A personal story of unraveling, awakening, and reclaiming wholeness

Burnout doesn’t always arrive dramatically. It doesn’t always look like lying in bed unable to move. Sometimes burnout looks like continuing to show up—running businesses, teaching courses, caring for clients, posting online with a smile—while your inner world is on fire.

Over the last five years, I was:

• Running multiple reflexology clinics

• Directing a school in another continent

• Teaching all over North America

• Supporting students across time zones

• Building new programs, launching products, managing marketing

• Growing a brand, a business, and... eventually, a baby

All while dealing with insomnia, daily panic attacks, strained relationships, and the gut-punch reality of being sued by a friend and colleague, reported to a national organization out of personal vendetta, and holding up a business that was our family’s only source of income.

And yet—I kept going. Because I felt like I had no choice.

When You Can’t Afford to Fall Apart

The truth is, for many wellness practitioners, therapists, and healers, burnout hides behind a smile. We’re trained to show up, to serve, to hold space. Our income depends on it. Our clients need us. Our team looks to us. The fear of “letting people down” becomes the very thing that drives us past our edge.

My intuition was whispering—then screaming—to shut it all down. But I didn’t feel like I could. Not with mouths to feed, students to support, and a reputation on the line. And when things did start falling apart, the fingers pointed squarely at me. The burden of responsibility was heavy. And isolating.

I felt trapped. And angry. And exhausted beyond words.

The Slow Road to Healing

Burnout doesn’t resolve with a weekend off. It asks you to change how you live. How you relate. How you lead.

Here are a few of the things I learned as I clawed my way out of burnout, breath by breath:

1. Boundaries Are Love, Not Rejection

I had to set real boundaries in both marriage and business—even when others pushed back or couldn’t understand. Saying “no more” is terrifying when your survival feels like it depends on being agreeable. But boundaries saved me.

2. The Body Has to Be Involved

I used Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to get myself out of panic attacks. When my nervous system was hijacked, tapping became one of the few things that helped me find breath, center, and clarity again.

3. Compassion Even When You’re Fraying

I had to stop being ashamed of falling apart. Unraveling didn’t mean I wasn’t strong—it meant I was overdue for softness. I began practicing compassion, not as a reward for healing, but as a way to bring in the Divine Mother for more earthly roots and deep connections.

4. Not Everyone Can Hold You

Some people create more drama. Some don’t know how to hold space. I had to be fiercely discerning about who I let into my inner world—and I learned the difference between support and surveillance. I always knew I had big energy but was afraid that being raw only chased people away instead of hearing the real issue.

5. Spirit Doesn’t Need You to Be Perfect

I screamed at God in prayer. Begged for peace. Begged to be seen when it felt like I was the only one doing the see-ing. Through the rawest moments, I touched something deeper—a longing for truth, for safety, for a reality that felt calm and rooted. There were many moments when energetic vomit would feel like a physical detachment from the programming of shame and fear. 

6. Presence is Power

I started meditating—not to escape—but to arrive. I developed a practice centered around deep roots and honest connection. I tuned into the I AM presence within me, not the titles or expectations wrapped around me. Bringing in the medicine of trees, ancestors of men and women along with the merger of the feminine and masculine INSIDE of my body. This might require help from a professional who is experienced in the mystics of the universe but grounded in the 3D.

7. False Light Isn’t Nourishment

Healing the core wounds meant recognizing where I’d been just repeating spiritual narratives that bypassed my actual needs. I stopped pretending I was “fine” just because I had the right language. I started being real. I started coming home to myself. The programs of war, battle of the sexes, dark and light, and human hatred to name a few that live deep in the human experiment.

Burnout is Not Failure—It’s a System Alert

Burnout is not weakness. It’s a soul-level siren that something isn’t working. For practitioners, it can be especially hard to face because we often know the tools, teach the practices, and are expected to “have it together.”

But healing burnout isn’t about mastering another technique.

It’s about coming home to truth. Rebuilding systems that support your nervous system. Creating space for honesty. And letting yourself be held.

If You’re in It Right Now

You are not alone.
If your business depends on you showing up—even when you're unraveling—please know: it doesn’t have to be this way forever.

Start with what’s small:

• One boundary.

• One breath.

• One honest conversation.

• One moment of softness.

And know that there’s a different way to live, lead, and serve. I’ve found pieces of it. I’m still integrating others. But I want to share what’s helped—because no one should be silently drowning in the middle of “success.”