Simple Tips for Overcoming Burnout in a Mindful Career (+ Yoga for Burnout)
Are you currently feeling burned out at work and wondering how yoga can help? Whether you’re thinking of transitioning to your dream job or have a mindful career you love, you will enjoy these easy tips and finally feel free from stress in your career.
Stress expert and Yoga Teacher Antonia Cartwright is giving you the lowdown on how to avoid burnout and on how to use yoga for burnout, especially if you are currently in a career transition towards doing something you love. Changing jobs will not solve all of your problems (yoga teacher burnout is real!) but using the right tools to deal will help you beyond measure.
Table of Contents
Are You Burned-Out?
I want to share with you the best information and strategies for avoiding burnout at work and help you make a speedy retreat if you’re already there.
I’ve been there; personally and professionally. I burned out while working as an academic researching stress and trauma! Fortunately, yoga and meditation provided the tools and courage to overhaul my life. I’ll tell you more about that soon because first, I want to give you the lowdown on burnout so that you can immediately deploy precautionary or remedial tactics.
What is Burnout?
Burnout is the result of prolonged physical and/or psychological stress. Not all stress is bad. Stress hormones, such as cortisol and epinephrine, facilitate energy and focus. Sometimes we even seek out stress, as any new yoga teacher can attest. Some of the most popular cortisol-increasing activities include running, rollercoasters, and sex.
What’s the Difference between Burnout and Stress?
Stress, anxiety, and burnout are actually different. When stressed, the sympathetic nervous system activates, also known as fight or flight. This ancient response is great when running from tigers or even nailing a yoga audition. This contrasts with the parasympathetic nervous system in which we rest and digest.
Unfortunately, chronic stress (i.e., ongoing) becomes detrimental. The unusually simple official scientific term for this is wear and tear. As we are continuously worn down, we are at risk for exhaustion, negative attitudes, and overwhelm, otherwise known as burnout.
Warning List and Common Burn Out Signs:
Exhaustion:
Headaches
Chronic fatigue
Gastrointestinal disorders
Muscle tension
Hypertension
Cold or flu episodes
Sleep disturbances
Negative Attitudes:
Job withdrawal
Job dissatisfaction
Low organizational commitment
Irritability
Overwhelm
Lower productivity
Reduced work quality
Coping difficulties
Burning out When you Love your Job:
Burnout can happen even when you work your dream job, are your own boss or work in the wellness industry. As wellness professionals, we excel at supporting the wellbeing of others. We’re also likely to be generous with our time and care in other aspects of our lives. These altruistic tendencies may be our greatest downfall. If we become stressed or burned out, we not only risk our mental and physical health, but we do a disservice to those around us.
Who Gets Burned Out?
Not yoga teachers, apparently.
Well, that’s clearly BS. So if you’re currently tired of teaching yoga or are currently thinking “I hate teaching yoga” or just started your own business and already want to quit, keep reading! Yoga burn out is real.
The scientific community is just starting to catch up with what wellness folk have long-known. Traditionally, burnout studies have mostly been done on medical professionals. Research has focused on clinical settings, and the diagnostic questionnaires have included features relevant to the medical community alone.
Fortunately, research now includes broader health communities, such as medical students and nurses. Other professions with care responsibilities, such as teaching and counseling, are also now on the radar. This expansion brings us to yoga teachers, people who have a career in mindfulness, and any person with responsibilities to anyone. So, basically, everyone is concerned by career burnout!
Burnout has been attributed a few these different causes of stress in the workplace:
A demanding job
Shiftwork
Professional responsibilities
Long working hours
Stationary or incorrect posture
Competitive environments
Burnout in Yoga Teachers and in Mindful Jobs
Yoga teachers and wellness providers are also subject to similar challenges and face similar causes of stress at work. We often work outside of the 9-5, care deeply about the safe experience we offer, and have a great responsibility in helping people access their mental and physical capabilities. We also often manage numerous administrative and marketing tasks.
Avoiding burnout
The preventative measures below correspond directly to the list above.
The psychological term locus of control refers to how much control we believe we have over our environment; it’s often more than we think. Look for small changes that could bring ease to some of your job demands.
If you miss meals or social time, reschedule and rearrange rather than missing out.
Identify which responsibilities are yours, and which remain with your clients or employer. Consider utilizing a disclaimer.
Long hours must be balanced with adequate rest and self-care.
Practice good posture, and avoid using only one side of your body for repetitive or strenuous tasks.
In addition to avoiding toxic workplaces or people, be mindful of unnecessary comparisons, especially from social media.
I’m Burning Out, Should I Change Career?
Maybe. I did. Are you thinking about leaving a corporate, office, or service-based job for a role in the wellness industry? Knowing what burnout at work is, as well as the risks of work-related stress and preventative measures can help you better assess your situation. No-one can answer this for you. Believe me: I Googled the hell out of “Should I quit my Ph.D.?”
Antonia’s Story: How I found an aligned career through exploration
I’m quite good at career changes. Or, at the very least, I’ve had a few! But choosing a wellness career is a special decision. When I made this transition I struggled to find examples, so let me share my story with you.
I started with a stable career as a Police Officer in London, but after less than three years, I left to teach at a college. The responsibility for the education and welfare of 16-21-year-olds felt huge, but I loved the work, and my employer supported my further education. I left when my hubby got offered a job across the pond in the US. We headed stateside. Uncertain about my right to work, I decided to pursue a Psychology Ph.D.
There, I worked 60-70 hours a week researching stress and trauma in children and adults. I told myself I could tolerate the workload and other distressing factors, as long as grad school did not come between me and my family.
Three years into the dysfunctional five-year program (which was taking most students eight years), I was in the dog house for arranging an unauthorized trip to see family and present at a conference in England. My supervisor failed to disclose that she had approved the trip, and my standing in the program became questionable.
A few months later, I was told to fix my priorities when I disclosed supporting a loved one with mental health issues. Grad school versus family round two: I was done and decided to change my career.
In hindsight, the decision to leave a toxic environment seems straightforward. However, it was yoga and meditation that gave me the clarity and confidence to jump ship.
My Career Change Tools: Yoga, Meditation, Distance, and Rules
Here are my favorite tools that supported me during my career changes and helped me in managing work-related stress:
A small but consistent home yoga practice allowed stagnant thoughts and energy to flow better.
Just 10 minutes of meditation per day, created enough space in my mind for my deepest feelings and insights to emerge.
I got away for a few days. Time with loved ones and distance from my dilemma provided a fresh perspective.
Having rules about what I would tolerate made transgressions clear.
The Path to a Wellness Career
The respite and rejuvenation I found in yoga led me to yoga teacher training, and a deeper understanding of the damage I endured. I now combine my personal and professional experience of stress and trauma, with wellness strategies, to share the advice and resources I wish I’d had. I transitioned into a self-made wellness career, building my own business. This houses my free stress relief resources, teaching, and public speaking work, on the science and psychology of yoga and meditation for burnout relief.
Career Transition Questions: How to Decide
I recommend journaling or taking reflective walks to work on these questions. You can draw on your own experience, and maybe other people, to add more and understand better your own causes of burnout:
Problem-Focused Questions:
Is there anything I can do to improve the situation?
Can I delegate, automate, postpone, or change other work or personal demands?
How could I manage family, financial, or other responsibilities if I make a big change?
Emotion-Focused Questions:
If I can’t change the situation, can I change my coping strategies?
Do I feel drawn to something else?
What are my values or rules, and does this career break them?
Feeling Burned out Even if you are Living from Your Passion
Passion for your work can lead to poor work-life balance. Remember, too much time in fight or flight mode, rather than rest and digest, is detrimental, even if it’s for a good reason. Set clear boundaries on your time, space, and interactions with others. When we are busy or stressed, we often neglect to do the very things that restore calm. Be kind to yourself and follow the advice you would give others.
Yoga for Burnout: Why Yoga Helps
Yoga can protect against, or even deal with burnout, but only if approached correctly. By understanding this caveat, you can better help yourself or students.
What Type of Yoga for Burnout?
If the physical or mental challenge is too great, you will further activate your stress response system. Fortunately, working with the breath in manageable poses taps into the parasympathetic nervous system, helping you find calm and healing.
How Much Yoga and When
Yoga is scientifically recognized as an effective way to counter job-related stress. But, a deeper dive into the literature illuminates an understated point. While yoga practiced over weeks or months has numerous benefits, a quick fix of 20 minutes once in a blue moon (or before a stressful event) does not help.
Benefits of a Continued Yoga Practice:
Reduced stress
Improved physiology: musculoskeletal, hormone system, and metabolism
Relaxation
Enhanced empathy
Self-awareness
Cognitive flexibility: increased attention, acceptance, and control over emotional reactions
A Yoga Practice to be Burnout Free
Which Poses Are Best to Beat Burnout?
Each yoga pose has unique benefits, which will vary between people. Some studies into yoga for burnout list the poses included, but it’s hard to know which ones have the biggest impact. Instead, focus on these simple guidelines:
Recommendations for Stress-Busting Yoga:
Take poses that you enjoy and induce feelings of relaxation or a comfortable challenge. Don’t play beyond your edge!
A well-planned sequence that gradually increases then decreases movement and effort, can raise your energy before inducing relaxation.
When choosing a yoga style, consider trying a few to see what you like. If you prefer a faster pace you may like Vinyasa or work with a Vinyasa yoga teacher. Slower styles include Hatha and Yin
Restorative poses can be added to the end of any practice. Allowing the body to rest while supported by props (e.g., blocks, straps, blankets, or bolsters) can allow relaxation in otherwise inaccessible ways.
Take simple forward bends and hip openers to calm the nervous system and release tension.
Moves like cat-cow can help release tension stored in the upper back or shoulders.
Heart openers, such as supported fish, can help for chest tightness, or feeling more open mentally and physically.
Check out my free guide to Yoga for Stress Relief for more ideas.
Other Aspects of Yoga
Yoga offers a holistic approach to wellness. While the asanas (physical poses) and pranayama (breath-work) can reduce stress by tapping into the parasympathetic nervous system and allowing us to clear our mind while we focus on movement, there are other aspects of a yogic lifestyle worth considering.
These include meditation, mindfulness, nutrition, and interacting with ourselves and others with compassion. If you are a yoga teacher or have an aligned career, this offers the opportunity to practice what we preach. In exploring ways to prevent or overcome yoga teacher burnout, we are well-positioned to help others do the same.
About the author, Antonia Cartwright (Yoga Teacher, MA, MSc, M.Ed)
Antonia focuses on making psychology and science, accessible, helpful, and fun to the yoga community, and anyone else who jams with her quirky British humor. As a former college lecturer with a background in trauma and stress research, Antonia has published in academic journals and presented internationally at conferences. She loves helping others through teaching and mentoring. As a yoga teacher, Antonia leans towards yoga for stress relief and rock climbers, having taught at numerous rock climbing gyms. Antonia offers free yoga and stress relief resources on her website.
References
Babbar, S., Renner, K., & Williams, K. (2019). Addressing obstetrics and gynecology trainee burnout using a yoga-based wellness initiative during dedicated education time. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 133(5), 994-1001.
Cocchiara, R. A., Peruzzo, M., Mannocci, A., Ottolenghi, L., Villari, P., Polimeni, A., ... & La Torre, G. (2019). The use of yoga to manage stress and burnout in healthcare workers: A systematic review. Journal of clinical medicine, 8(3), 284-295.
Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Understanding the burnout experience: recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World psychiatry, 15(2), 103-111.
Wheeler, E. A., Santoro, A. N., & Bembenek, A. F. (2019). Separating the “Limbs” of Yoga: Limited Effects on Stress and Mood. Journal of religion and health, 58(6), 2277-2287.