Listening to Your Body’s Wisdom.
It's a sad reflection of modern life that most of us have been close enough to burnout to recognise the symptoms, many even crossing the line into burnout itself. Feeling trapped in an endless cycle of exhaustion, irritability, and apathy that no amount of sleep, yoga, or bubble baths seems to fix. Burnout is like that uninvited guest who overstays their welcome, draining your energy and passion for life. You try to push through, but your body whispers (or maybe it’s screaming by now): Enough is enough.
Here’s the thing: Burnout isn’t just in your head. It’s in your body. And your body always knows, even when your mind refuses to listen. You can rationalize, justify, or try to outsmart it, but eventually, your body will send you a clear, undeniable message: It’s time to stop.
In this blog, we’ll explore burnout from a body-mind perspective, drawing on insights from Dr. Lotte Dyrbye’s research on burnout in professionals and Dr. Gabor Maté’s groundbreaking work When the Body Says No. You’ll discover how your body is constantly communicating its needs—and how, by tuning in, you can reclaim your vitality, restore balance, and rediscover your passion for life.
Burnout: More Than Just Exhaustion
Burnout has become a bit of a buzzword in recent years. We tend to think of it as a state of extreme mental and emotional exhaustion brought on by chronic stress, but it’s more than that. According to Dr. Lotte Dyrbye, a professor of medicine who specialises in burnout among professionals, burnout doesn’t just manifest as mental fatigue or a sense of feeling “done” with everything. It also shows up in your physical body in ways you might not realise.
In a recent article in The New York Times titled Your Body Knows It’s Burned Out, Dr. Dyrbye explains that burnout triggers a physiological response, often mimicking symptoms of chronic illness. From headaches, muscle tension, and digestive issues to full-blown immune system dysfunction, your body is sending you distress signals long before your mind fully grasps the severity of the situation.
These symptoms are your body’s way of saying, I can’t do this anymore.
Yet, most of us are conditioned to ignore these signals. We push through the pain, dismiss the headaches, and blame the sleepless nights on a ‘bad week.’ But, as Dr. Gabor Maté highlights in his book When the Body Says No, ignoring these messages comes at a high cost.
When the Body Says No
Dr. Gabor Maté is a leading expert on the connection between emotional stress and physical illness. In When the Body Says No, he illustrates how chronic stress—particularly when unacknowledged or repressed—can lead to serious health problems. Diseases like autoimmune disorders, cancer, and heart disease are not just accidents of biology but are often linked to long-standing emotional stress that’s been ignored or suppressed.
Maté points out that the body doesn’t just suddenly “break down”; it’s been sending subtle signals for months or even years. The problem is, many of us have become so disconnected from our bodies that we fail to hear the whispers until they turn into full-blown screams.
Sound familiar? Maybe you’ve noticed that when you’re stressed, you tend to get sick more often, or your back pain flares up, or your digestion goes haywire. These aren’t just coincidental occurrences. They are your body’s way of expressing what your mind might not be able to: something is deeply out of balance.
The Body-Mind Disconnect: How We Got Here
Why is it so hard for us to listen to our bodies? The answer lies, in part, in our culture’s glorification of productivity and “doing it all.” We’ve been taught to prioritize intellectual achievements and emotional toughness over physical and emotional self-care. From a young age, we’re conditioned to push through discomfort and ignore pain in the name of success, responsibility, or keeping the peace.
As a result, we become experts at overriding our body’s messages. Instead of resting when we’re tired, we reach for caffeine. When we’re anxious or overwhelmed, we numb out with Netflix or doomscrolling. When we experience physical pain, we pop a pill rather than explore the deeper emotional or physiological root. Over time, this disconnect between body and mind widens, leading to chronic burnout and even illness.
Tuning In: The First Step to Reclaiming Your Vitality
The good news is that your body’s wisdom is always available to you—it’s just waiting for you to listen. Here are a few powerful ways to begin reconnecting with your body and heeding its calls for help:
1. Start by Noticing
The first step in healing from burnout is to simply notice. Notice how your body feels throughout the day, particularly during stressful situations. Are your shoulders tight? Is your stomach in knots? Are you clenching your jaw? These are all subtle signals that your body is in a state of stress, and over time, they can accumulate into something much larger.
2. Breathe
One of the most direct and effective ways to reconnect with your body is through your breath. When we’re stressed or overwhelmed, our breathing becomes shallow and fast, which activates the body’s fight-or-flight response. Deep, mindful breathing, on the other hand, signals to your nervous system that it’s safe to relax. Try this: Take a few slow, deep breaths right now. Feel how your body responds.
3. Embodied Awareness
Practices like body scanning or somatic mindfulness can help you develop greater awareness of the physical sensations in your body. Try doing a body scan at the beginning or end of each day: Start at the top of your head and slowly work your way down, noticing any areas of tension, discomfort, or ease. This simple practice can helps build bodily awareness and helps you build the habit of tuning into your body’s needs and increase your chances of catching burnout before it spirals out of control.
4. Honour Your Body’s Need for Rest
In a world that praises productivity and busyness, rest can feel like a radical act. But rest is not just a luxury—it’s a necessity. When your body is signalling burnout, the most loving thing you can do is listen and give yourself permission to rest. This could mean taking a nap, going to bed earlier, or scheduling a day off from work or responsibilities. You don’t need to “earn” rest; your body requires it to function.
5. Reframe ‘Self-Care’
Self-care has become a buzzword, but it’s often misunderstood as pampering or indulgence. True self-care is about creating a consistent practice of honouring your body’s needs—whether that’s through movement, nutritious food, sleep, or relaxation. It’s about learning to tune into your body and to value yourself enough to give your body what it needs, rather than constantly overriding its needs or pushing it to its limits.
A New Approach: Healing Burnout From the Inside Out
Burnout isn’t something you can solve by powering through or finding the latest productivity hack. It requires a deep shift in how you relate to your body and mind. The more we tune into our body’s messages—whether they’re whispers or screams—the more we can prevent burnout from taking hold.
By reconnecting with your body and responding to its needs, you not only heal from burnout but also tap into a wellspring of vitality, creativity, and passion that may have felt distant for far too long. Your body holds the key to reclaiming your energy and passion for life—it’s time to start listening.
Ready to Reclaim Your Life?
Burnout doesn’t have to be your new normal. If you’re feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and out of balance, I invite you to explore how reconnecting with your body and emotions can transform the way you experience life.
Through one-on-one sessions, I’ll guide you in using body-mind approaches like Compassionate Inquiry and somatic mindfulness to help you listen to your body’s wisdom and heal from burnout at its roots.
Your body knows the way back to vitality and passion—it’s time to listen. Book a session with me today, and let’s begin the journey toward reclaiming your life.
Ready to break free from burnout? Book a session with me today to explore body-mind healing techniques like somatic mindfulness, Compassionate Inquiry, and more. Let’s work together to bring balance and vitality back into your life.
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