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How I Came Back From Burnout and So Can You



“The real word for stress is fear. Whatever you are stressed about – anything at all – it is usually what you are frightened of”
-Dr. Libby Weaver, Women’s Wellness Wisdom

I am going to share with you a shocking statement; ‘stress isn’t real!’

Our bodies symptoms and effects of stress are incredibly real, but stress only occurs when our body responds to the demands of sensing danger whether it’s real or not.

Our fight or flight is activated from what we perceive to be a stressful event and we can all have a different interpretation of the same event.

We are all living in complex and challenging times, we are working longer hours often at the disposal of others. Technology allows us to be available 24/7, we don’t switch off mentally or emotionally which is becoming detrimental to our health and wellbeing.

Some years back when I was in my early twenties I suffered a major burnout.

I was in a corporate job that I loathed along with a demanding boss, in a high-pressured environment, working really long hours and surrounded by a toxicity of people. On top of all this, my father was terminally ill and I felt stuck in an emotionally abusive relationship with my boyfriend at the time, it’s fair to say I felt completely broken!

One evening I found myself up at the local hospital and the truth was I had no physical pain, I just felt exhausted and worried about my wellbeing. After a grueling 9 hour wait the Dr. examined me only to say “ok Miss, generally you’re pretty healthy, but from what you have explained to me I think you are suffering some exhaustion”.

WOW- I waited 9 hours to be told I was exhausted!! But this was the ultimate game changer for me. When I left the hospital in those wee hours of the morning, I promised myself two things one was that I would NEVER end up in that place again both physically and mentally.

And the other was, once I felt I had overcome and healed this time of my life, that I would share this experience with other women and start a group to support them in their mental health and years ago that was the birth of the Executive Women’s Wellness Society https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13503057/

“With all the fight I had left, I finally had to honour and listen to my bodies whispers”.

I decided to show up for myself and started to create a life that I actually loved.

I notice that I introduced new routines into my life, but I also obeyed and honored the discipline to what was going to be my recovery plan. These are the changes I made to come back from burnout;

  • Morning routine of warm water and lemon, eating well, meditating, exercising and reciting positive affirmations

  • Ate well and hydrated often

  • Allowed myself to sleep and take cat naps where was possible (without feeling guilty)

  • Learnt how to meditate to calm my nervous system

  • Trained 3 days a week at boot camp to introduce discipline to my routine and meet new people

  • Relaxed my schedule and never overcommitted

  • I had conversations with my loved ones on boundaries and overcommitting to family and social events

  • Social Media boundaries, I would switch off my phone at 8pm

  • Early bed time (around 9.30pm)

  • Practiced gratitude

  • Surrounded myself with a network of people I enjoyed to hang with

  • Took regular breaks

  • Spent time in nature, hiking and swimming

  • Changed my mindset around feeling the need to be perfect and people pleasing

  • Enrolled into a wellbeing course that changed my life and allowed me to start my dream business in supporting women in business and wellbeing

I still practice all these disciplines today.

When you embrace in discipline, stillness and the will to honour and respect your body, it starts to let go of things that no longer serve you. It allows you to think with more clarity, self-love and ignite your internal GPS to live your life as you truly deserve.

Are you feeling burnout?

I would love for us to connect, visit me at soniapetersen.com to book your coffee date with me.

For more tips on how to ‘Stress Less & Avoid Burnout’ download my e-book or head to the Executive Women’s Wellness Society Podcast to hear the latest trending topics on Women’s Health & Wellbeing.

Article written by Sonia Petersen, Founder of the Executive Women’s Wellness Society.



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