MY EXPERIENCE WITH BURNOUT

Just wrote this in response to a Q on resources for burnout / self care / restoring balance, etc. hope something in here serves YOU. ❤️

First (assuming you’re asking for yourself?) – asking for help / allowing yourself to be supported is SUCH A FREAKING IMPORTANT and valuable first step. Celebrating you for even asking, because it can be really hard.

Burnout happens when we’re perceiving we’ve got more challenge than support in an area (or many areas) of life… so you’re already making progress by writing this post.

Mechanically / chemically speaking I’m obvio not a doctor so I’ve been most interested in learning what functional medicine pros have to say about burnout. Usually pointing to whole food supplements that support adrenals + hormones – when we experience / perceive extra stress, our cortisol eats our sex hormones and throws all kinds of ish out of whack (that’s my basic understanding, anyway. ha).

Sleep check – taking an honest inventory of your sleep habits and controlling what you CAN considering #parentlife: https://www.parent.com/ultimate-guide-for-parents-who…/

Atmosphere – sunshine, fresh air make such a big difference for me. BIZARRELY easy to stay inside all day minus the school run for my kiddos.

Movement – if you’re not super active already, finding whatever type of movement feels realistic, doable, nourishing for you will make a huge diff. Setting super low bars – like five minutes of walking (inside), or stretching, etc. so you don’t SHOULD all over yourself for not training for a half marathon when you can barely pull off daily functions. Great for relieving stress, upping our feel good hormones, helping you feel stronger, and circulating what needs to circulate. I like to think of movement as my body’s internal decluttering process.

Acupuncture – there’s a franchise called Modern Acupuncture that makes acupuncture more affordable / accessible than most. I’ve been going since November and it’s delightful. Sitting there for 30 minutes a sesh without my phone, letting my brain wander and do what it needs to do, trusting the benefits of the actual acupuncture to take some of the load off and redirect energy where it’s most needed, etc.

EFT – have you ever tried tapping? Looks goofy but I swear by it when I actually do it. Squillions of YouTube videos to help you detangle big emotions / thought patterns that can feel overwhelming. Ex. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce-wf2Ww4Yc (this one is Brad Yates, specific to burnout)

Friend time – partner, sibling, friends, colleagues – having other people to talk to who are out of whichever area is currently burning you out (like convos in this group!).. priceless.

ON THE PRACTICAL WOO SIDE…

I believe burnout is feedback for us. Like a physical red flag to say “HEY are you sure you wanna proceed like this?” We can ignore the intuitive nudges for so long… but eventually our bodies step in to be like “NO REALLY…. this isn’t it.”

So I’d ask yourself – what’s my body telling me? What have I been ignoring that’s asking for attention right now?

It can feel SO shitty in the moment / season, I totally get that – and yet also logically and intuitively believe that everything serves. Which means that even burnout is giving us some kind of benefit.

Looking for the benefits of life exactly as it is right now can help take the edge off and give you even a glimmer of gratitude, which is a really powerful tool for shifting just about anything and everything.

Examples of benefits to burnout (in my experience):