(Read time: 4 minutes)
Have you ever felt so depleted of motivation, you just can’t help but feel that feelings of burnout are too overwhelming to ignore?
I’ve met with amazing clients, who during our first meeting, showed the classic symptoms of burnout: slumped shoulders, demotivated spirit, and exhausted disposition. But this is not just unique to the clients that come to me. We see these signs of burnout in the faces of people braving the rush hour, desperately trying to go home.
We see burnout in bosses pressured to deliver stellar results, and employees that are overworked. Burnout can be evident in the faces of exasperated business owners trying to save a company.
Most of the time, we see burnout in our own faces. After accommodating all the tasks in our seemingly-endless to-do lists, not setting boundaries, and feeling guilty for taking self-care breaks, the mental, physical and emotional exhaustion can take its toll on us.
Self-care is one of the best antidotes for burnout. Burnout calls for us to spread ourselves thin; self-care reminds us to slow down and truly listen to what our heart, mind, and soul needs.
If you’re feeling the weight of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion, you can keep the burnout and heal the burnout with these five self-care treatments for burnout.
1. Meditation Exercises for Burnout
How does meditation help take you out from burnout?
Whenever I talk to clients experiencing burnout, they have a lot in common, they are often overwhelmed with worry and find it hard to even breathe. They find it hard to take the time to slow down because they juggle a lot of things from their personal life to their careers. Because of their loaded schedules, they often feel they’re falling short. Instead of feeling a sense of achievement, they mostly feel anxious.
A lack of mindfulness is one of the causes of burnout. Mindfulness helps us see concerns and problems realistically, alleviating anxiety for the future.
Meditation exercises improve one’s mindfulness. With increased mindfulness, you can prioritize goals better. Mindfulness also eases your mind from external worries, and helps you focus on you, your concerns, your wounds, and the support you need. With meditation, you can learn how to take care of yourself better.
2. Cardio Exercises Heal Burnout
Seems like the old-age advice to “go for a run” whenever we feel overwhelmed with something is backed by science. Exercises – specifically cardiovascular exercises – helps release pent up stress and emotions. Cardio exercises trigger the release of happy hormones called endorphins. A quick run, hike, or biking exercise can give us a dose of happy hormones.
3. Yoga Classes
Yoga classes are also great options when it comes to addressing burnout. Apart from yoga breathing techniques that can come in handy during panic and anxiety attacks, there are yoga positions, twists, included – that literally purges negative energy out of the body.
A yoga session also strengthens the power of your mind – making you more resilient to the effects of burnout.
I personally love a Candlelight Yin or some sort of Yoga Therapy class whenever I feel mind blocks, feel burnout or just want to unwind. It gives me time to calm down and engage with each pose that is held for a few minutes each. To me, a slow yoga class creates opportunities for micro-mindfulness practices. In the first minute, I’m adjusting into the pose, noticing what physical sensations come up and where, and in the second minute I may be sinking into it, or fighting it if it’s super uncomfortable and in the third minute, I usually find myself surrendering into nothingness and when I move my body into the next pose I find inspiring thoughts come through. Each pose can invite a lesson from within if you let it. And because there are usually a few poses, each typically running in this 3 minute cycle, you get to practice trial and error, discomfort, judgement, non-judgement, denial, surrendering, acceptance and hopefully and eventually, freedom. Bonus, notice if an area of discomfort comes through and if it comes up again over a series of the same type of yoga class or other exercises you’re doing. If there is a pattern over time, then that may be a clue for an emotion locked up in that area which could use some healing which could be remedied with Reiki or Advanced Emotional Energy Healing (see more below).
4. Reiki Session
Stress comes in bounty with burnout. In fact, it’s safe to say that burnout is caused by too many stress-inducing activities. The more we’re prone to stress, the more our minds become clouded, and our moods sour.
Reiki brings about healing to the worn out person. When someone is feeling the effects of burnout, a right Reiki healer can clear the body of blockages of negative energy to give more space for a more positive flow of energy. When our body is filled with positive energy, our mood improves, and we can think clearly, and we can do many things.
5. Advanced Emotional Energy Healing
What is advanced emotional energy healing and how does it heal burnout?
Every day, we absorb a ton of emotions – sometimes, these emotions can be stressful and depressing. When left unaddressed, these emotions can pile up leading to emotional, mental, and even physical burnout.
Emotional Energy Healing heals on a deeper level. It addresses pent up emotions, and unhealthy emotional connections called “emotional strings” that could affect one’s disposition and mood.
The benefits of advanced emotional energy healing includes a heart freed from negative feelings, healed emotional wounds, a calmer heart, a pain-free physical body, a healthier immune system, a clearer mind, and a better intuition.
In my personal preference I loop advanced emotional energy under my Intuitive Energy Healing services.
One of the best gifts you can give yourself is the gift of self-care when you feel like burnout is starting to consume you. When things get so overwhelming, take a break, and put yourself first.
Give yourself permission for some precious, much needed, well-deserved healing.
*Reference:
Efficacy Of Exercise Therapy in Persons with Burnout. A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Oliver Ochentel-Crystal Humphrey-Klaus Pfeifer – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6090391/
