6 Myths About Burnout... let’s go!

Myth 1:

Burnout is a sign of weakness

Not true. Burnout is a physiological response to excessive, prolonged or extreme stress. It is what the body does when it has carried too much stress for too long. It’s got nothing to do with being strong or weak.

Myth 2:

Rest is the best thing to recover from burnout

Yes - rest... but know rest itself will not automatically heal burnout or stop it happening again. Because burnout often develops due to a lot of unconscious patterns that disconnect us from our body, our boundaries, our healthy expression and our needs. We need to work with our nervous systems and bodies to resolve these— rest alone wont cut it.

Myth 3:

Burnout is caused only by external factors

Not true. As mentioned above there are many internal factors (patterns of reaction, nervous system responses and emotions) that play a role in how we burn ourselves out. Let’s take some agency for that. At the same time as acknowledging that there are also external factors at play (systemic oppression, toxic work cultures etc).

Myth 4:

Burnout means you can’t cope with stress

Bollocks. If anything, burnout is a sign of how long you have been coping with stress…not that you can’t cope with it! Maybe we could give some due credit there?

Myth 5:

Burnout only happens in relation to work stress

Burnout can happen in many different circumstances, we can burn ourselves out parenting, running a business, and simply trying to live a life.

Myth 6:

Burnout is all in your head and a symptom of a victim/negative -mindset

Again: burnout is a PHYSIOLOGICAL response to prolonged and extreme stress. It’s in our nervous systems and our bodies - it is not simply a matter of ‘negative thinking’ or mindset stuff.

Burnout is something we get to address at a deeper root level so that we can transform old patterns and past imprinting and move forward in new and evolving ways in our lives.

BUT HOW CAN I DO THAT? I FEEL LIKE I'M STUCK IN THE PAST

There’s a really important distinction here that I want you to consider.

When we believe that we are ‘stuck in our past’ it causes us to objectify ourselves and feed a sense of helplessness.

If I believe I am stuck in my past it makes my past 𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, and that I am stuck in this *thing!*

And because I cannot change this ‘thing’ of my past, then it can make moving forward feel so much harder, if not impossible.

The truth is that we do not get stuck in our past as a *thing*.

The past affects us as patterns of reaction and emotion.

The reason our past continues to affect us is a matter of process… not of ‘thing’.

It is the internal processes and ways of relating (to ourselves and others) that we had to adapt to survive our past.

All of which are rooted in a disconnection from ourselves and what is most true and authentic. Disconnection from our hearts. Our bodies. Our emotions. Our needs. Our intuitive intelligence. Our trust. Our desires. Our wholeness.

These are the processes that we carry forward 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 when they have long outlived their usefulness.

And it is these processes - these things that we do internally -

That need to be gently and lovingly changed into patterns of reconnection and regulation.

This is how we move forward and embrace presence, unity and harmony.

Healing always and only happens in the present.

So please remember:

You are not stuck in your past.

It is those patterns you adopted in response to your past - not your past itself - that are keeping you stuck.

And you get to change these...and in doing so, move forward from burnout, depletion and moving through your life feeling under-resourced and unfulfilled.