How can you use mindfulness to avoid burnout?

Sometimes we struggle to know where to begin. It can be helpful to build our awareness on how our individual mind/body responds to stress or feeling overwhelmed. Consider taking a week and practice noticing how your body is feeling ; do you feel like your internal battery is charged? What might be contributing to charging our draining your battery? Note these body signals so that you can feel empowered to make decisions that serve you.

Yes, mindfulness is a powerful form of self-care and no, it is not the solution to burnout and moral distress which are driven by systemic drivers.

The antidote to burnout is discovering purpose and deriving meaning from work within a psychologically safe space. While we may not always have the power to directly influence culture and psychological safety, we can challenge ourselves to delve deeper and uncover our unique purpose. Practicing mindfulness and being fully present can help us identify our guiding principles, core values, and purpose, connecting them to our career and life paths. By establishing this connection, we can find meaning that transcends us, and I firmly believe that when we're truly connected to that meaning, we can significantly reduce the risk of burnout.

Set priorities, yes, and the first on the list: self love. Burnt out in the business entrepreneurship world happens often when we fear we are not fast enough, when we think we are not good enough and when we are plagued by anxieties to prove our worth. I am not immune to stress but I am making decisions along the way to judge less, accept myself more.

As a mindfulness teacher and coach, I observe that giving scientific facts behind breathing to new beginners in mindfulness works very well. Especially in workplace. For some people, mindfulness is a wishy-washy thing, just because it became a buzzword. But breathing on the other hand is a different and calming practice according to the ones I talked to. So if there is a person suffering from burnout in my workshops or classes, I always read the air first and then introduce different practices of mindfulness.

I find breathing exercises to be my favorite mindfulness exercises. They are extremely calming and have an almost immediate soothing effect. Many times, before I began my mindfulness practice, I would find myself actually holding my breath when I was stressed. This was something that I was completely unaware that I was doing until I started focusing on breathwork. Mindful breathing combined with a body scan exercise really helps me to fall asleep more quickly and sleep more soundly.

I cannot overstate the importance of gratitude and a positive mindset. Positivity attracts positivity. I do not support toxic positivity, and that is why gratitude is so important. When we express gratitude for what we have, and for the people around us, it’s like a boomerang. It always comes back to us.

Numerous studies suggest that gratitude, cherishing what we have, can rewire our brains to create new neural pathways that foster a more positive outlook. This is known as neuroplasticity. Optimism isn't just a survival skill; it's a thriving mechanism. We can cultivate hope by fostering a positive perspective, which propels us forward and encourages trust. This optimism enables us to explore wider opportunities and possibilities, helping us unlock our full potential and become the best versions of ourselves.

Find our tribe, it is so important we associate ourselves with people who share the same values. I am glad I have the support of unconditional love from my close circle of trusted people.

Remember to start small. Many of us may not be able to tolerate 10 minutes to start, so be kind to yourself, and work into it. Creating a daily habit even if only 1-2 minutes is still a win! Guide to start to the habit: 1. Identify a time of time where you will not be disrupted (example: first thing in the AM). 2. Setup a place or spot as your meditation corner. Make sure it takes little to no effort to get there (example: the foot of your bed). 3. Experiment with different exercises until you land on one you can stay consistent with (example: use the Calm app, Headspace, or Insight Timer).

Most people associate Mindfulness with meditation, which is helpful in calming our limbic system, but it is only the first step. Once the mind is calm and clear, we can inquire into the causes and conditions for our burnout. For instance, I love teaching and research in mindfulness but have found myself burnt out when I don't take time to nurture other aspects of my life. The insight into our causes for stress need to be followed by action. We need to disrupt our default behaviors causing burnout and replace with intentional choices that promote well-being. To summarize the three steps in dealing with burnout are meditation, contemplation on the causes and conditions, and skillful actions that promote well-being.

The signs of burnout tell us something important. Often we're overly-focused on tasks and obligations without paying attention to the impact. Burnout is telling us that our minds, emotions and physical wellbeing are important too. Burnout asks us to consider how we reached this point. External demands are often real and challenging, but if they're too much to manage, we need to recognise that. Sometimes we have more choices than we realise. If you notice yourself thinking 'I have to do this myself, it can't wait and no one else can do it,' that's the stress talking. Burnout tells us to find a greater balanced and mindfulness can help us regain perspective, stop rushing, get way from unhelpful thinking, and contact our deeper motivations.