So you are burnout? Let’s talk about it.
Burnout is an emotional state of prolonged stress that leads to mental, physical and emotional exhaustion. Burnout: being in a survival state for too long. Survival state is being stuck in fight, flight, freeze or fawn. Below I will identify what burnout can look life in our daily life.
So in practice what does burnout look like?
Relational issues. Small/compounded self betrayals. Saying yes when you mean no. Putting others' needs before yours. Hyper individualism. Lack of reciprocity/relationship imbalance. Lack of alignment.
What can lead to burnout:
Poor boundaries
Work (more below in capacity management)
Relationships (family, friends, romantic)
People pleasing
People pleasing (fawn)
Putting others needs before yours (fawn)
Saying yes when you really want to say no (fawn)
Poor capacity management (attuning to your nervous system). What is my capacity?
Over committing (survival response: fight)
Overworking (survival response: fight)
Under nourishing (poor choices around food, not getting adequate rest, not prioritizing community) (freeze)
Hyperindependence (trauma response) “I got me, I don’t need anybody else”
Not trusting people (flight)
Learned survival response from family of origin
Lack of alignment - “Does this feel aligned”
Chasing quantity instead of quality
Does this align with my values?
Depleting or fulfilling?
How can somatic therapy help with recovery from burnout out?
Well you don’t recover from burnout. Stick with me here.… it’s an invitation to readjust, revaluate, and reconsider. Burnout happens when we have systems in place that are sucking the life force out of us. So essentially you need to rebuild towards sustainability, rest, and slowness. Burnout is an invasion to slowly redesign your life and the personal systems that keep you afloat. Somatic therapy can help with that. Here are a few some somatic prompts that can help you towards renovating systems that enhance your life.
Somatic inquiry prompts:
Slowdown and notice tension in your body. What is that tension trying to communicate?
Where in my body do I feel ease, flow, and expansion?
When I begin any task (commitment, responsibility, assignment, etc) how does my body respond to beginning this task?
What task (commitment, responsibility, assignment, etc) makes me feel alive, grounded, and secure?
How do I know in my body that I am exhausted, overwhelmed, and disconnected from myself and others?
How do I know in my body that I am available for connection, curious, safe, energized, etc?