Burn Out

Burn out is a state of physical and emotional exhaustion caused by a long or intense period of stress and frustration. It’s most often associated with work and develops into an emotional and physical fatigue and many stress-related conditions.
Whilst this is a commonly used definition my clients who are experiencing burn out have many of these aspects in common:

• Business owners or professionals with large responsibilities (both work and family)
• Large capacity for work
• Large capacity to manage stress and pressure
• Short on time and sleep
• Are always on
• No or very little downtime

Over time their strengths can become a weakness as they forget how to get into a state of relaxation and repair. They’ve developed neural pathways that are always ‘on’ and which have forgotten how to turn off. This has become their new ‘normal state’ and they become unaware that it’s not something the body can maintain for long periods.

The natural state for a body is to shift from the Parasympathetic state of relaxation and repair to the Sympathetic state flight or fight (high performance or intense physical activity) and back again.

I work on reminding the body and the person what their natural relaxed state is. Using a combination of therapeutic massage, relaxation and acupressure I turn off muscle tension and facilitate change in the neurological system to shift the clients body and to allow to become aware of it again. Over time this allows them to move between states as needed and more fluidly e.g. High performance to relaxation.

I will also use abdominal massage if I find tension in the area to improve digestion which can also be a factor in burnout as people often hold stress in their chests, diaphragms, shoulders and neck.
Following sessions with me clients tell me they:

• Can return to work
• Have sustained energy levels
• Wake feeling refreshed
• Can sustain concentration and do more work
• Have reduced stress and anxiety at work
• Can resume physical activity and sport