Although we have more choices, opportunities, with connections and experiences literally at our fingertips – we are also more stressed, tired, overwhelmed, disconnected from who we truly are and what we’re doing every day.
We have words and medications for this, burnout, stress, depression, trauma, anxiety and a whole host of medications that may help mask and temporarily manage symptoms but do not really get to the core that deep down something is not right, we don’t feel like ourselves.
BURNOUT is when we have lost sight of the meaning in our lives, through chronic and repeated stress, emotional, mental and physical exhaustion, toxic thoughts feelings and relationships and feeling unable to wake up and meet the demands and distractions in life.
It doesn’t happen overnight, it happens each time we betray ourselves in what and how we choose, usually in order to prove our worthiness at work, at home, in our relationships. We trade our inner moments of peace, calm and knowing to get a sense of who we are from the outside. This is a vicious cycle that keeps us spinning in states of chronic stress as we just can’t seem to keep up with our needs or sustain a sense of ourselves and our role in the world that is reliable and strong from outside of us – because what is outside is always changing
Bouncing back from burnout is an inside job. It takes that moment of self-awareness to say ENOUGH and the self-discipline and practice to build a foundation of truly KNOWING what that means to you that is dependent on how that shows up outside of you.
We may look back and recognize that we have bounced back before and hope that we will again – but what do you do when nothing seems to work? Here are the signs and stages of burnout inviting you to dig deeper:
- You use caffeine, sugar, alcohol, and people to calm you down and cheer you up.
- increased feeling of need to withdraw, escape, move or run away.
- Feeling empty and apathetic towards things that use to matter to you.
- Constantly doubting yourself or blaming others for problems in work and life.
- Resentment and procrastination at work or at home.
- Behavioral changes, extremes from being passive and lazy to anger and aggressiveness.
- Chronic and persistent exhaustion or physical symptoms like headaches and stomach aches.
Accepting these feelings and habits as normal or “just the way life is” can lead to feeling even more disconnected, lost and not quite sure how to find our way back.
So how do we find our way back?
- Have the awareness that you can’t and don’t have to do it alone.
- Connect with new people, a peer group, a support group, a trusted advisor, mentor or therapist. (even though you really don’t want to, after you do – you will wonder why you didn’t)
- Dare to be vulnerable, it might surprise you how softening is a superpower and a strength that allows a state of flow into your life.
- Make one small change at a time, when we feel pushed into a corner we can react with extreme measures when most of the time the answer is simple. Like stopping, taking time to yourself, breathing, cutting back or out toxic behaviors and situations.
- Find a calming practice that works for you and make it the most important thing in your life, yoga, meditation, BREATHWORK :), painting, gardening, puzzles, nature… your life and the way you feel will start to turn around as soon as you decide.
- Revisit who you are now, what matters to you most, know what you will and will not tolerate so that when you make choices or waver and go off course you will feel it before you get too far off course.
- Choose peace over a false sense of self, power, and security and you will have them all.
When we feel lost, when the emotional, physical and mental stress and demands of life have literally changed who we are? Instead of looking at this through the eyes of loss and defeat, we need to look at it as an invitation, a compass guiding us to living a more authentic life and the muscle to build and use our integrity (the state of being whole and undivided) as our GPS.
Breathwork is a powerful practice that quickly helps with feelings of burnout and chronic stress by removing the static, distractions and distortions in your life. Breathwork is not about what you add or get, it’s about what you remove. Layers of built-up stress, that actually takes up space in your mind, body, and colors every experience unless you have a practice to help you clear and release them allowing you to see you and life clearly, from a place of wholeness knowing versus lack and need.
Breathwork is a game-changer &
in as little as 30 minutes!
Breathwork classes now in Mission Viejo, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, san Clemente & Laguna Hills CLICK HERE for Upcoming Classes
BREATHWORK TEACHER TRAINING, March 28 & 29th, 2020 – Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego
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