Recovering From Burnout: A Somatic Approach To Healing And Flourishing Again

Jan 27

Burnout: A Gentle Slope Towards Exhaustion

Burnout doesn’t come crashing down on us all at once. It’s more like a tap dripping - slow, steady, almost imperceptible - until one day, the tank is empty. It’s a gradual wearing away of our energy, our capacity, and our vitality. And because the slope is so gentle, we may not even realise how far we have gone until we are completely depleted.

For women, who often juggle caregiving, demanding careers, and conflicting responsibilities, burnout can feel like an inevitability - almost a byproduct of constantly holding multiple strands.

Burnout can often be accompanied by a sense of shame or a feeling of inadequacy, but far from being a sign of weakness, it’s our body’s intelligence at play saying “It’s time to stop, I can’t keep going like this”.

Wisely, our body pulls the emergency brake on our behalf to stop further depletion.

Burnout is our body’s way of protecting us, asking us to pause, rest, and recalibrate.

Having personally experienced a serious burnout over 10 years ago, I know first hand that it can leave us feeling deeply lost, fractured, and unsure about how to move forward.

But often, our hardest moments open doors we couldn’t have previously imagined. Without this experience of being ‘cracked open’ I wouldn’t have reoriented my life, my work and the impact that I’m choosing to have.

It has become my life’s devotion to guide women to live rested, rooted, and radiant lives. Because I know personally how profound and transformative this journey is.

From where I am today looking back, I can see that burnout holds deep wisdom, and is often a doorway into more sustainable and regenerative ways of being. An invitation to slow down, to tend to what has been depleted, and to meet the inner driver within us who pushes us beyond our capacity to keep us safe and in connection.

The Wisdom of Burnout: A Call For Nourishment and Sovereignty

Burnout doesn’t happen because we’re not strong enough. In fact it often happens because we have been too strong, for too long, in ways that weren’t sustainable. It’s likely that we have been fuelled by a type of strength that is born out of survival, rather than true resilience rooted in nourishment.

Burnout is a signal that we have reached our limits - but despite our low capacity, our natural tendency is often to jump into ‘fixing mode’.

Problem solving is a skill most of us are very familiar with in our efficiency-driven world, where even self-development can feel like an endless pursuit towards fixing ourselves.

But as we slip down into burnout, we need to let go of our habitual striving and fixing and radically focus on nourishment and rest.

If you were caring for someone you love who is utterly depleted, you wouldn’t ask them to push forward or to take actions that are beyond their capacity. You might offer them a hot drink, a warm blanket, a quiet space, and a gentle permission to rest and just be.

This is the invitation burnout offers: to stop, to rest, and to meet ourselves where we are with gentleness (even if it feels so unfamiliar and challenging to do).

Stabilising Our Nervous System: Rebuilding Our Inner Foundation

The experience of burnout is deeply embedded in our bodies.

It’s the result of a nervous system that has been overextended for too long and may be holding onto unprocessed stress or emotions. Even when we step away from the external pressures, our bodies still carry the imprint of those experiences.

One of the first steps toward recovery isn’t to do more or expect ourselves to take action towards change. It is to restore our inner foundation.

This looks like:

Giving our body the rest it deeply craves, not simply at physical level but also emotionally, mentally, energetically and often spiritually. One of the most powerful tools I have found to experience deep rest and replenishment is Yoga Nidra. A gentle rest practice that guides the body into a state of profound relaxation, which helps the nervous system settle and creates space for repair, nourishment and regeneration.
Stabilising our nervous system: giving our body the safety and stability it needs to begin ‘digesting’ the accumulated tension and come back to our ‘homebase’. It’s a slow, gentle process of cultivating inner stability before inviting more aliveness and vitality to come back online little by little.

Tending to the Part of Us That Is Exhausted

When we experience burnout, there is a part of us who has given too much, for too long. She has carried the load, held it all together, and kept going even when there was nothing left to give.

And now, she is exhausted.

This tender part of us doesn’t need us to fix her. She needs to feel held and cared for.

In nature-inspired somatics, we see ourselves as a micro version of the nature we live in (we are nature). With this lens, we can think of what happens when the earth is stripped of its nutrients: trees wither and their roots become unable to draw the nourishment they need from the soil to bloom.

Similarly, when we burn out, our inner landscape becomes barren, our vitality is drained, and our capacity is diminished. Flourishing is impossible.

A parched soil cannot sustain life - and a body deprived of inner nourishment cannot thrive.

Recovery is about replenishing the soil, restoring the nutrients that have been lost, and creating the conditions for deep, sustainable flourishing.

It means listening to the part of us who is exhausted, understanding and tending to her needs. It may simply start with rest, compassion and the acknowledgement that she is being held, seen and heard.

Unwinding the Inner Fighter: Soothing the Part That Keeps Pushing

For so many of us, burnout is driven by an inner driver or fighter - a part of us that pushes and strives, even if it comes at great cost.

This part of us is rooted in deep care. She believes that if she works harder, achieves more, and keeps going, she will protect us from judgment, potential failure or the risk of losing connection, love and belonging.

But in doing so, she might drive us to the very edge of our capacity, paradoxically putting us at greater risk of what she is wanting to protect us from.

As we get to know her, with time and patience, this part of us might begin to soften.

As we soothe and appease her, she can start trusting that we are creating a new way forward - one that is more sustainable and nourishing.

Experiencing Renewed Sovereignty

Burnout recovery doesn’t have to mean returning to where we were, but stepping into new, regenerative and sustainable ways of being that lay the foundation for flourishing.

As we meet the organic intelligence of our body, nourish the part of us who is depleted and soothe our inner driver, we pave the way for new, expansive ways of being - and a renewed sense of sovereignty might begin to emerge.

Sovereignty means leading ourselves from a place of inner coherence, discernment, and alignment with what matters most to us - and making choices that reflect our needs, values and our capacity, rather than external expectations, pressures, and impossible standards.

We orient towards a life that honours who we are and what we need - which paves the way for a greater sense of flourishing.

Our body is regenerative - and flourishing beyond burnout is possible, with care and devotion.

If you feel that you are slipping towards burnout, or if you are feeling depleted and burnt out, please reach out here, or book a time for us to speak directly in my diary, and let’s explore together what a path back to nourishment and flourishing might look like for you.