Sahara Rose · 390: 6 Steps to Alleviate Burnout with Sahara Rose

TRANSCRIPTION

Episode 390: 6 Steps to Alleviate Burnout
By Sahara Rose

[00:12] Sahara
Namaste, my name is Sahara Rose and welcome back to The Highest Self Podcast, a place where we discuss what makes You, Your Soul’s Highest Evolvement.

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[02:02] Sahara
I’m really excited to come back to you again today with another Episode all about overwhelm, burnout, feeling fatigued, because the past two Solocasts I’ve done on that have become the top, most shared Episodes on Spotify, which has never happened to me before in the 4+ years that I’ve been podcasting. And what it really tells me is that a lot of you guys are feeling burned out and overwhelmed.

[02:30] Sahara
And the reason why I even created this Episode in the first place is because I was feeling it too, so glad we’re on the same page, of 2021 still being a lot on the nervous system, and that’s okay because we’ve got tools, we’ve got podcasts like this and we’re going to work it out together.

[02:45] Sahara
So, this morning, I was really sitting upon the word burnout, and thinking about what are some tangible steps that we can take to help alleviate it. So, I came up with 6 Steps which, in a really fun way, I added the word ‘re’ to every single one, so they all have a ‘re’, such as ‘reassess’, ‘replenish’ etc.
So, I’m going to be going through what each of these Steps are. I encourage you, as I go along, to write them down, and then to also write down some examples in your life of how you can practice that, because for each person it’s going to show up a little bit differently, even though they are overall characteristics. But just so you can walk away from this Episode with a clear plan of 6 Steps that you can take in your life, right now, getting started with it today, to help alleviate burnout.

[03:36] Sahara
So, first of all, what is burnout? Burnout, to me, is that feeling of exhaustion; it’s that feeling that your mind has just been going 24/7 and you just can’t take it anymore, you literally don’t even have the energy and the capacity to take in more information and more stimulation.

[03:52] Sahara
Now, for some people, burnout turns into a physical depletion, they literally can’t function anymore, they need to sleep all the time, they can’t exercise, they can’t move, they just feel super, physically exhausted.

[04:06] Sahara
Now, for other people, they’re more like high-functioning burnout, so, they may be able to go through all their tasks, they actually may be working out even harder and going at their tasks and being even more productive than ever before, but it’s coming from this place of overwhelm and burnout.
So, it really has to do with how you respond to stress – are you more of the fight, the flight, the flee, the fawn? And I really encourage you to look more into these different survival tactics. If you’d like, I can do an Episode specifically on those. But to really have the awareness of what burnout looks like for you.

[04:39] Sahara
For me, I am more of the high-functioning burnout, I never stop what I need to do, but I get a bit antsy while I’m doing it, I’m like “Urgh, I have so much I need to do”, so I literally can’t rest and I can’t stop because I need to keep going, and if I’m not going a million miles an hour, it’s all going to add up and I’m going to fall behind and I’m never going to be able to get on top of it. So, it’s sort of like, are you the type of person who’s like, your email inbox is 20,000 emails unread or is it 0 emails unread? And that, kind of, will tell you how you deal with it.

[05:10] Sahara
I’m a 0 unread! I will either open and respond or delete every single email because, for me, the way that my nervous system works is “I need to get ahead; I need to be ahead of the game otherwise it’s going to be too much.” Whereas for other people, it may have reached that point of burnout that they’re just like “I give up!”
Again, you can kind of look at this with the Ayurvedic Doshas. People who are more Kapha Earth energy tend to be those who are just like “I’m exhausted, I can’t keep up anymore”. People who are more of the Fire, or the Pitta energy, like myself, are more like “Okay, let’s get to it, let’s go faster!” And as we’re burned out, we do the hardest things we’ve ever done before and it’s perpetuating that feeling of burnout, which we may even be addicted to (funny enough).
And then for that Vata, it’s like looking at all of the tasks that need to be done and like “I’m going to book a trip. I’m going to do something totally unrelated because I really want to write my book or create my Etsy store or apply for all these jibs, but it feels so overwhelming, so, I’m just going to do something totally else.”

[06:10] Sahara
So, get to know what burnout looks like for you, because I think in our society, we so quickly label and experience of “Burnout looks like XYZ, the WebMD definition”, that’s really not what it looks like for, I would say, most of us. And also, different levels of burnout, different times of burnout, different types of burnout in your life. You may be burned out from a relationship; you may be burned out from your career; you may be burned out from the state of the world and the news. So, there are also different things that you may be burned out from, it’s not like an overarching thing that you may have for everything. You may be really excited about some areas of your life, but burned out from others.

[06:48] Sahara
So, overall, when I’m speaking about burnout, I’m speaking about, you don’t have the same energy, inspiration, motivation, overall pizzaz that you normally have, you’re not as sparkly. And I think for a lot of us this began at the beginning of 2020, like a lot of things began – actually no, I’m going to say it began before that. It was a different type of burnout; it came to surface. It’s like, you know when you’re so tired and you finally give yourself a chance to rest and you’re like “Oh shit, I was exhausted but I was moving so fast, I didn’t know how tired I was.”
I would say our lives, before 2020, were that. We’re doing a million things – like some people who live in New York or big cities, they’re going to the 9-5, they’re going to the happy hour, they’re going to this event, they’re going to that; people who are moms, they’re driving to a million places, they’re doing all these tasks. So, we were, I think, collectively a very, very high-functioning burnout, but also a lot of us were like – I mean, do you guys remember we were like “Oh my God, I wish someone would cancel plans with me”, that was the meme going around, of feeling socially exhausted, like you want to cancel plans, you want to be by yourself, that was the thing that everyone wanted then.
So, we were really at this cusp of doing the most and feeling like we really want this chance to rest, to be alone, to integrate, but we didn’t have that. Now, then 2020 rolled around and it’s like “Okay, that’s what you wanted here, you’ve got this”, what started with a 2-week quarantine, which is now moving into a 2-year quarantine.
So, we got that chance to be by ourselves and to be in our own energies and to rest, but then a different type of burnout starts showing up.

[08:24] Sahara
First, it was that layer of exhaustion that we weren’t looking at before. All of those times that we overrode our intuition that said “Please, give me some rest; please, give me some self-care”, but er were like “No, we got this to do; we got that to do; we got fish to fry.” So, finally, that had its space to come to surface, so we were like “Holy crap, I have been running on overdrive for the past X months or years of my life! Finally, now, I’m even able to hold space for it and see it.”
So, it’s like when you finally sit down and lie down to sleep, it’s like that wave of tiredness comes over you, and I feel like that’s really what that first collective stage of burnout was.

[09:04] Sahara
Now, then there became the burnout of the news. Especially at the beginning of 2020, we were just always on the news, always on social media, always trying to figure out what was happening. So, there was this burnout of confusion, of overwhelm, of the state of the world, of panic, of uncertainty. Then there was the burnout of lack of work-life balance, of “Okay, I used to know that I would go to the office and come home, that was my time to be home, but now I’m always home so I don’t really know when to stop.” And that’s when, I feel like, this new wave of burnout really started, was people, just kind of, working around the clock, there was no more separation between work and life, it all just became this one continuous thing.

[09:47] Sahara
I think a lot of people, too, the things that were the most exciting in their lives were no longer available for them anymore – going on trips, going out, going to concerts, those things were gone.

[09:59] Sahara
So, burnout really happens when the things that once gave you joy and once gave you energy are no longer available, or you’re choosing to no longer do them.

[10:10] Sahara
Burnout also happens as a result of not living your purpose. So, for a lot of people too, they saw that “Wow, I’m living the same day again and again and again, and now, with the collective awakening that’s happening, that’s starting to really bother me, because I’m realizing that I am a soul having a temporary human experience, so I don’t want to be doing the same shit every day that I don’t even life doing, that is in no way using my gifts or my skills or my knowledge or my wisdom etc.”
So, there became that gap, that separation, of “What does my life look like and what do I want it to look like?”

[10:43] Sahara
So, on top of that, with the state of the world continuing to get crazier and crazier with the elections, and then with these mandates, and then with the Middle East situation, and with natural disasters, and the list goes on, now it’s become burnout, which was the one I did a Solocast about, a few weeks ago called “If You’re Feeling Overwhelmed” (listen to this, I highly suggest that one too, I’ll have that linked in the show notes), but that burnout really came from this feeling that “Every single time I open my phone, I turn on the news, it’s a series of unfortunate events and it keeps getting worse, and it keeps getting worse, and I feel out of control, and I feel like “What can I do to help? I can’t keep donating money, I don’t have anymore money to donate. I don’t even know if what I’m doing, if the people I’m voting for etc. are actually really here to serve me”, so it’s this feeling of lack of control and feeling completely overwhelmed by the state of the world.

[11:39] Sahara
So, I think, right now, we’re at this precipice of all of these forms of burnout adding up. I also want to add the burnout of social media, I think that’s a very, very big one right now.

[11:50] Sahara
Social media used to be something fun for all of us, do you guys remember that? We used to be like “Oh, I want to escape, I go on social media”, now, I would say Pinterest still feels like that, but no other people where people are actually posting their opinions feels like that.
Instagram is officially Facebook, I’m just going to be the one to say it, it has become Facebook! And now, instead of going to social media to distract ourselves from our lives, we actually go on social media and we’re distracted from our lives in a negative way. We’re like “Oh shit, things are a lot worse than I thought”, whereas social media, 2017, was like you go on Instagram Ever and pretend everything is perfect. Now, everyone goes on there to spew out their political beliefs and hate on each other and cancel and bla bla bla.

[12:33] Sahara
So, there’s this burnout of social media that, we are reliant on social media at this point, for our businesses, for connection, for the fact that so many of us still are in quarantine and at home, especially in many parts of the world, so we still really want that connection. And a lot of people are not in paid containers, in membership communities, so, social media is your only human interaction. That’s why I created Rose Gold Goddesses, because we have our own social platform where it’s completely sacred, high-vibe, incredible conversations being had, but most people don’t take that initiative, they believe social media is just this free thing that I tune into, but when something is free and available for the 1bn people that are on there, of course it’s going to have the mixed bag of what the collective is feeling. And what the collective is feeling right now is a lot of anger and hatred and this accumulation of being cooped up.

[13:27] Sahara
So, this burnout is really coming from all of it! We get on social media, we work, we look at the news, we this, we that, it all feels like so much, and it feels like our nervous system can’t handle it anymore, it feels like we’re being fried alive.

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[14:42] Sahara
So, if you’re feeling that, I want you to know that you’re not alone. In fact, recent research by monster.com found that 95% of people in the workplace are experiencing burnout right now; 95% are self-assessing themselves as that. So, it’s basically all of us, are feeling it to some extent.

[15:00] Sahara
If this burnout continues and worsens, what is actually going to happen? Well, what’s going to happen is, we’re no longer going to have a productive society; we’re no longer going to have a society that’s creating beauty and good, and bliss, and truth, and art, and solutions. We’re going to give up our power and our sovereignty, and then the forces that be, that are still going forward full-steam ahead, that have more negative agendas, will continue.
So, we actually need to feel replenished and rejuvenated so we can create the solutions; so we can create the new world. It’s not just about you feeling better, but it’s actually the whole point of you feeling better is so we can create a better future for the collective, which includes all of us.

[15:53] Sahara
So, that being said, now what can we do? So, I’ve outlined this into 6 Steps to Alleviate Burnout. And I love this topic so much, I’m thinking about actually creating a course about it, so if you are interested in that, be sure to head over to my website iamsahararose.com and join my email list on the bottom so you can be notified.

[16:13] Sahara
So, that first Step is Reassess.
Start to reassess your priorities; reassess your decisions; reassess your daily choices. Where is the burnout coming from?
So, if I were to ask you right now (and write this down), reassess, where is the burnout coming from? Write down the first thing that comes to mind.
So, you may have instantly said “My work”, you may have said “Social media”, “A certain friendship” – where is the burnout coming from?

[16:53] Sahara
Now, burnout happens as a result of not living your Purpose. So where are you not living your Purpose, not living your Dharma?
If you want support with this, I’ve written an entire book about it called “Discover Your Dharma”, so, if you head over to the show notes, Amazon, wherever books are sold, check out “Discover Your Dharma”.
So, where are you living out of alignment with your true, natural gifts? And how is that creating that burnout?

[17:18] Sahara
Burnout is also a result of not giving yourself time to be human. So, those human things that we do are walking in nature with our bare feet, being naked, singing a song, playing the guitar, lazing around, drawing, just basic human things that we take for granted.
When we’re always in this hyper-productive achieving mode, do, do, do, and we don’t give ourselves time to be human, that’s when we get very, very cooped up, and disheveled and out of touch with our true selves. So, how can you bring more humanness to your life?

[17:59] Sahara
Now, the second Step is Replenish.
So, write this down, ‘replenish’, what does replenishing look like for you?
So, for myself, I’ve noticed the number one replenishing practice is breathwork. I love breathwork so much because I can literally feel a physiological shift that happens in just 5 minutes. And there are so many great breathwork YouTube videos and Apps and platforms out there to check out.
So, now I am doing breathwork in the morning and at night, literally 5-10 minutes even, and it changes my state completely. And there are breathworks to energize you, to help you sleep, to help you release and cool off – there are breathworks for everything.
So, what is that practice that is replenishing for you?

[18:48] Sahara
I also love to follow breathwork up with meditation. So, I think meditation is such a powerful practice that we can either jump straight into the meditation, it may be a moving meditation, a walking meditation, an art meditation, but having some meditative form to connect to your true nature as bliss. This is extremely important to remember – who you are!

[19:12] Sahara
Now, the third Step is Rest.
What does rest look like for you? Write this down.
Now, the obvious is sleep. Are you getting enough sleep? Enough sound sleep? So, for most Americans, about 80%, the answer is no. So, can you wear a sleep mask? Can you put on some noise-canceling earbuds? Can you get some blackout curtains? Can you use social media less at night and out on some blue-blocking glasses or turn your phone on red mode so you can sleep earlier? How are you using those nights?
You know, there’s this thing called revenge scrolling – revenge scrolling is when we feel like we’re out of control of our days, so at night time we suddenly start scrolling, scrolling, scrolling because it’s our way of taking back our time. And if you’re noticing yourself doing this, which, I definitely notice myself do too, at night time, I become a TikTok monster, I notice “Is this actually bringing me more rest?”
There are some times that I’m enjoying my time on TikTok or social media, or whatever I’m on, I’m enjoying that time as rest, but there are other times that I’m like “No”, I actually am, literally, stuck in a loop. of scrolling and I don’t even know what I’m looking at, and I couldn’t even tell you what I just read, and I’m just a zombie right now.
So, notice that, catch yourself in that. And there are so many Apps to help you. First of all, creating a timer on your App, so you only have each App for a certain about of time. So, let’s say you give yourself 30 minutes a day, or an hour a day, or whatever it is for you, to be on different social platforms, and also, when it says “Time’s up”, don’t be like “15 more minutes or turn off for today”, honor it.
Another one is this App I found called Freedom, where you can actually set different, not only Apps, but also websites that you might go on. Maybe you spend a lot of time on Reddit or whatever, TMZ, I don’t know, but you can actually set those different websites too, and it will block it for however many hours that you want to, like “The next 12 hours I cannot get on Instagram” or whatever it is that you’re going on. So, that App is called Freedom.
Also just deleting those Apps from your phone. You know you can delete Apps and then you can just download them again, they’ll still be there.
So, giving yourself that chance to rest; rest can also look like Yoga Nidra; it can also look like sound baths; it can look like placing crystals on your body; taking a bath; taking a walk; spending time in nature; a beach; but having practices every single day where your body can go into that parasympathetic state of rest.

[21:46] Sahara
Now, the fourth one is Reenergize.
What does reenergizing look like for you? Write that down.
Reenergizing, to me, looks like movement. And I think for a lot of us movement is medicine, and if it’s not yet, it will be, because that’s how we were designed as humans, to move – movement is life!
So, what type of movement feels reenergizing to you? Is it dancing? Is it cycling? Is it lifting weights? Is it Pilates? Is it Yoga? Is it Thai-Chi?
Having different forms of movement to experience different forms, different textures of your aliveness. This, to me, has been, I would say, the number one thing that has kept me sane and healthy and vibrant and thriving through this entire Covid experience. The fact that every single day, I have continued to move, no matter what was happening in the world. Whether it’s following along a YouTube video with some booty bands or doing some yoga, or taking a walk, or dancing, just keep moving your body.
Sometimes we feel like “I don’t have energy, so I can’t exercise”, but actually it’s exercising that gives you energy. The more you move, the more you create energy, it’s like a self-fulfilling machine.
So, even if you don’t feel energy and you feel like “I can’t” – I used to wait to feel energized to exercise and then guess what, I’d be “Okay, maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow”, it would just never happen, until I just decided “I’m just going to show up for this every single day, no matter how I feel.” And now, it’s been years that it’s no longer a question in my mind anymore “Am I going to move today or not”. I will go out of my way to make sure I move, even if it’s at an airport, I will pull out my yoga mat and do stretches in the middle of the airport because I know how much better it’s going to make me feel.
I am that person on the back of a flight doing quad stretched and belly dance moves – I don’t care anymore, I know it’s going to change my entire state.
So, what is your movement practice? And again, it can change according to your day, according to your menstrual cycle, according to what your body needs right now.
But I find, for me, if I just get myself to start moving, I’m like “Okay, I can just do a floor Pilates class, it’ll be really easy”, but the moment I start warming up, then I get more energy, and then I’m like “Oh, maybe I’m going to do some weights”, then I’m like “Oh, maybe I’m going to do a whole hit class”, because the energy continues to expand and expand. So, honor that! don’t burn yourself out of doing an hour of hit a day or pushing yourself to the extreme that you feel like you’re going to vomit, or you’re getting dizzy, or you can’t eat, that is too much, it’s going to add to the adrenal fatigue and the burnout, but moving away that feels good.

[24:34] Sahara
The fifth Step is Refill.
Refill yourself with joy. So, burnout doesn’t just happen when you’re doing things that you don’t like to do, but it also happens when you’re not doing enough things that you do like to do.
So, what are the things that fill you up with joy? What is your daily joy practice? Is it singing some karaoke? Is it painting some water colors? Is it dancing to some Shakira? Is it spending time with your plants? Is it writing your book or poetry?
Having a daily joy practice, something that you do sheerly for joy. It doesn’t need to have any productivity or calorie burning or anything tied to it, you’re just doing this to fill up your joy cup. This will refill your body with beautiful, sparkly water, so then that murky, condensed burnout water will naturally just pour out.
So, refill yourself up with joy.

[25:38] Sahara
Now, the sixth Step to alleviate burnout is Realize.
Realize who you are. Live your Purpose.
When we realize how powerful we are, how magnificent, how magical, that we truly are the magician, the alchemist, the creatrix of our own reality, we no longer let little things bother us. We don’t throw ourselves off for weeks just because someone wrote us a mean comment or we had this conflict with our colleague, or whatever the thing is that felt very overwhelming and real for our nervous system, but then we start to zoom out from a higher lens and see it for what it is – just a little wave in the entire ocean of what you are.
So, realize that this life is your creating; that you exist on a canvas and you are the painter. So, what types of paints do you want to use? Do you want to use bright neon colors? Some pastels? Some sparkles? Some rainbows? You get to decide. No one else can get to decide for you.
We cannot wait for the world to be solved and all problems to be gone to then be joyful. Joy is a choice and it starts now. So, realize the immense power and gratitude that exists within you for even living this human experience! Yes, you get to be here! You get to fulfill your Dharma, your Soul’s Purpose, the big reason why you are here! What a gift! What an opportunity! What a blessing! And when you realize this, there’s nothing that can ever burn you out! Because you realize that you are the fire that creates it all; that that energy is flowing through you; it is not from you; it is not limited; it is limitless! That you are always tapped into a vessel of consciousness of love, of light, of ideas, of creativity, of imagination, of consciousness, that you are streaming through at any given moment. And all you have to do is say yes!
So, realize this, and burnout will be a word of the past.

[28:18] Sahara
Thank you so much for tuning in with me. If you would like more of my practices or my free Discover Your Soul Purpose Masterclass, head over to my website iamsahararose.com or the show notes and you’ll be able to receive that.

[28:35] Sahara
I’m so grateful to be here in this experience with you!

[28:38]
If you loved this episode, I would love to send you a free gift which is the first half of my unreleased book “Eat Right for Your Mind Body Type”. This is a different book than “Eat Feel Fresh”. My first book ever which is not released anywhere, and I am gifting it exclusively to those who leave a review of my podcast in the iTunes store. So all you’ve got to do is head over to iTunes where you’re maybe listening to this podcast and leave a review, take a screenshot that you’ve left it and email it over to me at [email protected] and I will send you back the first half of my unreleased book “Eat Right for Your Mind Body Type“, which goes all into Ayurveda, Doshas, Plant-Based Nutrition, Body Types – all of the things in a really fun and engaging way. So, this is my gift to you for free for supporting the podcast. Every single review I personally read. It really helps the podcast be listened to by more people so we can raise the vibration of the planet together, and I am soul grateful to have you on this journey.

Thank you so much for listening and I’ll see you on the next Episode. Namaste.

Episode 390: 6 Steps to Alleviate Burnout
By Sahara Rose