when it feels tired, and when it feels to eat. These are basic fundamentals that somehow are skipped or glossed over in our lives. Re-learning these and re-connecting to our bodies in this way really is a no-brainer for our health and vitality. Thank you for sharing your experiences Elizabeth, no doubt you are inspiring many more on the wards these days!

135. Elizabeth, like you when I first attended Universal Medicine presentations, “I was so used to over-riding what my body was telling me that I would just ignore its signals”. Before hearing Serge Benhayon present, no one had ever suggested that I to listen to my body yet all those years before meeting Serge my body had actually been speaking every loudly – dare I say screaming at me! I constantly wonder why as children we are educated to ignore our bodies and fed so many ideals and beliefs that keep us further away from honoring the body’s natural feelings!

136. The other thing I love about what you have shared Elizabeth is that it is not prescriptive – there is no telling of the best way to deal with shift work, but rather a simple sharing of your experience – ‘It is important to mention here that this is what works for me. It will be different for everyone according to what his or her body feels.’.

137. Elizabeth you are certainly onto something and I love the simplicity in which you have related the changes you have made and the incredible transformations you have experienced as a result. You are living proof that ‘…if people were to actually take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing through reconnecting with themselves and listening to their bodies..’ our health system, and the health of our communities, would be vastly different.

138. Your blog highlights just how far many of us live away from our bodies. The body was and still is clearly indicating when to sleep, what to eat and what to do to support it, yet we tend to not do this and actually override what it is saying. It can remember feeling the same way you describe about honouring the body and almost feeling from others that it is a ‘weak’ thing to do. This is far from the case, in fact it is deeply empowering to honour and live from our bodies, not to mention a lot more simple and enjoyable.

139. Elizabeth this blog had confirmed the importance of taking responsibility to look at how we are with ourselves each day rather than get caught up in how we function. Sharing how you had to look closely at your rhythm highlights your commitment to your work and the quality of YOU that comes with it.

140. Catherine, that sounds like such a lovely thing to do during the day, to reconnect and I can feel how supportive this would be. I cannot imagine having a snooze, but I do love to take moments to stop when I am busy, just to be with me.

141. Reading your blog it is very inspiring that you are able to work a night shift without feeling exhausted by the end of it because of the way you prepare and how you are with yourself whilst you are working. I have experienced hospital staff on both day and night shifts and the difference of care I felt between the day time care and the night time care was vast. When we care for ourselves, care for others comes naturally and if this level of self care was taught to children, the quality of every work environment, shift or not, would be entirely different.

     1. As you say Fiona, “when we care for ourselves, care for others comes naturally”. Self care should be a basic tenent of education for all health care workers and professionals.

        1. I couldn’t agree more Anne, this is absolutely fundamental for the healthcare professions, we have an increasing retirement age and workforce that is expected to undertake taxing physical work for those later years. Self-care can’t be optional, it needs to be foundational.

142. This is a great resource for shift workers who are in need for support. It sounds like shift work is quite intense before you met Serge Benhayon. This is a true testament on how Serge changes people’s lives for the better.

     1. I agree Ben this is a great resource, filled with tips that Elizabeth has really got a handle on. It must be hard to do a night shift when the body is giving signals to sleep. I can understand why people would reach for the chocolate while on night shift without the support of strong sleep rhythms and eating lightly.

143. I have done night shift work when I was working in nursing Dianne also around 1981, one week per 3 months. What I remember from that is that my life felt completely turned over, I went to bed when other people did awake and started their day, went to work when other people were at home, having time together. Overall I felt quite lonely and had a strong feeling that I was missing out on life emerged during those weeks. From this experience I have refrained from doing any night shift work in my later career because of the influence it had on my being. But now, having the experience of listening to and being with my body I would give it another go when working night shift or irregular hours will be asked of me.

144. I have had a similar experience Elizabeth in regards to past lifestyle choices and how this affected the quality of my work, not to mention the health of my body. Since making many changes over the last few years with Universal Medicine, my whole relationship with work and my body has changed. I have more energy and enjoyment in my work and this then carries through to having more energy and joy for my family and friends too.

145. What you have presented here is deeply supportive for people who do shift work to bring a solid rhythm into their life and to form a strong foundation from which to work from. From reading the effect these loving choices have had on you, listening to your body and taking responsibility for your health makes a lot of sense and definitely holds enormous potential for reducing staff burnout and ill health.

     1. Thank you Elizabeth and Samantha, I agree on all accounts, and a loving rhythm makes all the difference.

146. when we start to change our lives, reconfigure, become conscious, just by doing this it has such an effect on those around us… it is as if our actions speak louder than our words…and I feel that this has been said before ☺

147. I have often considered how I could never do shift work because of the exhaustion I presume I would feel. To hear how you have accomplished working shift work and feel more vital at 52 than you have ever done in your life is a miracle and testament absolutely that listening to our bodies is very powerful. I love in this article how you have described changes like food and sleep habits have supported you but these are not presented as solutions; your article empowers individuals to contemplate that listening to what the body is asking for is the key – to know we are enough and all our answers lie within us is life-changing.

148. Wow Elizabeth this should be shared with shift workers to offer them the possibility of how building a rhythm with their work can make such a difference. People offer training in the workplace for how to be good at your job, but what about how to care for your body whilst doing a job that requires plenty of physical energy? Where is this sort of training.
     Especially working in the medical sector, this to me comes with a responsibility to care for how we are living, otherwise how can we care for others.

149. They could definitely be onto something I think. It was really cool listening to how you take care of your self for night shift. I often see the ramifications of it with the people I meet, but the way you have developed a rhythm with it sounds great.

     1. Could you imagine how the entire world would be if everyone took deeper care of themselves?

150. Elizabeth, how fabulous to hear that you have established a rhythm that can support the demands of doing night shift when required. This would be very inspirational for many people who work in shifts I am sure. It feels like the loving way you now take care of yourself – not being so harsh with yourself as you say – has enabled this change, so that you can connect fully with the purpose of what you do, having taken deep care of yourself first.

151. Thank you Elizabeth, you bring life to every person you meet, so i can’t imagine how fortunate the people in hospital must feel to be greeted by you.

152. Yes Sally as you mentioned this goes not only in the work place but how we are in every situation with family and friends.

153. It certainly is worth investigating Elizabeth, and this is a very simple process. As you have described it here, the only ‘work’ you had to do to reconnect to yourself was the gentle breath meditation. From building this marker in your body, you were able to then live in accordance to the stillness you felt and become more gentle and loving with everything. The power of loving actions towards ourselves cannot be underestimated, and they are indeed usually very simple. It can take some time to incorporate them as you have described Elizabeth as many of the systems we live in do not foster this way of living from when we are young. You are definitely a role model Elizabeth for those around you, so keep on shining!

     1. I agree the changes and steps are simple, yet it’s interesting how much resistance we have to doing this of ourselves and how much people around us can react. I wonder why the world is so set up to counter choosing to live gently?

     2. Absolutely Amelia, Elizabeth Dolan winner 2015 NSW Health Excellence in Nursing and Consumer Appreciation Award ‪#nurses ‪#nursesunite ; Elizabeth is definitely a “role model”!

154. This is gold Elizabeth and what amazing changes it would make if shared with all the shift workers, in fact everyone, in the world. What you have shared has certainly shattered the premise that shift work is exhausting and taxing on your health. You have shown, and supported with so many practical suggestions, that if you change the way you are living to make it more about self care and respect for your body, it doesn’t matter what shift you work. And I, like you, have discovered that it is not about what you do or when you do it, it’s about the body you take with you and the energy you do it in.

155. Elizabeth this is such a common sense blog that simply reflects the truth of how we can all choose to honour our bodies to support the way we live and work. I feel so many would benefit from reading about your experience as a shift worker and through doing so perhaps begin to consider how they too may begin to support themselves both at home and work. It shows how the choices we make in our “down time” have a knock on effect into our work life and that by choosing to listen to and honour our body we bring a greater quality (the quality of us) to all that we do and all that we are.

     1. It is indeed a common sense blog, yet this is not how we see life playing out amongst health care workers. I see commonly people who do not take any care of themselves in terms of listening to the bodies needs or honouring such needs. Elizabeth is paving the way forward, and she is one of many who are reaping the benefits of being willing to take on the care of self, in order to self support in the busy shift hospital environment.

     2. I love the common sense in this blog too… And I can feel how the simplicity of listening to our bodies – rather than a set of ideals and beliefs of what we should be doing (which so often have us overriding our bodies) – makes total sense no matter what type of job we are doing.

        1. I agree Angela. Simplicity has no barriers when it comes to the work we do. It’s the ease of living this way that stops the overwhelm and the fear that comes from the words “shift work”.

156. It feels like working shifts and nights actually accentuates the need to look after yourselves and increases the awareness of feeling so tired when you don’t. I don’t need to work night shifts and have always felt how difficult it would be on the body’s rhythm, but I can pass this message on to people who I know who work shift duties. You show how to manage this very well Elizabeth.

157. I agree with all you say here Elizabeth…through what I have learned with Universal Medicine and from you sharing your experiences, the way I now work shift work has completely changed – especially night duty. Night duty was always something to dread and exhaustion would impact for several days afterwards. After changing how I do things in my day and changing my sleep rhythm by going to bed by 9pm on day shifts and days off, I have enough natural vitality to keep me going throughout the nights – no food is needed during the night although I have a light snack around 5am. I no longer have stimulating foods or drinks which allows my energy levels to be more steady, and that steadiness comes with me to work and stays with me all night (and all day) no matter what is happening around me. Now I enjoy night duty – there is something about walking into the ward where there are very few lights on and all everyone wants to do is sleep…everyone has the same focus, and all we need to do is move gently through the night.

158. Elizabeth, you make taking responsibility for your health and healing sound fun and playful. There is a wealth of lived wisdom in this blog that can be applied even if you don’t do shift work, especially in the detail. I also appreciate the frankness you brought to the detail like when you first started to notice you were tired at 8pm and stayed up anyway. This is such helpful detail to share with others and I often share my experience of learning to go to bed earlier and how I had to look at caffeine in all forms, even in green tea, and how it was keeping me awake at night, even if I had had the caffeinated tea (or whatever else had caffeine) before midday.

159. I’ve been doing shift work for 15 years and there is a way to do it, without becoming a statistic. What you share here Elizabeth is pretty much it. Sleeping well, eating well, exercising well are all important and very necessary, but the real key is to re-connect with my body and let it talk to me about what choices I need to be making. The presentations by Serge Benhayon through Universal Medicine have been the match to light the fire, so to speak, so that I can feel for myself how I need to live. Everything comes from that understanding and connection first.

160. Your amazing vitality and clarity in such a demanding role are inspiring Elizabeth. From reading your blog it is obvious that baby steps can be life-changing. The work of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine is a very supportive complement to traditional medicine.

161. Simple and practical advice for living a life full of vitality and joy. A brilliantly inspiring blog Elizabeth that is a testament to taking responsibility for your own health. Taking responsibility for our own health just makes perfect sense before we can truly care for another.

162. Elizabeth I love how you described where you were in your life and then in meeting Serge, how you interpreted what he said with “I felt what he was presenting was unrealistic unless you sat around and did nothing all day”. Yet slowly and surely you tried little suggestions and felt how simple little things began to radically change your quality of life. Often the patterns we find ourselves in, in life, seem so overwhelming and unchangeable, that we do not think a little change can make any difference. Yet a little change leads to another and another and then there becomes a healing momentum, just as we may be experiencing a harming one to begin with. A healing momentum supports us to make big changes and it comes from first making little ones. For some it may snowball and others trickle, yet it is truly change and I celebrate having learnt this wisdom from Serge Benhayon and to not beat myself up about feeling the need to change.

163. Taking responsibility for our health and wellbeing is some thing that many are blasé about until we become sick and are forced to look at it. How great to take the front foot and initiate these simple and yet extremely powerful ways of caring for ourselves. It changes the accepted way of being, which to my mind is back to front. Why wait to get sick before I take care of myself?

164. Thank you Elizabeth, your blog clearly describes why it is so important to have a deep care for ourselves, and know our bodies. And I feel how important it is for me as well, not doing the shift work. But I can feel the effect everything I do has on the way I am and what I do. Being in sync with my body brings a much clearer way of working.

165. Thank you for sharing this Elizabeth. It is truly inspiring to see the changes you have made to support yourself in doing shift work. I do shift work and have found benefit in some of the things you suggest, particularly with eating light foods when doing evening and night duties.

166. This is a true miracle that after 30 years of working as a nurse, and at the age of 50+ a nurse is more vital, more alive and more joyful then ever before. It’s unheard of in the health care system, and usually by the 50’s and early 60’s the nurses are starting to break down and needing to retire from exhaustion or depression or injuries. This is truly amazing and a testament to the powerful and inspiration teachings of Universal Medicine.

     1. Agreed Danielle. I have met so many nurses that have had back pain and injuries and have even had to stop work altogether – this is just my anecdotal experience, so I wonder what the real health statistics are?

        1. Great point Deanne. My experience working in the health industry has been similar. Most nurses by their 50’s have either broken down physically or mentally. This is why this story is so special.

167. We all have a responsibility to support and contribute to our communities in our chosen professions. Caring for ourselves so we can work to our optimal function is simple logic. Great blog Elizabeth.

168. This is very inspiring to read. Thank you Elizabeth. This blog stands testament to the fact that we are designed to work hard – naturally so. We are just not meant to be hard.

169. Elizabeth, it makes absolute “sense that if we re-connect to ourselves we then have ourselves with us in all that we do”. Yet few of us are taught this from young and hence go through our lives being totally disconnected from our true self. It was not until I attended the presentations by Serge Benhayon that I became aware of the importance of listening to what my body is telling me as a way of knowing if the choices I am making on a daily basis are supportive or not. This has been life changing!

     1. What I am learning from the presentations of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine is nothing short of revelation . . . and so beautifully simple.

170. I love re-reading your blog Elizabeth. It hit the nail on the head when you say… “What if people were to actually take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing…” Self care really is taking self-responsibility, and in this we each have such an impact not only on our own health and well being, but on the health and well being of our community. Self care, in my opinion is the way forward in the arena of public health.

171. A great ground lay to how I would like to approach shift work when I graduate as a RN.

172. What you share Elizabeth is so inspiring and extremely beneficial for everyone to know – how shift work is possible to do with ease, when selfcare and honouring the body is taken into account.

     1. Absolutely Loretta, and not just shift work. “When self-care and honouring the body is taken into account”, it is possible to do every little thing that we do throughout the day with ease. This also has an effect on the quality of our sleep – we go to bed with ease and sleep deeply for as long as the body needs.

173. I have been very ‘deaf’ when it has come to listening to my body in the past. I just saw my body in a functional sense and saw my mind as a more valuable part of me in terms of working out my ‘game plan’ for living each day. It was confronting when I first started attending Universal Medicine presentations to hear that my body is communicating very loudly with me all the time and actually knows best what is needed – not my mind. With steady dedication to changing my approach to living I am learning to hear more and more what my body is telling me and to calm my busy mind. It’s definitely worth it!

174. I just love when someone shares their own journey of self-discovery out of the path of ill-being and onto the one of wellbeing. What is amazing is how natural it was to feel horrible in the body as the departure point, and the extent to which is possible to reimprint this so easily when we apply the teachings of Universal Medicine. Thank you Elizabeth!

175. That’s awesome Elizabeth, to be able to easily cope with shift work demonstrates the power of the way you are living.

176. Such an awesome article Elizabeth that should be published in medical related magazines, and in fact, all kinds of magazines. What an absolute benefit for anyone to read!

177. Elizabeth this blog makes something so simple so profound. This blog has to potential to revolutionise how we approach shift work if we are open to what it presents.

178. Thank you Elizabeth, I have often wondered how to manage that way of working and what you say makes sense…in the same way as when you travel through timezones the same applies – just because they are serving food, it doesn’t mean you need to eat it – particularly at 11pm and 3am! So obvious yet I often have to stop and remember!!

179. Wow Elizabeth, I feel what you have shared here is amazing in inspiring other people who are in shift work to learn to care and nurture themselves too. It is very valuable what you’ve shared and it will change how people cope with shift work dramatically if it is applied. How you feel, and the changes you’ve made in your life, are truly incredible and inspiring.

180. What I find amazing with what you have shared is that this is available to everyone, rather than just getting through the best way we can. We can feel amazing working shift work and caring for sick people. One of the things that you shared that I felt quite important was that you began to understand that you were taking things on during your day and how exhausting this is. This is super important as health professionals and anyone really who works with people. I have been asking myself recently, with some recent studies that I have been doing…Is there a correlation between being taught to be empathetic in our care and our levels of burnout and if this is the case, which I feel it is, why are we not looking actively for another way where we can care for people without having that impact on our health? Elizabeth you are showing this way with your blog. Thank you.

     1. Jennifer- you have written a question here I have asked and wondered about too. While I understand nurses have been taught to be empathetic I wonder what it would be like to hold love and understanding without empathy or sympathy. I wonder this as nurses are regularly asked to care for people that have caused their own ills yet there can be an attitude around illness that it is ‘random’, back luck’, ‘hereditary’ so of course then it makes sense to show empathy. I am fascinated however with what a nurse would be like if they understood patients have contributed to the situation they are in yet at the same time approach their nursing duties with loving care and no judgement. This would pave a new way in the health care and nursing profession and expose the truth and ramifications of empathy.

181. I completely agree that the effects of the very simple teachings of Serge Benhayon are nothing short of miraculous and yet now are also very normal for me. I have just come back from a ten day Aus UK Aus trip and did not have one second of jet lag – I never do these days. I work 7 days a week from 3am to 7pm and at 58 have a ton more vitality than ever before in my life and feel and look fantastic! This lifestyle is available for everyone if they make a few simple loving choices 🙂

     1. What you talk about Nicola is incomprehensible to the general society. This is normal now, but super human to many. We have so underestimated ourselves.

182. Thank you Elizabeth. What you have shared makes sense on every level. A way of living that supports you to be vital and joyful.
     What doesn’t make sense is the fact that nurses are required to do shift work without ever having been taught and prepared how to work and live in such a way.
     This needs to be not only shared but also offered as the core of all professions that are required to do shift work.

183. Thank you Elizabeth. What you have shared makes sense on every level. A way of living that supports you to be vital and joyful.
     What doesn’t make sense is the fact that nurses are required to do shift work without ever having been taught and prepared how to work and live in such a way.
     This needs to be not only shared but also offered as the core of all professions that are required to do shift work

     1. Kylie that’s so true. I would think that most shift workers would say that they have never had any supportive education around living well and working shift work, and such programs would be a real boost for the health of those working shift work, but also the agencies and businesses that require a 24 hour workforce.

     2. I agree Kylie. What Elizabeth is sharing isn’t as far as I know taught in any training courses for shift workers, doctors or nurses. It would definitely make more sense to teach these amazing workers how to care and look after themselves first before they learn how to care for others.

184. Elizabeth I’m sure there would be many Nurses in the same position as yourself that could so benefit from your experience in self nurture. How lovely that you chose to self Love and honour your body and its rhythms and the difference this has made to you! Thank you .

185. I believe what you have shared here: self-love, responsibility and care!, as taught by Serge Benhayon, could very well be the answer to the health crisis we are facing world wide. I am certainly committed to deepening the practice within my own life…because it works!

186. This is such a great blog about listening to the body and trying a few new things, making a few changes that are very practical, yet the results are quite profound. In today’s world for a woman in her 50’s to have more energy than co-workers half her age is something to really listen to!

187. Elizabeth, this article holds a wealth of wisdom within it, offering that making the simple choice to work with how our body feels can and does make life a joy to live. Where you mentioned that you had felt that certain foods were affecting you, but felt it was too hard to address has spoken volumes to me. Of late I have felt the simpleness that my life can be, yet there are things that I have been letting complicate this truth, the one that I am struggling to let go of is that I am not good enough. In so many ways I have cleared much of this energy from my body, yet there are still pockets of it that take me off on wild goose chases. Because I let in the belief that it is too hard to address, deal with. Your writting has supported me in realizing, that it actually is not too hard, that it is simply inviting me to take my level of self love, self nurturing to a greater depth, and that this is actually very easy for me to do.

188. You share in this blog such gems, that are so simple and ‘do-able’ for everybody. I love how you describe your step by step unfoldment and write how we all have our own choices to make. What you describe works perfect for my, also with late evenings for work.

189. So practical and ‘do-able’ what you have written here Elizabeth, thanks for making clear such beautiful self caring and self loving principles. Your patients and co workers must benefit enormously too.

190. Thank you Elizabeth for sharing how you work with your body, the self care that allows you to do shift work in ease. Changes in my working hours have me pondering about how to really listen to what is going on with my body, and I mean really listen, as it is not responding to what ‘I think’ it wants. You have answered my questions beautifully.

191. Thank you for your inspiration Elizabeth. It’s amazing to read of the turnaround you have experienced. And this is a beautiful example of the fact that there are not ‘ideal’ times to work. All that is needed is a way of living that supports the work hours.

192. Elizabeth I love how you have broken this down to the small choices that you were making that contributed to such a change in how you experienced your day. We don’t really tend to think that the way we drive to work, walk around the shopping centre, make our bed etc is having such an impact – but it so is.

193. Elizabeth what you are presenting here is nothing short of amazing – a way to do shift work and feel vital this is gold.

     1. I agree with Nicole, what Elizabeth is presenting could be nothing short of revelatory for millions of people worldwide…True gold indeed. I am not a shift worker, but have followed a similar process of exploring my rhythm around sleep, my diet and the level of presence I bring to each day…it has been such a worthwhile exploration.

194. Great blog Elizabeth Dolan, and so supportive for those who have to work in night shifts. Although I do not have night shifts, I do follow the the rhythm of my body that shows me when to go to bed and when to wake up, what to eat and what exercise it needs and this is so beneficial to how I am and feel during the day and at work. I feel vital and prepared to work 7 days a week, many hours per day. Compared to where I come from this is amazing. I always needed the weekends to recover from my working week and needed alcohol, distractions like watching TV, listening to music, comforting foods etc. to support myself to get me through these 5 working days of the week.

195. Elizabeth you have blown away some of the myths about shift work. You have shown that it is not the shift work per se that causes ill-health, but the quality of life you lead and how each individual worker prepares and supports themselves to work regular shifts. I love the way you systematically observed yourself until you found a rhythm that suited you, sleep, food, self care. As you say, your way is not a template for everyone. We learn from you that when we take responsibility for our own health and wellbeing, together with a conscious commitment to self and rhythms, that it’s possible to work easily with any shift pattern and or demanding role.

196. Such an awesome blog Elizabeth and I can relate to what you share – I have worked shift work for 25 years now and I have more energy and vitality in my job than I did in my 20’s. This is due to the self care principles taught by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine – a simple and practical approach to life that truly supports you.

197. Thank you Elizabeth, I deeply appreciate this article and love how you have raised the use of any form of stimulant to avoid winding down in the evening – this makes a lot of sense to me and allows me to observe that yes, I use emotional reactions and mental activity at the end of the day to avoid feeling what my body is gently presenting to me about what will be a truly honouring rhthym and way of being with myself. I look forward to listening more deeply 😉

198. Elizabeth, what you are saying here is huge…and the way you have turned this around is nothing short of a miracle. This story needs to studied and shared as it could benefit so many people by way of inspiration. You are another real living example of what Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine present.

199. This is definitely a question worth asking Elizabeth, the teachings of Universal Medicine present a way of living that is very practical and encourages one to take responsibility of the choices that we make, to learn to reconnect to our bodies and listen and honour the messages our bodies are constantly communicating and stop overriding and abusing them, assisting us to live a life full of joy, vitality and well-being. This will definitely start to turn around the health crisis we are currently faced with, and empower people to be in charge of their lives.

     1. So simple and so true. Stop and feel what our bodies are telling us and respond to this with a deeply nurturing and loving approach to caring for ourselves.

     2. Yes franciscolara8 and here on these blogs the teachings of Universal Medicine are proving through the student body just how vital changing the way we live is to our health and well being.

200. What an extraordinary turn around in the quality of your life Elizabeth, and one that has naturally overflowed into your work environment. I am sure that you are an inspiration to many others. Like you I have found: “ The teachings presented by Universal Medicine are very practical and down to earth.” These common sense teachings have also inspired me to make huge changes in the way I care for myself, and as a result the quality of every part of my life has improved immeasurably.

201. “What if people were to actually take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing through reconnecting with themselves and listening to their bodies? In my opinion it is certainly worth investigating.”
     You have shown how life-changing these very practical choices for our health and well-being truly are Elizabeth. I didn’t realise that you could do shift work without damaging the body.

202. I also work odd hours and I totally agree with what you have written Elizabeth, the livingness presented by Universal Medicine is so beneficial to your general wellbeing

     1. Agreed Joe, and it’s no mystical science that this word ‘livingness’ represents. It’s a natural, age old way of being and living that simply adheres to the innate rhythms of nature.
        It seems foreign to some of us because let’s face it we have trashed our bodies for a long time in varying degrees… but even so this does not diminish the power of living this Way and you, Elizabeth and I are three living testimonies to that fact.

203. This is huge Elizabeth. So many people tend to ignore the power self-love and self-care can bring, and in fact when we are not self-loving or self-caring it is draining and leaves us feeling tired and run down.

204. Thank you Elizabeth – it’s great to re-read this blog. The practicality, commitment and focus you have learnt to give yourself and your body is very useful to me. I too can have a varied work pattern – in fact I am in one right now and your blog has shaken me up to be taking a deeper care of myself.

205. I have also functioned from this fallacy that I need to eat more to keep my strength up and have found that it doesn’t work; it actually makes me feel heavy, a little drowsy and twice as tired as I started off with and when I think about it, that makes total sense: my body now has to digest what I have eaten as well as all the other things that need doing and I am already asking of it.

206. Whatever our work is, connecting with ourselves is the only way to bring the true quality of who we are to what we are doing. The balance and harmony that this brings aligns us, and offers the potential of this to all those around.

207. What a fabulous blog! It really outlines the implications for how self care affects our working life (and shift work). The changes you have made are simple and practical, so it’s really available to anyone who wants to make a commitment to self care. Very inspiring to read how the choices we make flow through into our lives and work.

208. It was great returning to read this again this morning Elizabeth, it’s a fab expose on shift work and self care. ‘I was so used to over-riding what my body was telling me that I would just ignore its signals.’ You offer some much needed questions for today’s society. ‘What if people were to actually take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing through reconnecting with themselves and listening to their bodies?’ Yes indeed what a different world we might live in.

209. Great comment Tony and so true.

210. I did the same thing Tony. I never thought it could be that I was missing myself. An interesting point to ponder on. It never really worked as I would fall asleep in front of the telly anyway. I now feel so much better going to bed early and waking early.

211. Absolutely Tony, I have always felt like I need to stay up late so as not to miss anything. But in truth I was feeling the emptiness in me, since I have began going to sleep at an earlier time I actually enjoy the process, I love going to sleep as I can feel how energetic and lively my body feels

212. Having done similar shift work, and worked the horrifying hours of the catering industry I can relate to the feeling of how can I ever do this in a supportive way for my body. But what is interesting is the fact that during my days off, or any free time that I had rather than taking extra care (or any care) towards my body I would actually seek extra stimulation, be it with food, staying up late watching tv etc. I can remember coming home after midnight and watching an hour of tv before going to sleep and having to be there the next day for the breakfast shift. I can feel how yes the hours can be quite brutal, but there is a whole level of care, and love that I could have given my body to support myself to do those hours, as could anyone working those hours , instead of seeking extra stimulation away from work which is exhausting, and a cause for the complete lack of quality of work that is then produced

213. Elizabeth the model of self-care that you now live is certainly worth replicating! I remember being horrified when I was first presented with the benefits of going to bed early. I had come across this information in my vast readings of self-help books but rejected it because I treasured the late hours as ‘me’ time. This started in childhood – it was the time I could be with my own thoughts without outside intrusion, and was strengthened once I was a mother. It was something I observed with a grandmother – she would sit and stare at the fire after the apron was hung up for the night and all the family in bed. Eventually I could not settle if I went to bed early, I’d just toss and turn for hours, so I would read or watch TV (or both) until I reach the point of utter exhaustion and, not surprisingly, wake up in much the same state, hence the countless coffees to kick start my day. It was only when I was presented with the whole self-care package that I could gradually break this habit. Small practical steps is what it takes, and that way it is not this ginormous problem that has to be tackled, just the next step.

214. The old feeling of being cheated of time by having an early night soon disolves when you start feeling the benifits of listening to your body. This is a superbly practical blog that need to be available to all shift workers. You must be a true inspiration to all your co-workers Elizabeth and anyone that has the pleasure of meeting you. I know you definitely were for me.

215. Elizabeth this is a beautiful testimonial of the true and deep healing benefits of listening to your body as presented and inspired by Serge Benhayon.

216. Elizabeth what incredible wisdom you have to share with anyone who does shift work. As a previous shift worker who struggled with it, I can feel how all my other daily choices impacted my inability to cope with late nights and night duty from what you have shared. This has the potiential to change the way we approach shift work and needs to be shared with the world.

217. Tuning into what my body is telling me has been a key support for me too. It’s easy for our mind to have a picture, ideal or belief about how things ‘should’ be but our body shows us the real consequences of our choices and how we have been living.

218. Elizabeth, what you have shared here is gold for all shift workers. Learning to understand and work with your natural body rhythms is so important and is the key for anyone doing shift work.

219. Everything you have presented here is such common sense. Going to bed when you are tired, being more gentle and tender with yourself, eating lighter to deal with the changed body rhythm. It is fabulous for shift workers to have this inspiration.

220. I totally agree Elizabeth it is ‘certainly worth investigating’. It all makes such sense and everything falls into place when we are ready to acknowledge that the way things are is not working. When I stop and really listen to my body it feels so re-assuring to know that my body is caring for me even though for so long I have ignored it. When I work with my body it comes alive and the whole of life takes on a whole new depth of enjoyment as I begin to live life to the full.

221. Hey Elizabeth, I love how you outline: “that this is what works for me”. So humble. And I observe this with Universal Medicine in general. These are very humble presentations, that allow everybody in utmost freedom to explore life in full self-empowerment.

222. There is such honesty in your writing Elizabeth, and your experience of incorporating body awareness into your shift work routine, demonstrates so well, how Self Care truly is medicine to a person, particularly to health practitioners working in a hospital system. Through Self Care, true care is delivered to everyone equally, that is, care of staff and patients…

     1. Johanne, your comment ‘through Self Care, true care is delivered to everyone equally, that is, care of staff and patients’, should be taught to every medical professional, nurse and all other health care workers as part of their training curriculum. While it is early days, this is already starting to be taught by a well-known doctor in our area who teaches medical students. It needs to be replicated on a wider scale and not just for the health care industry.

223. Reconnecting with ourselves allows us to reconnect with our body. This then opens up the floodgates for true nurturing and responsibility for ourselves to flow naturally. Wonderfully expressed Elizabeth.

224. Many people are arriving at work with poor nutrition and broken sleep and need the caffeine to get started, they could learn a lot from this blog or from Universal Medicine and bring some vitality into their lives.

225. Thank you Elizabeth, a clear and succinct step-by-step account of how to deal with, what most people think is basically undealablewith. You are certainly right, and it was my experience, that to deal with the shift work one just became a little bit more extreme, so in fact life really is out of kilter. So what you are writing about is truly revolutionary, inspiring, and really should be written up in the AMA newsletter. ☺

226. What you have shared Elizabeth would benefit so many people who go through their day in exhaustion, not really understanding how easy it is to change this. It is so much more enjoyable to listen to what the body needs and have vitality during the day by following these simple tips you have shared. Thank you.

227. I used to work shifts for awhile, routine was chaotic and I did not support myself. It is great how to share your experience of learning to support yourself and that this can be done while working shifts. Thank you.

228. This is so true Tony! How often are we plagued with thoughts of ‘missing out’ when really what fuels them is our disconnection to ourself. Rather than honour the message that we are receiving via the ‘void’ we can feel, we seek to plug it up and fill it with more of what is not us, which only serves to inflame the situation further! Crazy stuff.

229. This makes complete sense to me Elizabeth. By nurturing your own body and connection with yourself, you are better able to support people with theirs. How valuable as a nurse to provide this quality of care! A blessing for all.

230. Thank you Elizabeth for sharing your experience of what Universal Medicine presents. You are an inspiration. Even though I don’t have to do shift work what you share helps me deepen my understanding of how important it is for our health, well-being and our ability to care for others by reconnecting with ourselves and listening to our bodies. Simple teaching but not easy, which is why I find the support of Universal Medicine and The Way of the Livingness to be an essential connection to have in my life, in order to be fit for living a life in service which is what I have always been drawn to do.

231. Such a wonderful sharing Elizabeth – I feel sure that many who do those long hours of shift work would really benefit from reading this article. I know a few men who have all worked 3 shift patterns – all ended up having major heart surgery and complications with digestive issues and big problems with the lack of healing sleep. A great sharing – thank you. What a difference it makes to really listen to the body and make those self loving choices and to change old patterns of behaviour.

232. Awesome sharing Elizabeth, relevant for everyone who does shift work.
     “Reconnecting with ourselves allows us to reconnect with our body. If we listen to what the body is telling us we have a very effective way of knowing if the choices we are making on a daily basis are supportive or not. “- Great simple take home message !

233. Wow Elizabeth, you have changed your whole lifestyle. I was interested to read that you prepare for a night shift 2 days before. You mentioned lighter food, what else do you do in those 2 days to prepare?

234. Thanks Elizabeth for sharing – I, too, have noticed that my body is ready to wind down from as early as 7pm and that the level of vitality that is a part of my day now is more than I have experienced 20 yrs ago. I am realising that the more I connect to me – the more sensitive I am to the environment around me, the food I eat, what is going on in the world and at work. Making simple changes in the rythym of my day and choosing to introduce more gentleness and honesty is a beautiful thing. It is a simple way of living and so life giving.

235. Yes, I have only ever heard people hating and regretting shift work, especially night shifts, and no wonder they go for the chocolate or coffee. It was gorgeous to read how you developed your relationship with yourself and how you now can handle shift work. You are such a gorgeous, sweet, delicate and precious lady. You inspire me all the time. You are wow. Thank you Elizabeth for showing us another way.

236. I like to come back to this blog every now and then, it is a great reminder, a beautiful lesson not only for shift work but for life. Thank you Elizabeth

237. Elizabeth what a joy to read about the way you approach not only shift work but life in general. Instead of resisting the work it’s great to see how you prepare for work taking two days before a night shift to look after yourself. And why? So that you and your patients have a healthcare professionals that is full of life, vitality and love. What a blessing to recieve..

238. The rhythm you have developed by listening to your body sounds amazing and shows quite clearly how enormous the benefits are when we start to make different and responsible choices.

239. Elizabeth, as you are aware I have seen you at work when I was a patient in the same hospital. As I was being taken in a wheelchair for an X-ray, the lift stopped and you entered. It felt like an angel had entered and lit up the lift, such was your radiance. What ever you are doing certainly works and needs to be shared with all medical staff and form part of the curriculum for trainees!

240. It is great to hear your wise words Elizabeth and the self-care you now take which supports you in your shift work. What an inspiration you must be to your colleagues. I particularly resonated with your point around how our emotions drain us. I too have realised this and it is something that we can quite easily miss.

241. I too do shift work and every time I re read your article it gives me the inspiration to deepen the love and care I have for myself, to truly honour my body. And it connects me to the joy I have in my work as a nurse

     1. As I reread your article Elizabeth, I realised how powerful what you are proposing is – starting with self care, self love – taking responsibility for our own health, and vitality. Honouring how our body feels and not overriding it. Just imagine if everyone did this – more vitality would be felt at work, more productivity, less absenteeism, less strain on the health care system and more.

242. This is gold, I too do shift work, and I wish I had of been shown all this at uni, or with role models in life. It would have helped me enormously, it’s never too late though, I now do choose to listen to my body and it’s an incredible support for me at work, in life, with the kids. I would never go back to my old ways of living as like you, I feel fantastic now, it is its own reward.

     1. Universal Medicine teachings are definitely the missing link at Universities.

243. The wonderful thing about Universal Medicine presentations is they are so down to earth, simple and hugely effective. I now go to bed around 8pm every night and if I randomly go later then my body feels very tired from this choice. It would be very wise if the rest of the world applied self care and responsibility to their life, the scary health statistics would dramatically change and the productivity of people would largely increase.

244. Elizabeth, your blog is so practical and honest. After realising the benefits of going to bed earlier and getting up earlier, I would be anxious if I had a night or two a week when I had to attend business events that kept me up later. What you have presented takes into account all aspects of life not just getting to bed earlier but of course the quality in which we live our lives.

     1. Absolutely Karen, going to bed early is a start but it is the ongoing choices that we make in very moment that contribute to the quality in which we live our lives. Each and every choice is ours to make and hence we have the ultimate responsibility for the quality of our life.

245. Elizabeth it is truly astonishing how those apparently minor adjustments have totally changed your health and vitality – you are a true model of health. Wouldn’t it be amazing if health care workers were supported to model health? I’d imagine there would be far less days lost to ‘sick leave’ too, so what a great investment this would be if included in training and professional development programs.

246. Elizabeth what if every single problem whether it be medical or not could be addressed by re-connecting back to our selves ? What if every single problem, medical or not was caused in the first place by the fact that we have separated from who we are? I am beginning to see that all of our woes are actually born of the same woe and that is we no longer know who we are.

247. Thanks for sharing your story, Elizabeth. I have the greatest admiration for nurses and the role they play in caring for the sick and the cheerful attitude most have while doing this. It must have been difficult to change your way of life while you were working so hard, especially when you were doing shift work. Congratulations on the changes you were able to make with the support of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.

     1. Yes, great credit to Elizabeth to not only feel well on a night shift but to enjoy being there as well – this is remarkable and one of the things that keeps me coming back to this blog. Last year I spent some time visiting a family member in hospital. On the whole I was inspired by how caring the nurses were.

248. Sleep has been a bit of a battle for me over the years – keeping myself awake I have realised to see if I can find anything in the day to fill me up rather than filling my day with all of me. Universal Medicine has supported me to feel my body’s natural rhythm and sleep as needed waking up more vital and ready to enjoy my day.

     1. I agree Lee. When there is a purpose the time is given to do this naturally within our rhythm no matter whether its a 9 to 5 or shift work job.

     2. Yes Lee, I am noticing this as well, when I do not make my day truly fulfilling, in the evening I feel like I am still missing something. I then reach for stimulants, trying to fit in more things to somehow make up for it. I too feel very inspired by Universal Medicine’s approach of putting myself to rest and call it a day and live more of me during the day, filling it with me, really making it worth it.

249. Definitely worth investigating for the healthcare service Elizabeth (plus all other professions too!). Your story is great testament to, and as you say…the importance of listening to your body and not over-riding what it was telling you. It also shows that the choice to self-care is age-less and at any time we can make those choices, and reap the benefits, and for the benefit of all.

250. I applaud your decisions Elizabeth to embrace and commit to the substantial changes you made to your way of living.
     I totally agree, that the crisis in world wide healthcare systems truly need to be teaching this loving, completely different way of life.

251. Elizabeth I can relate to what you have said about shift work. I had been a shift worker for 25 years and can remember the exhaustion I used to feel at times. I moved into a day job thinking this was going to be easy but continued to feel the same. Little did I realise back then that it was the way I was living that needed to change, not the hours I worked.
     From listening to presentations by Serge Benhayon and attending sessions with practitioners, I have been able to develop a more loving and caring way with myself and as a result do not feel exhausted but have a lot more energy and vitality. I am also more available to the clients I work with.

     1. So true annebroadbent58 – we can look at the shift work and say “that is my problem” only to find nothing changes when we get the regular hours we think will solve all our problems! Blaming things outside of ourselves for the way we feel is a cop out and will always be exposed when the longed for change makes no difference. We can’t avoid having to take responsibility for the way we feel at some point. It is the ONLY way things will change.

252. Thanks for sharing Elizabeth, it is beautiful to read how you started making more and more loving choices and the effect they have had on your life.

     1. This was lovely for me to read again. If I don’t get to bed by 9 I am ‘all over the place’ next day. Thanks to Elizabeth’s article, now on the occasions when commitment keeps me up later, I can prepare myself beforehand, rather than suffer later. This will make such a difference, thank you Elizabeth.

253. The changes you have made seem so simple that people could over look them. Yet the little changes that all came from listening to your body gradually build up to support and nurture you.

254. Through the presentations of Universal Medicine and Serge Benahyon I have come to see like you Elizabeth that there is so often a simple and obvious answer to the things I thought to be ‘impossible’. The step by step process you went through beautifully highlights how a choice to question some small part of our lives actually affects everything.

255. Thank you Elizabeth for sharing simple and sustainable ways to support ourselves at work which actually do work. That you are supported well by these choices is so obvious in you the odd times I have had occasion to meet up with you. Your warmth and vitality, and your ability to deeply engage with people is deeply inspiring to me.
     My nursing practice and I have changed enormously too through implementing the very practical tools of gentleness, self nurturing and honouring offered by Serge Benhayon. A gift to all nurses and in fact anyone in the health profession whether they do shift work or not.

256. I don’t do shift work Elizabeth but before Universal Medicine I very much over road when I was feeling tired at around 6.30 pm back then, which was my body in exhaustion telling me to slow down. I would either have a heap of chocolate or have a little nap and keep going. Staying up to midnight most nights. What I found was this was because I wasn’t enjoying my day and I didn’t feel like I was free to live my day doing what I wanted so at night was “my time” and I would do what I wanted at that time. As soon as I started to address some of the issues in my day at work, I no longer wanted to quarantine that time at night and I was free to go to bed when my body was tired.

     1. Oh yes Rebecca – ‘me time’ is such a trap. In my experience all it does is ensure I feel resentful of whatever I’m doing outside of the ‘me time’. Exhausting and such a waste of the fact that every moment can be ‘me time’ if I bring all of me to whatever I do. Life is so much more fun when I live this way!

257. Thanks Elizabeth for your practical tips in dealing with shift work – much appreciated.

258. Fantastic blog Elizabeth. Very inspiring and wonderful for all those that you care for. Now you are taking you to work and that would make a big difference to them as well.

259. Thanks for the inspiring article Elizabeth. I have been wondering how I will be able to support myself with shift work in the future. You have given me a lot to explore for myself. Thank you.

260. I am sure nurses and health care workers will be extremely interested to read what you have discovered Elizabeth. I am not a nurse but just reading how your days and night shifts were and how you have changed your experience of work and home life, I feel many would agree that self nurture, common sense and eating and sleeping in a way that supports the body and its rhythm would make an enormous difference to their lives!

261. Thank you Elizabeth for your inspiring blog. Yes, Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine present and live what true self care is, and that it is about reconnection to the body and self first. This connection with yourself really is the missing ingredient to self care, as without the connection, self care becomes just an empty activity, or tick box exercise, like saying…. “I am doing all the right things, but nothing is changing…” You have demonstrated that life and the relationship we have with ourselves does truly change when self care is done in connection.

262. This is really quite beautiful what you have presented here Elizabeth. I get a real sense of the importance of rhythm, being more important than anything else. When we find a rhythm that suits us and stick to it, we are so much more able to cope with any ‘curve-balls’ that may come our way.

263. Elizabeth what a difference it would make to the nursing community if they were shown a different way to be with their patients and at work. I see a lot of nurses these days who look and are exhausted, as they are asked to do more with less. How many nurses are working with other people’s bodies but do not understand or listen to their own! What you have shared has inspired me to be more open with other nurses about how I live and how I take care of myself on a daily basis.

264. I have never worked night shifts but I have often wondered how this could be approached so it doesn’t have a big affect on our natural body clock and rhythms. This has been a great insight into what is possible and the choices and therefore experiences that are available in these circumstances.

265. Elizabeth, I love that you say that ‘at 52 years old I feel the best I have ever felt. I am vital, my body feels amazing and I have more energy than most of my colleagues who are half my age”. It has also been my experience that once we “we listen to what the body is telling us we have a very effective way of knowing if the choices we are making on a daily basis are supportive or not”. Like you, I started making different choices later in life, in my case at the age of 60 and now at 71 (well 72 next month!), I also feel ‘the best I have ever felt’.

266. Elizabeth, it is nothing short of amazing what you have shared. So much is possible when we re-connect to us.

267. Such simple, common-sense examples you present here, Elizabeth. Thank you.

268. What an amazing reflection you are, not only for your colleagues but also for the patients you care for. And thank you for the inspiration, you are a true role model for me working as a nurse myself. I can sometimes struggle with the shift work and I felt while reading your blog I can deepen the connection with my body and support myself in a more loving way.

269. Wow, there is so much sense in what you have written Elizabeth. Paying attention to our bodies and experimenting and being honest about what works and what doesn’t is an important key to our health and vitality. It’s an ongoing process but definitely worth the investment!

270. Thanks Elizabeth for your insightful article,I have never had to do shift work but have felt similar when flying overseas – it’s all about connecting to our self and committing to live in our body and living life in its fullness.

271. “Doesn’t it make sense that if we re-connect to ourselves we then have ourselves with us in all that we do?” So true Elizabeth. Simple, practical things when done with intent can have a big impact on our well being.

272. Elizabeth I love how you sensibly made changes a step at a time, according to how your body responded, and in so doing transformed your life, definitely going against the trend of ill health in shift workers. Truly inspirational and very doable!

273. I do not do shift work, and never have, but I can relate to every word Elizabeth. I recall that feeling of pushing through tiredness, to watch just a bit more of this or that TV show, even when I had worked out how it was going to end in the first ad break.
     And I wonder, how many of us are doing that? Sitting up to watch the forgone conclusion and treating bed like a punishment!
     I love taking a refreshed and cared for body to work and I love that after 23 years I love my job more than ever. Universal Medicine is certainly worth exploring.

274. The simple message of self-care and listening to our bodies is universal and is something we can all consider, regardless of profession, age, gender, social status etc. Thank you for an inspiring blog Elizabeth.

275. Talk about turning your working life around! It may sound like simple steps you took – and maybe they are – but it took dedication and a true responsibility to your own health and wellbeing to actually incorporate these changes into your life. And look at the rewards – great life, great attitude, great role model for the medical ward workers that are blessed to be on a shift with you – as are the patients that you attend to with your fresh and loving approach.

276. This is fantastic, Elizabeth. Re-connecting to yourself and listening to your body and honouring what it says are very powerful!

277. Dear Elizabeth, to read your blog and all your beautiful changes is amazing!!
     A great role model for all shift workers, and a very good reminder to deepen the adjustments we need, when we let speak our body!

278. This is a great blog that could be helpful for all shift workers to read. A way of letting others know that shift work can be done in a way that is not harmful to the body. That it is about listening to the signals that your body is giving out to you and then by following those feelings caring deeply for yourself so that then that not only supports you at home and at work, but also is a great support and role model for fellow workers and also the wonderful care you can then provide for your patients.

279. Hi Elizabeth, good job on explaining how working night shifts, has changed for you. I too once worked varying shifts aboard yachts and would often eat for energy. I’ve found lately that eating lighter in the evening not only allows for greater clarity until bed, but makes the early hours of the day more productive too.

280. “Universal Medicine introduced the importance of listening to my body and not over-riding what it was telling me. Could they be on to something?” I would say yes I do feel that Universal Medicine are on to something! Lovely to read your blog and how you reconnected with yourself and what your body had to tell. Also great to read that you have found a way to live, and nurture yourself, that works for you and the work that you do. Thank you.

281. This is a fantastic blog Elizabeth and very helpfull for me to read as I enter the nursing proffession. Thank you for sharing this and showing us all there is a loving choice waiting to be made and a choice well worth making.

282. The power and authority you bring through this email Elizabeth is not to be denied. So when you state, “Reconnecting with ourselves allows us to reconnect with our body”, it made me sit up and take note, because so often I see it the other way around – through connection to our body we connect to ourselves. I am not saying that is wrong. Both are obviously true. However you have reminded me of the power we have, to connect straight to the source (our true selves) and how this can be chosen, even before we think. Then our bodies receive the love and attention they deserve, so they can feed back to us how to make the choices that on-goingly support them and ourselves to live in true service, in a world that rarely understands or supports such action. This may read like a small point from all that has been written in this blog, but for me it is at the core of the teaching we have received through Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine and a key as to how we can connect more deeply with the wisdom we can then bring so practically into many aspects of life.

283. Then you are living proof Elizabeth that these changes you have made in your life really do make a profound difference to a person’s life and that it is all real, attainable and accessible to anyone by virtue of the fact that they are human and have a body. That’s all you need to make these changes. No degree, don’t have to be a genius, don’t have to go to a church or wear any special clothes. Just get connected with your own tender rhythms and amazing things can and will happen. An ageless science that has always been there in fact.

284. It is so amazingly simple to listen to your body and not override what you truly feel, so why does it take someone else to remind us of this? I say remind us because we all know it yet we ignore or override what we know. Shift work is a challenge, but as I have found, by listening to my body, I am better able to deal with the constant changes in sleep times and patterns. My rhythms and rituals are different to what you have presented here Elizabeth, like you said it will be different for everyone, but what is the same is that I take notice of what my body is saying and I try to support myself as best as I am able. Thank you for sharing this Elizabeth.

285. Thanks for the inspiring read Elizabeth! I am not a nurse and nor do I do shift work but I have often felt anxious at the mere thought of shift work. I have noticed however, that the more I prepare myself, like my lunch or my bag etc, for the following day, the better I am equipped to handle whatever might be coming my way. I have a very ingrained pattern of leaving things to the last minute and rushing. The difference between starting the day rushed and starting the day calm and in my body is HUGE!

286. Simple steps and practical experience to help anyone currently or wanted to do shift work

287. Yes it does make a lot of sense “that if we re-connect to ourselves we then have ourselves with us in all that we do?” Thank you Elizabeth, this is a beautiful and inspiring blog. It is gorgeous to feel how you gently built on your connection to your love, in your life and in your rhythm. Your vitality and vibrancy sing through your words.

288. Thankyou for sharing Elizabeth, I often wondered how shift workers did it. And would often say I could never do night work… But what you’re saying is quite interesting. It would just require more care and nurturing. Very beautiful. So it is possible after all to do shift work without the exhaustion and horrible diet.

289. I love how you have presented that shift work does not have to be such a slammer…I am still working this one out for myself and though I do not do shift work anymore, reading your article is very inspiring. It feels amazing to see how you have made changes to support you and your way of being at work whilst doing shift work – and many of the changes that you talk about are actually very simple! Thank you Elizabeth.

     1. That’s true Henrietta the changes Elizabeth gradually made were simple – but what a stunning affect in benefits to her body, vitality and joy of life, what a great offering to us all.
        I have found more and more that my body is telling me all the time whether something I am doing, saying or eating is truly good for me or not. I used to take this as I am doing a ‘wrong’ thing and not wanting to be responsible for me or my health I would ignore it. Over the years I have been inspired by the simple and supportive presentations of Universal Medicine and I have turned around to see how taking responsibility for my health is really a simple way to care and love myself more and my body gives back ten fold. I have way more vitality and joy of life now too and it also has helped me be more understanding of myself and others in all my relationships.

        1. I love this kate273 – “I have found more and more that my body is telling me all the time whether something I am doing, saying or eating is truly good for me or not. I used to take this as I am doing a ‘wrong’ thing …..” It’s a penny-dropping moment for me! This is when it is so important to bring in understanding to our thoughts about ourselves. If I eat something that isn’t good for me and then come down on myself like a ton of bricks, all that happens is I get crushed under the weight of that judgement. If on the other hand I approach this with understanding, I am then able to look at what led to me making the ill-choice and take steps to change the pattern. There is no right and wrong when we respond to life in this way.

290. What a great article Elizabeth showing a different way of dealing with shift work, through self care, responsibility and better choices. A great practical help for people doing this type of work.

291. Yes Elizabeth, it makes perfect sense “… that if we re-connect to ourselves we then have ourselves with us in all that we do? Reconnecting with ourselves allows us to reconnect with our body. If we listen to what the body is telling us we have a very effective way of knowing if the choices we are making on a daily basis are supportive or not” What Universal Medicine presents is not rocket science, it’s so simple and definitely worth a try.

292. I couldn’t agree more Elizabeth, the positive change I feel in my health from listening into and doing what my body asks is enormous.

293. Powerful blog Elizabeth I love it….What you’re saying is so true about the ill-effects of overriding what our bodies are telling us…It certainly has consequences – as someone who used to be in constant drive, I can relate to much of what you’ve shared here…thanks for this article…

294. Definitely Elizabeth – a lot here for me to be inspired by. I work night shifts where I’m on call between 11pm and 06am and of late I’m trying to work out the best way to manage myself with it. There’s certainly more preparation I could attend to in regards to food, for example, but also how I allow myself to rest the day after. Before I was determined to be as active and ready to go as I usually was, but after a night shift my body obviously needed a bit more rest, which was a great learning for me – to actually let the body lead the way.

     1. I agree Matts, our bodies are the masters of knowing what they need so it makes sense to let them lead the way.

295. Elizabeth you offer so much here via your work as a nurse. The nursing profession could learn much from the lifestyle changes you have successfully integrated into your life that have such positive impacts on the important work you do. Your patients must absolutely love it when you are on shift.

296. Elizabeth Dolan’s essence is shining through with gorgeousness, humour, honesty and her love of people in this blog. Eating lighter in the two days leading up to a night shift in order to have the energy and stamina to get through a night shift is a great tip for shift workers – I wonder when else this also might apply? Perhaps before a long haul flight and changing time zones? Maybe in the lead up to an exam or surgery?
     Through deeper listening to my body I might discover not just when eating lighter is called for but a whole lot of different ways to honour the messages that come from my body – how cool.

     1. Yes Deanne, this has so many applications in life generally. What deeply inspires me is the very tangible commitment Elizabeth has to her self-care. It all too easy when this isn’t there to just ‘live for the moment’ without planning for what is to come, the consequences of which are to make things worse and think they can never change. Elizabeth has shown this is possible so it is now so much easier for the rest of us follow suit.

297. Elizabeth, it is really beautiful to read about how you live and I am left with no doubt that your personal account is actually what you live and how you feel about night shift. I felt your blog throughout my body and it felt so lovely that I am going to read it again now. I am not surprised by the night shift statistics and the ill health effects and yet here you are – evidence that another way, as shared by Serge Benhayon, is possible.

298. I enjoyed reading this and was taken by how you developed and refined your lifestyle choices over time. Yours Elizabeth, is a real transformation, and I am sure this would be of interest to all healthcare staff who are working shifts. It would have been overwhelming to try and change everything at once, and making many small changes to how we live can make a huge difference to how we feel. It is a funny thing how we often override our need for sleep as if we are being cheated out of an evening by preparing for bed at 8pm. Yet the energy I have found this gives me means I can get so much more out of the next day, all by listening to the feelings of tiredness and preparing for sleep when I first start to feel tired.

299. Thank you Elizabeth for posing the question “What if people were to actually take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing through reconnecting with themselves and listening to their bodies?” Living with reconnection and self responsibility has had a very positive effect on my health. I too have made these changes from the common sense principles that have been presented at Universal Medicine workshops and courses and by listening to my body. What I have found is that the body is full of wisdom and if you take the time to listen to how it feels and treat it in a way that is deeply caring there is a natural flow on effect of more vitality and true health. This quality makes being alive much more enjoyable, fun and fulfilling.

     1. I have found that taking responsibility for all of our choices, health and otherwise, is amazingly liberating. In that, we can actually effect change in our lives. We are not just subject to random events. The way we are and the choices we make within this is all important.

        1. Thank you Lee, Bianca and Elizabeth, I agree living a life with a responsibility for all our choices makes a huge difference in my life.

300. Thank you Elizabeth for highlighting the fact that it is possible to do shift work without feeling exhausted and seeing it as something to suffer.

     1. Thanks Julie and Elizabeth for reminding us that shift work can be done without suffering. Self care is crucial for every job we do. When we disconnect from our well being our ability to support others in the workplace can be compromised at all times of the day.

        1. Something about that word ‘suffering’ that stopped me in my tracks. I work irregular shift patterns and find it can be quite a struggle to feel in rhythm with myself, but what I can feel is there is an identification and investment in the struggle – in the suffering. There’s a feeling of being a martyr underneath this which I can also feel, I enjoy in a weird sort of way. If I am being a martyr, suffering for my work, I get recognition for this which feeds my need to be seen. Elizabeth’s blog exposes this for what it is and offers a way out of this self-serving pattern.

301. This is a valuable read for many as lots of people work with irregular hours even if it is not shift work and shows how developing a rhythm within ourselves and self care is super important. I am learning all the time this is the only way to live.

302. Well said Mary, can you imagine the money that would be saved if people started to take responsibility for their own health instead of looking to the already overburdened NHS. The way we live our lives is ‘medicine’ and our bodies are great at given us signals when we are mistreating it. Being aware of what our bodies are saying and then choosing to take responsibility for our choices is the first step in the direction that will save that trip to the GP.

303. Oh Elizabeth I realise that I still carry the “eat to keep my strength up” which my mother would say. She, of course, meant it lovingly, however I now have another way to love me and my body.

304. I love the way you have shared that you have found the old belief about shift work automatically equating to suffering is not true. And very valuable that you have shared many of the areas that you considered and tackled on your way to finding a different way that still took care of you and ensured you are at your best. Brilliant inspiration for anyone faced with shift work, and in fact any other situation in life.

305. Thank you for your insightful article Elizabeth. Yes I agree the teachings of Universal Medicine are very practical and down to earth. From these I have found as I reconnect to myself and listen to my body it gives me clear signals and guidance in what is and is not working for and supporting me in life.

306. Great article Elizabeth. The lack of self-care and taking responsibility for our own well-being is costing the world billions. The simple truth is a medicine that doesn’t cost anything! “Could this be a clue as to what is needed to deal with the health care crisis we now face all over the world? What if people were to actually take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing through reconnecting with themselves and listening to their bodies?”

     1. Great point Mary that this type of medicine does not cost a cent but is priceless! This is a great article illustrating the huge impact of staff burnout and exhaustion that we currently have in the medical system and how it could be easily reversed.

307. Elizabeth an inspiring article. I did 38 years flying, and that takes a real toll on one’s body. Sleeping pattern did not really exists, as you had to sleep, try to sleep when you could.. When I retired a few ago, it took me 6 months to get back into a normal sleeping pattern. Eat at regular times. I never really considered my body and nurturing self care. Universal Medicine showed me what I had been missing all those years, caring for my own well-being. Today I feel great, but wish I had known about self care, self loving in my working years.

308. This is a beautiful inspiring article Elizabeth, and the amazing results are easy to see and feel in how you are now to how you were before, so much more joyful. What a delight you must be for your patients.

309. Since I last read this blog several months back, as another shift worker, I have played with waking at a consistent early morning time and bed between 9-10pm and have found it has supported my general well being so much more than my previous sleep pattern.

310. Great article Elizabeth. So inspiring. For many shift work really does knock years off their life and add to many conditions of ill health and disease. Your article clearly illustrates that this doesn’t have to be the case. When we approach all aspects of life from a place of self-care as you illustrate we buck the trend. Turning the tables on what is considered the norm. Super inspiring, as mentioned this should be published in medical and nursing publications the world over.

311. Elizabeth your blog says to me everything is possible. When I did late nights and early mornings consecutively I was a mess and would literally sleep the days I had off. It wasn’t the shifts but the level of disregard I had for myself that really took its toil. In another job I regularly worked late. I found that, rather than rushing to get home to get as early a night as possible, but took the end of shift cleaning tasks gently and wound down on the drive home I could go to bed without feeling wired. I really appreciate the fact that you prepare for a night shift 2 days in advance. What commitment to yourself and others. I know if I looked after myself for the whole day and everyday this made a huge difference. If I disregarded my body I was exhausted and set myself up for a cycle of deeper layers of disregard if i didn’t choose otherwise. What an inspiring blog. shift work or no shift work I know if I don’t look after myself I’ll be exhausted whatever hours I do.

312. Thank you Elizabeth for such an inspiring and relatable blog. This has given me much to consider and experiment with in regards to my own shift patterns.

313. I felt to re-read this blog today and as I read through I realised it was asking me if I am truly listening to the messages I am getting from my body or do I override them still? I will be listening intently to see what areas I am still ignoring. Thanks Elizabeth.

314. Really inspiring, thank you for sharing this Elizabeth. I agree the teachings by Universal Medicine are very practical and down to earth.

315. You could present this article to your health authorities it is an amazing accolade of what is possible when you honour and support your body.

     1. I agree, Vanessa. This article adds a whole other dimension to health care and could be a strong support for everyone by sharing it within the health sector.

316. Thanks for sharing this Elizabeth. It is inspiring to hear that it is possible.

317. It’s funny how we think by going to bed to get quality sleep is missing out on something. I used to stay up watching Tv, some stupid programme that didn’t enhance, improve or educate me in any way. Now if I do that I feel I’m missing out on the quality sleep.

     1. I get responses similar to this when I tell people I go to bed early as often as possible. The most common response is “Oh I could never do that, I’d miss out on so much” – whereas if you wake up earlier, you can do all the same things (if not more) in the morning hours.

318. What Elizabeth shares here makes so much sense. Imagine if the answer to the things that plagues us, and keep us tired and grumpy were as simple, although requiring of commitment, as Elizabeth describes here. How different everything would be if the contents of this blog were widely known and adopted.

319. People come into healthcare because they want to care for others but we are not educated to listen to our bodies, care for ourselves first in order to be more effective more vital and enable true caring for others. This article shines a light on the missing element, thanks Elizabeth. It is also true for all shift workers and even those who work normal days self care and listening to our own body is something which benefits all.

320. Ahhh Elizabeth I find this so encouraging. Thank you for sharing. It’s great to be reminded that it is so simple when we choose to listen.

321. Really interested to read how you work your food intake to keep your vitality during night shifts and ahead of a shift change. I have noticed something similar which works for me in avoiding jet lag: eat light and little before you leave and don’t eat on the plane. What and how much we eat can really affect our energy, alertness and mental acuity, especially in times when our natural rhythm is required to change.

     1. Yes, I have noticed by eating this way when flying I feel much more together and alive, it makes a big difference.

     2. I don’t work shifts Cathy but sometimes have quite long days working away from home. I have fallen into the ‘eat to keep my strength up’ trap, and Elizabeth has shown me a new way to approach this. Absolutely superb article, how fortunate are Elizabeths patients to have her caring for them.

322. That is a great idea Jane, to share this with other health care workers. I had a dear friend who was doing night shifts as a nurse, and the struggle I watched her go through was actually traumatic, even though she only did it for 3 days/nights and had 4 days off, she was so frazzled from the work days she was in recovery from for most of the days off. It effected her relationships with others in a very negative way, as she really couldn’t cope. It was an amazing example of how debilitating sleep deprivation is.

323. Hi Elizabeth, this is a really wonderful journey. I have had a similar experience when changing my routine and going to bed early and getting up early and feeling so much better. One thing that jumped out at me was the way you prepare for sleep, and that you noticed how you would over-ride that feeling of wanting to wind down by using whatever form of stimulant you could find, be it chocolate, coffee or an emotional reaction – I realised I still can get caught be the emotional reaction, which is something to look out for, and although I do not eat the more obvious stimulating foods like chocolate and coffee there are some treats that still sneak in, so thanks for pointing this out.

324. I often wondered how people worked night shifts and still looked after themselves so it is great to read this and learn from your practical examples of what works for you – I’m sure many people will find this a valuable blog.

     1. So true Susang12. I also wondered how people did shifts and coped with the time changes and yet were able to look after themselves. Great article Elizabeth, showing how if you truly care for yourself, you can care for others without it being draining. Totally inspiring and you are an example for others to see that it works!

325. Awesome revelation on how we can truly care for ourselves whilst continuing with shift work. Such simple and common sense changes needed you are living testament to how looking after yourself can be extremely profound. Thank you Elizabeth for sharing your experiences. This is worth its weight in gold!

326. It’s great to re-read this article Elizabeth and amazing to read all of the comments and how inspiring what you have written has been for so many people.

327. Hi Elizabeth, as you have beautifully written, it is so important to become aware that treating the body harshly, over-riding our bodies and pushing ourselves all lead to exhaustion. It must be so inspiring for the staff and patients to observe you on the ward these days, working hard with long shifts and still feeling full of energy and joyful in your work.

328. How amazing to read how you have made changes in your life and how this supports you to continue doing the amazing work that you do, Elizabeth! The benefits cannot be argued with.

329. Great to read your journey Elizabeth… in particular that over time and by really feeling the needs of your body, you were able to create a rhythm for yourself that included the night shifts.

330. Vey inspiring Elizabeth, thank you for sharing. I have been doing shift work for over 25 years now and my story is very similar. When doing nights whilst working as a bus driver it used to bother me so much that I had to go to bed early in the day so like you I would override and stay up until work and during the night I would be so tired that I started to see things that weren’t there, like people at bus stops that turned out to be rubbish bins!! And coffee and sugar were my best friends. I don’t do nights anymore but I still do shift work and I know the presentations of Universal Medicine have changed my life beyond recognition for the better.

331. I love what’s been shared in this article and a huge benefit to many people working shifts, as well as some great insights for everyone no matter what their working hours. And I agree the Universal Medicine teachings are certainly worth investigating and presenting to future medical workers. You are a living example and inspiration of the benefits, Thank you , Elizabeth:)

332. Elizabeth, just today BBC posted an article ‘Shift workers face type 2 diabetes risk’: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-28442550
     A lot of people would benefit reading what you share here in your blog.

333. Hi Elizabeth, I loved re-reading your blog again. This is so amazing and it’s a proof that the teachings from Universal Medicine should be taught in medical schools as a preparation for the future health professionals.

334. Hi Elizabeth,

     I loved reading this article. Thank you for sharing it.

     I have a facebook community of 50k nurses and am about to publish a new magazine called ‘ Wellbeing for Nurses’ exclusively on the Apple Newsstand. I know the readers of the magazine would love to read your article too.

     I was wondering if I could reprint your article in the magazine please? If you’d like me to promote something for you – maybe a book or a specific web page you’d like me to point people to I’d be more than happy to do it. As it is an interactive magazine, once people have read the article they can be directed straight to a web page of your choice.

     I hope to hear back from you soon,
     Allie Wilson

     +61 2 9340 1414
     RN
     allie@whatiwishiknew.com
     Author: What I Wish I Knew about Nursing

335. Elizabeth, I regularly have relevant and supportive articles printed and sitting on the London Clinic waiting room table for clients to read as they wait for a session or relax afterward. Yours has been so useful, that it is the article that most walks out with clients and we are regularly having to reprint copies. Along with my emails to clients asking me for the reference online, your article has assisted many in approaching their sleep and fatigue issues with a fresh outlook, seeing that they needn’t give up if they are doing shift work. Very liberating for them. Thank you!

336. Hi Elizabeth, thank you for this – I have only just come across it in my inbox, and it is perfect timing! I work two jobs and both can include late-ish evening work. It’s a dark, cold winter in England and I have been feeling very tired. I have been blaming my work pattern instead of looking at how I am living outside of work. In the past I have caught up on sleep rather than preparing beforehand for what is to come, so your words are a great reminder. I am experimenting with how my body feels and am learning that to STOP and take time to eat and rest is important – just ten minutes can rejuvenate me to an extent that clearing up at the end of a busy shift takes half the time and I get away earlier. It’s so easy just to keep going without a break. I’m also experimenting with watching TV and what effect programmes have on my sleep and dreams. Not only that, I am experimenting with how my house is – how I clean it or don’t and how that affects me and my productivity. There are many more self-loving choices I can make and it will be interesting to see how they affect my vitality.

337. Thanks Elizabeth, it exposes to me how I was still holding ‘it’s impossible’ attitudes to being vital and working shifts in disability support. I can see where I’ve still been hard on myself and learnt that it’s not about establishing ‘the perfect rhythm’ but just listening to my body and finding my way with what feels most supportive and caring at the time…letting love be the way

338. Elizabeth I laughed so much at your being initially horrified at the idea of going to bed early on your day off; after years of staying up until all hours of the night/morning after working dinner shifts, I could totally relate; however the interesting thing was that whenever I had a holiday I loved going to bed early, it was such a treat and clearly what my body wanted. I have been working in Hospitality for 27years, and over the last ten have gradually been giving up my dinner shifts, to the point where I recently gave up my last one. You are so right it is do-able, and to work outside our natural rhythm requires a lot of preparation on many levels, and this is where a strong and developed foundation of care and love for ourself is required to be able to sustain the changes in routine. This is where the importance of all the choices we make will so evidently be there to support us, if we have indeed made those choices from love.

339. Great information that not only applies to shift workers but to people form all backgrounds and walks of life.

340. Awesome and inspirational ! Thank you

341. Very inspirational! I too work in the nursing profession and do shift work.
     I could relate to everything you said. I just wanted to add that when I do afternoon shift and finish at 10pm- at 8pm I feel my body getting tired, so I then pay particular attention to do everything in gentleness and quiet. I avoid getting into emotional discussions or reactions with others. So when I get home I am ready to sleep. In the past I would get home hungry, crave for icecream (almond magnum) or a chocolate biscuit-to reward me for the good work I had done. I would savour every minute of eating the icecream or biscuit but then felt sick all night, and wide awake and stimulated. My mind had constant thoughts about the shift just worked.

     I just worked a nightshift the other day unplanned (someone was sick and noone was available to work), I was amazed and delighted to find how well I coped. In the past I would feel a wreck and it would take me 2 days to get back into the rhythm of day duty. What I did differently was I too listened to my body and ate a larger dinner before starting the nightshift at 10pm and during the shift ate something light and healthy- I avoided any stimulants- coffee, chocolate (what everyone seems to crave)
     and tried to stay quiet and with myself throughout the shift. I rested as much as possible when I could- unstimulated (no TV , reading the newspaper, or going on the internet or playing computer games.)

342. Hi Elizabeth, I loved reading your post – it’s indeed an inspiration for everyone.

343. Elizabeth, I have seen the transformation in you and thank you for the inspiration that you are. How much your colleagues, let alone the patients you serve, truly receive from you is unmeasurable…

344. I have often wondered how possible (or impossible) it is to do shift work and to look after one’s body in a loving and nurturing way, as there are so many great people who chose shift work (especially in medical industry) to help others. Elizabeth, you have answered it beautifully, and it sounds that one of the most important things is (as with any job or anything we do for that matter) to listen to the body and honour it’s needs – to rest when needed and to eat and drink what is supportive of it and not foods that are heavy on our digestion or stimulative/sugary beverages that further deplete the body. Common sense. I have no doubt that you are a great inspiration to your colleagues as well as your patients, which is awesome.

     1. Hi Dragana, as Elizabeth is showing and as someone that does shift work myself, it is very possible to do shift work and look after your body. As you say, as long as we listen to and honour what our body is saying it really doesn’t matter what your hours of work are or what job we do, our bodies will become exhausted if we don’t truly support and nurture ourselves.

     2. Hi Dragana, I agree – this post is great at exposing the fact that using our jobs as an excuse to not look after ourselves is an illusion, and completely ignorant to the body, which is always willing to speak with us.

345. Great Elizabeth, and really interesting to learn about your experiences and the practical ways in which you deal with the affects of time upon your own physical body – so helpful even for those who do not do such night hours, but equally have other busy or unstructured hours of work that might include say an evening work-related function as would be the case for myself working in corporate. It is refreshing and inspiring to know that whatever your profession it is possible to take to work a body that is connected, revitalised and so embracing of the day – all of which can only have huge benefits in regards to attitude towards work and also team/colleagues as you have outlined so well here in your article. Thank you

     1. I agree Zofia, this blog is a great insight for adapting to working hours. I have recently started working in different shifts and felt drawn to re-read this blog once again. I noticed that I need to change the way I have been preparing myself for long hours of work. Thank you again Elizabeth.

346. Elizabeth , great understanding for all of us who do and have done shift work … I love how you developed your body with these loving choices , in the understanding that shift work does not neccessarily have to be a struggle , but embraced in a refined , disciplined and loving routine it is just another part of your day . With those choices the body ADAPTS to incorporate the routine , and what we witness from your story is that the body can amaze us with its everexpanding abilities .

     1. Awesome said Gabrielle, it’s amazing how the body adapts to what is needed to be done when it is treated with care and love.

347. This is fabulous Elizabeth – Thankyou .This is so real and practical and relatable for anyone who reads this – a great support for anyone in any industry working odd hours. I have worked many years in hospitals too and it was distressing to see so many caring people from cleaners , nurses and doctors rapidly burn out and lose their joy and love of what their work and connection to others use to mean to them.
     I love how you just simply shared what you learnt from your body as you were inspired to from the presentations of Universal Medicine and the very practical sharing of what Serge Benhayon has learned from his body . If we all stopped to regularly feel what our bodies are telling us in response to our choices – we could learn so much about what our body needs for our true well being – how empowering and revitalising would that be ???

     1. Definitely Kate, it is so important to make time to stop and really listen to what our body is telling us, then we would learn so much about what our body really needs for our well being. Our body is a great teacher, it is important we honour what it is teaching us.

348. This is a really awesome read for everyone who works in busy and chaotic environments, it’s another way to be in work, instead of getting lost in the chaos. Thank you Elizabeth.

349. What great benefit you bring to the patients you are nursing and all around you with the joy you radiate! Thank you Elizabeth for the sharing of all your changes from exhaustion to vitality.

350. Awesome! Thank you very much for expressing this simple truth. It sounds too simple to be true but everybody who tries and re-connects to his/ her body has to admit that it IS TRUE and it IS SIMPLE. We just have to overcome our pride that we thought our mind knows better than our body.
     Very profound. Lovely. 🙂

351. So inspiring to read, Elizabeth you are really bringing a way forward for shift workers in health care. So many people enter health professions wanting to care for others but if they don’t understand how to care for themselves first and foremost , they are very likely to end up burning out and not staying inspired by the desire to care for another.
     This is a huge loss then for the patients who receive so much when their carer is in a good space and able to truely connect with them. We have all been in the presence of certain people who just feel great to be around……it’s even more crucial when we are feeling unwell or vulnerable.
     thanks Elizabeth , this has been an awesome read

     1. I agree the article is an inspiration for care and shift workers who may never have looked at how they support their own body in life.

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