The Story of My Burnout

Feeling burned out? I can relate.

When people met the younger me what they would see on the surface was a confident, capable, and healthy medical professional. I had my shit together, I was disciplined, exercised incessantly, studied hard, and my physiotherapy patients responded well to my treatments. It looked impressive on the outside and earned the accolades of success I was striving for.

But…

I got up early, worked long hours, and partied hard, like any “going places” young person should do, right? I was energised, motivated, ambitious. But when you are running this hard, things fall through the cracks and my marriage was the first to go, in quite a dramatic, trapdoor opening under your feet kind of way. What was also slipping away, more surreptitiously, was my energy, health, and zest for life. The playfulness and easy laughter when business didn’t go perfectly to plan. The spontaneous weekend getaways with friends. The fun and curiosity of meeting new people and exploring all that they are.

Feeling all of that ebbing out of my life. Slowly being replaced with a little more cynicism, a dissatisfaction with life, a little more rigidity, judgement, a constant prioritising of work over play. Feeling the need to be productive all the time and being unable to relax, or descend into the deep rejuvenating sleep of an indulgent feline.

Do you know what else was slipping away bit by unnoticed bit? Ease, appreciation, acceptance, easy digestion, deep sleep, adrenal gland balance, followed by a cascade of other hormonal changes affecting energy, immunity, libido, metabolism, and mood. In reality, my world had become one of insecurity, not-enough-ness, and inadequacy, guarded by smiles and pleasantries, and reinforced by multiple achievements to convince myself that I was ok. I believed that my inherent value was dependent on what I achieved, how I looked, and what I owned. And, from the depths of my dissatisfaction with life I tried to convince myself that sometime in the future, when these parameters attained a certain level of accomplishment. Then I would be ok, I would finally be enough, I would walk with ease and confidence. Only then would I find my peace.

Counting the bodies strewn along the wayside of various career paths I was wondering whether it is possible to step into a big, exciting career without burning out? How did I go from scurrying fervently on the relentless treadmill of the modern rat-race, my body attacking itself with an auto-immune disease, my nerves frazzling towards burnout, to pivoting gratefully towards a fun, harmonious relationship with life?

What changed.

Like an alchemist refining the ingredients for gold, I have figured out the secret recipe. I combined the knowledge I’ve gained about the body and nervous system, from thirty years of practicing as a physiotherapist, with the education I received obtaining a psychology degree, and have developed simple steps to help you discover the energy drains causing your stress and then to rewire your nervous system for ease and resilience.

Your turn.

Allow me to introduce you to the Alchemist within you who flows through life with accomplishment, rich connection, and lasting peace-of-mind.

To try and change your behaviour on the outside is often exhausting; ask anyone who has attempted numerous diet plans, ask anyone who sets the same New Year’s resolution every year and has yet to go the distance with their new habit. How do we rather get to the root of why you need to snack the wrong food in the first place? How do we get to the root of why you feel the need to drive yourself so hard? Why are you so critical of yourself? What makes you so restless? Why can’t you sleep? How come you still snap at your loved ones no matter how sincerely you resolve not to? What is at the bottom of your procrastination? When we solve the problem at the root, the behaviour is no longer needed at the shoot.