My path to burnout…and beyond

This the story of a recovering people-pleaser and perfectionist.

I used to think I had to have everything figured out and know all the answers. I thought the harder I worked, the better life would be. I now know there are other ways to do things and am in the process of unlearning and recalibrating to a new pace of life.

This is the story of my winding path. The journey of life isn’t linear. Can you relate?

Starting out, I earned a BFA degree in Ceramics and Art Education. Creating art and working with my hands and heart brought me so much joy. After graduation, I got a job working at a small pottery studio. My college sweetheart and I got married, bought a house, and had our first baby.

Around that time, I found a more predictable and steady-paying job as a financial educator in the credit union industry. I spent time sharing practical tools with students in grades K-12 for over a decade.

We had our second child and I and spent time growing as a wife and mother. When our kids were very young, I balanced part-time work at the credit union with time at home. I facilitated countless art projects, activities, and park excursions to teach our children about life and love. Our son is on the autism spectrum, so we also attended specialized play groups, therapy sessions, and adaptive movement and social activities to encourage his development.

As young mother, I dedicated all of my energy to my kids first, and almost always left my own self care for last. As the kids transitioned to elementary school, I began to focus more on my work outside the home, feeling a sense of pride as I helped financially support the family more than in previous years. I continued to push myself in my work and home life, trying to be the best employee, mother, and wife I could be.

All of the pushing started to take a toll. I struggled with various health issues, stress, overwhelm, and eventually burnout.

Overwhelmed, trying to be perfect, thinking I had to do it all.

The interesting thing about burnout is the amount of change required to really break the habit. While I wish a nice vacation could “cure” burnout, that was definitely not the case for me. It can take a whole rewiring of your system to learn new, nourishing ways to live life.

In 2017, I started practicing yoga regularly. After each practice, I felt so much better: relaxed and alert, steady and energized, calm and strong. Before yoga, I didn’t realize I could feel all of those things at once.

I knew that yoga was helping me take care of myself and heal. Yet, I felt guilty for taking time away from my family. I was still in burnout mode and felt the need to do more at home and work to “make up” for the time I gave myself to practice yoga.

Little by little, my family and I all came to realize things were better when “Mommy went to yoga,” and the guilt slowly faded. This is important to point out, because it can be easy to gloss over the feeling of guilt for taking care of yourself. The old “put your own oxygen mask on first” idea is often called upon for good reason. Let go of the guilt, take care of your needs first, and notice how it helps you show up for others; this is something I often need to remind myself.

The more I practiced yoga, the more I wanted to learn. How does it help transform my tension to relaxation? How can it also get me out of a low energy funk to a more motivated state? What else can I do to help heal?

I signed up for yoga study with no intention to teach. I just wanted to learn more about the poses, the science, the history, the spiritual connection, etc. Through the experience, I learned just as much about myself as I did about yoga. I couldn’t help but share the tools with others, so I started teaching yoga in 2019.

I continued to take trainings on yoga, anatomy, energy work, and more. This lead me to my first experience with reiki in February 2020, when I was attuned to Reiki I energy during a training at the yoga studio. The rest of that year was a challenging one, to say the least, and while I continued to practice yoga, I forgot about reiki for a while.

After a year of life in a pandemic, reiki made its way back into my life. I attended Reiki I & 2 training with a new teacher and had such a profound experience that I felt encouraged to start a regular self-reiki practice. I began to notice synchronicities in my life and was drawn to new places, people and experiences.

In 2022, I received my Reiki Master level training and attunement. People often ask what an attunement is like and what shifts with each level. I like to think of the energy like the flow of water through a garden hose. When the hose is kinked, very little water comes through. As you unkink the hose, the flow increases. Each attunement unkinks the energy flow a little more, until it flows freely and easily.

Each reiki attunement brought new levels of healing, some of which I didn’t even know I needed until I came out the other side. At first, my logical brain wasn’t sure all the little changes were because of reiki, but as I continued down the path, I became certain that the energy has helped clear the way for my life to be better than I could have previously imagined.

Reiki has guided me to help myself and my family navigate life challenges such as health issues, food sensitivities, grief, physical pain, trauma, addiction, and more. As our kids move through their teenage years, I am grateful to have built a toolkit that allows us to overcome trying times with compassion and grace.

The journey continues; I am still unraveling layers of conditioning and rewiring my tendencies to overwork to the point of burnout. My own healing journey brought me to the point where I felt the deep urge to share the gift of reiki with others. In 2022, I left my job at the credit union to start my own business as a reiki practitioner. The shift has been challenging, healing, and fulfilling.

Taking time in nature to recharge. Learning how to recalibrate to a life in balance.

All of these experiences and more add up to a special blend of healing I bring to my sessions. My life experience, teaching background, yoga practice, and deep energy healing work inform what I bring to the table for others.

Since home life has been an integral part of my journey, I named my business Hearth. Think of the warmth, comfort, safety and love that is shared around a fireplace in the center of a home; that is the feeling I hope to help you create in your own body, mind, and spirit.

The more I embrace the real things that are right for me, the more joy I find in my daily life. Instead of worrying about what my path looks like to others, I follow what is true to me and best for my family. I may not have all of the answers, but there is a joy and peace in being present for the unfolding of each day.

We’re all on this winding life journey together; we can try to do things on our own, or reach out to others for connection and guidance on the path. Allow me to help you on yours. ♥