Self Care Blog Post

Mental Health Awareness Month: Burnout and Self-Care

By Mia Iannios

Mia Iannios is a Digital Marketing Intern at Akhila Health, a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher, and a

3rd-year undergraduate student at The George Washington University studying International Affairs and Communications.

In life, burnout is inevitable, but especially so when we are not prioritizing our self care. It may hit you after coming back from a vacation, finishing a long week of work, or finally completing a big project that's been looming over your head. But what exactly does burnout look like and how do we solve this?

Burnout is characterized by feelings of mental exhaustion, lack of motivation, and disengagement or detachment from work or other responsibilities. As a college student in Washington D.C., I have experienced burnout firsthand in the academic setting, but most adults will face burnout in their lives via career, family, or other factors of stress. When I feel burnout start to set in, the most important thing for me to do is going back to the basics: prioritizing exercise, mindfulness, nutrition, sleep, and completing my daily tasks. But sometimes paying attention to all of this isn’t enough, and I’m left feeling mentally and physically exhausted, unable to break the cycle of burnout. In a society so focused on individualism, it is common to feel like we aren’t of value if we’re not making the most of each moment of every day and sticking to our busy schedules. Many of us might be even more prone to this busy mindset due to anxiety, fear of failure, and a need to provide for ourselves or our families.

If this feeling of burnout resonates with you in any way, I want to offer a few of the things I try to do each day to slow down and mentally and physically recharge:

1. Journal: Just pick up a journal and write. This can be as little or as much as you want, and it can be about anything. Journal entries can be happy, sad, creative, short, long, whatever you need. I find it most beneficial to journal as soon as I wake up or right before I go to bed.

2. Meditate: I typically do about 10 minutes of meditation in the morning. I primarily find led meditations on YouTu b e and love doing Akhila Health’s meditations (they can be found on their website) as well as those posted from the Calm app. Meditating is one of the best ways to calm your nervous system and relax your mind as you move into the day.

3. Go on a solo walk: Ideally, I liked to do a solo walk in nature to reconnect with my surroundings and feel more grounded. Sometimes we just need to be alone and have time to process our thoughts and feelings, and this is a perfect way to do so. Other ideas of things you can do alone include visiting a museum, preparing yourself a meal, or taking a long bath.

4. Practice yoga: This can be in any form, such as power, vinyasa, stretching, or slow flow, and can be as short as 15 minutes or as long as 90 minutes. It’s amazing to just move the body in order to release stress, so find what kind of exercise works best for you and is the easiest to incorporate into your routine.

5. Read a book: I've been really into mindfulness and self care books recently, but I encourage you to pick up anything that inspires you to read. It always feels so good to disconnect from technology, especially before bed, so reading for around 30 minutes before I go to sleep has really improved my sleep overall.

Each day, I aim to do at least 2 of these mindfulness practices, and I can confidently say that implementing these exercises into my routine has had a positive impact on my mental health and has reduced feelings of burnout. It can be so difficult to feel fully connected with ourselves, especially in the busy environments of academic settings or workplaces, but spending time with myself has allowed me to formulate a routine to prevent burnout the best I can, and when I do get burned out, I know I can always return to these practices to recharge.

Always remember we cannot be there for others without prioritizing ourselves first. Whether you are currently experiencing burnout or not, I encourage you to try out a couple of practices and notice the impact they have on your mind and body in the coming weeks!

Akhila Health's mission: To provide holistic health programs that empower underserved women to harness their inner resources and create change for a brighter future. We are committed to promoting wellness at all levels - body, mind, emotion, intellect, and spirit.

Our transformative program empowers women to take ownership of their lives for long-lasting change.

Support the Cause - Donate Now