Beating burn out - time to take stock

I don’t know about you, but lately I have been feeling that a change is afoot, both in my immediate life and in the wider sphere. As a midlife woman in the throes of peri menopause, I feel its a space in which I need to constantly readdress where I place my energy, as it is pretty finite these days!

As I reach the stage where my children don’t rely on me quite so much (though believe me, they still do at times, and that is OK!), I am beginning to feel into the extra freedom that it offers me. Yet recently, I have begun to feel fairly overwhelmed - particularly in this business of wellness.

There is a delicate balance to be reached when holding space for others and also attending to your own needs, which as a caregiver in so many ways, I still often overlook.

We were lucky enough to move into our new holiday home in Italy recently, which came with a mixture of excitement and fear in equal measure. On our return from a hectic but satisfying trip I was unwell with a virus, and all sorts of other stressful events seemed to be occurring too.

I had some very good friends round for lunch at the weekend, you know, the ones that are able to tell you truthfully what they think, and after lengthy chat with them and my dear, suffering rock of a husband (he hears is all in double stereo!) I finally made the decision that something has to give, because currently I haven’t the energy or time for myself, for my learning and growth and to be!. This isn’t even just in the yoga sense - I have Italian lessons to learn and so many more things I want to be able to see and explore in this life.

This will result in less of a teaching schedule, and over the next couple of weeks I shall be making some announcements about what is staying and what is going.

I recently offered a friend some advice, to write a list of what did and didn’t work for her - taking that advice myself has allowed me to make some choices, which although, not easy, are for the best for me.

Why am I writing this here? I guess it gives a certain level of accountability. I don’t feel the need to constantly have to put myself out there, and sell my wares as a provider, which I feel is the downside of teaching. For anyone else feeling that they cannot get off the hamster wheel, ask yourself - is it lifting you up, or is it dragging you down?

My day job as a scientist will always be my constant - I love it, and yoga teaching, for me is only ever going to be a small addition - time to keep it in check. I want to be able to thrive, rather than survive, so perhaps I will go into a bit of hiding for a while, regroup and regain some energy and focus on my own needs more - non negotiable!

What I do offer will also be changing too, as I slowly morph and learn. Currently finishing off my sound therapy level 1 training, so watch this space - in due time!