Times are speeding up and people seem to be doing a whole heap of stuff and still aren't getting anywhere. If you're one of them, don't worry, you're not alone (I was there too for a while).
Yes it seems to be a modern epidemic that people race themselves ragged.
I had to wake up and was forced to look at the way I was doing things for the first time when I got really sick with only 16. It took months before I found Natural Therapies which got me better within a few days!
Back then, I realised three key things that would change my life and later way of treating people forever:
1) Stress is a killer
2) You need to listen to your intuition
3) The body is tightly connected with our emotions & thoughts - all this talk about Body, Mind & Spirit is indeed correct, it is all one and the same!
So in case you're feeling stressed, keep pushing yourself beyond your limits and ignoring the signs because you don't have the time to do so, this post is for you!
In case you're not sure if you're on the way to burning out or if you've already reached a critical point, go and check out my last blog post. In it, I've offered a checklist with 15 questions to identify if your burning out. You can access it right here.
Don't worry, even if you pretty much said yes to every single one of them, it's not too late to do anything about it.
The negative impacts of real burn out are quite severe. They range from feeling exhausted, disillusioned and unhappy, to feeling generally detached and sick.
You might feel like nothing you do makes a difference. You might even ask yourself "why care about life, work or anything anymore?". You might just be so exhausted, you don't want to have to care or worry anymore.
Burn out affects your sleep just as much as every second of you being awake. Your family, relationships, work life, anything in your life gets affected by you being wiped out, exhausted and burnt out.
So what is it that you can do to powerfully shift your lack of energy, your deep exhaustion and listlessness towards getting anything else done and achieved?
1) Start with checking in. Take inventory and list all the stuff that's been stressing you out, worrying you, draining you. What do you feel helpless about? What do you think you can't change that makes you feel stuck?
List all of it. You can do a brain dump too (This is one of my favourite techniques to empty my head and get calm and focused again. You can read more about this under point 3 here
After you finished, you might feel lighter and freer already. If not, ..
2) ..Go and list at least one step you can take to shift each item on our inventory list.
What can you do to change the stressful situations you're in? What does it take to resolve the conflict/overwhelm/etc? If you don't know how to get out of the stressful situation you're in, go and seek help. A personal coach or mentor might be just the thing you need to be able to see what's going on. Sometimes it's hard to get out of your own head without getting tangled up in the story.
3) Cull back & delegate
Especially when things are busy and you feel too exhausted to deal with anything, it's time to reassess. Do you really need to do all the things you're doing? Is there anything you could let go off, so you have less to worry about?
If you can't cut anything, then ask yourself "Can anyone else do this job for me?" And hand over tasks as much as you can.
4) Reduce the pressure & soften
Now that you're dealing with pure exhaustion and being burnt out, it's time to free yourself up of any extra pressure that you don't need. This includes inner pressure just as much as external pressure. Reduce the tasks you're doing and expect less of yourself. It's about your effort and intentions, rather than the outcome. Do what you can but stop pushing. It's time to soften.
5) Rest and recharge
Stop doing stuff and allow yourself the space to unravel. Breathe, be, sleep, rest. Speed up the recovery by getting massages, Reflexology treatments, soaking in Epsom Salts with fresh lemon pulp and saunas.
Leave work at work as much as you can. If you're an entrepreneur, aim to leave your work out of the bedroom and go to sleep early. Sleep and rest is key now!
6) Nourish yourself
Top up those depleted reserves of vitamins and minerals in your body after all the stress by having green superfoods, cold pressed juices in summer and warming ginger turmeric pumpkin soups in winter. Also remember to nourish yourself with good thoughts. If you start attacking yourself for not "functioning" the usual way, tell yourself to stop and back off. All you need to focus on now is being proud of how far you've come.
7) Give yourself space
If you're always with people, kids, family, crowds,.. It can be very healing to reduce the extra input from others around you and nourish yourself with silence and long walks at the beach. Just breathe, be, relax.
You might want to journal, sing, or just listen to music. Unravel.
If you can't allow yourself that much "luxury" (or if your burn out isn't that advanced yet that you have to stop), then still aim for those spaces of time in between your other activities.
8) Last but certainly not least, hold your adrenal Reflex in your feet!
This works wonders in recharging! You can locate it by following a line straight underneath the ball of your big toe which is the so called Tendon Line (the tendon that pops out when you point your big toe towards your chin). The reflex is located slightly off the tendon line towards the medial side (towards your big toe side of your foot), half way between the ball of your big toe and the highest point of your arch. You can hold this reflex yourself on all those days and times when you can't make it to a professional Reflexologist, as, of course it's always best to treat the body as a whole.
Which strategies will work best for you will depend on you and your personality. Coming out of burn out takes time and certainly a combination of the above.
Please comment below, have you had burn out before? What has helped you most to shift it and recharge again? I'd love to hear from you!