Burnout Doesn't Come Out of Nowhere: How to Recognise the Early Signs (And How Recovery Yoga Can Help You Heal)

By Jade Canavan, Inner Lifetime Yoga

There's a version of me from a few years ago I think about often. She was running on empty, pushing through, saying yes when every fibre of her being was quietly whispering no. She thought she was coping. She wasn't. I've been feeling some of the symptoms sneak back so I've felt inspired to write this blog - to motivate and remind myself of listening to my body, while also spreading some awareness.

The reality is, the last few years have been big for me in so many ways, and i don't think i've ever found myself back to the energy levels of my previous self. I think i got close but then BOOM, the universe was like 'Not yet Jade.. we have a few more curve balls for you to overcome' :-)

As some of you already know, burnout found me in the Summer of 2021, and at the time it felt like the scariest, loneliest thing that had ever happened to me. Looking back now, I can say something that might sound strange: it was the best things that ever happened to me (aside from my daughter of course). It cracked me open. It forced me to stop. It taught me to listen to my body in a way I never had before — and quite frankly, it's the reason Inner Lifetime exists.

But here's the thing I want you to know, the thing I wish someone had told me: burnout doesn't come out of nowhere. It's not a bolt from the blue. It's a slow accumulation of unheard whispers that eventually become a shout your body forces you to hear. It isn't just feeling tired or a little anxious - it's a full shut down of all your systems - a forced STOP.

This blog is for anyone who is running on empty, or who suspects they might be.. or maybe this will help you recognise what's going on with a loved one. My hope is that by recognising the early signs — and understanding what actually contributes to burnout — you can catch yourself (help others catch it) before your body has to catch you. Beacause recovery from burn out isnt quick, its a full commitment to recovery and it can dischevel every part of your life. For me yes it was good, but that doesn't mean it was easy , nor would I wish the discomfort of it on anybody.

So what actually is burnout?

Burnout is more than feeling tired after a busy week. It's a state of chronic physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress. It's what happens when your nervous system has been stuck in "on" mode for so long that it can no longer switch off, even when you want it to.

It doesn't just affect people in high-powered jobs. It can happen to parents, carers, teachers, healthcare workers, entrepreneurs, freelancers, athletes, and anyone who consistently gives more than they receive — whether that's time, energy, or care.

Burnout is the cumulative cost of ignoring your own needs for too long. Let that sink in.

The many roads that lead to burnout

When I look back at what led me there, it wasn't one thing. It was a hundred small things I'd stopped paying attention to. Some of the most common contributors include:

Prolonged stress.

Not just the big, obvious stress — but the low-level hum of constant pressure, deadlines, worry, and over-stimulation that never gets a chance to reset. I was hell-bent on focusing on my career and had tied my self-worth to promotion, success at work, peer approval and getting a bigger pay packet. Because that's what we are taught, right? Well, I had no direction from family in this area, so for me, I think societal expectations and what 'success' looked like was followed even more intensely. I went into it all guns blazing... and, well, yeah, it ended in burnout.

Prioritising others' needs over your own.

If you're the one people come to, the one who holds it all together, the one who "just gets things done" — this one will sound familiar. Giving is beautiful. Giving without replenishing is depleting.

For me, I had friends who held space for me, held my hand and hugged me through the many failed relationships, but I was still a people pleaser. Textbook. Before yoga, never once would I prioritise my own needs — in relationships, family, friendships or work. Everybody always came first. If somebody requested something, even if my body was saying naaaaah bro, I would be saying "Yeah, sure!" The point is that I wasn't even aware of my people pleasing, or my need to be accepted at all costs. The cost of my own health, it would turn out.

Compassion fatigue.

A particular kind of exhaustion that affects people who care deeply and hold space for others — carers, therapists, teachers, parents, healers. You can run out of compassion the same way you can run out of petrol.

For me, family was a big one for years — trying to help others who weren't ready to be helped. Trying to guide them to a better way of living when they saw no problems with their current way. Trying to be the best Aunt to my young nieces and nephews, only for this to result in me being taken advantage of. And then, strangely, turned against me.

Then come the relationships — hello, trauma bonds — jeez. Until recently, I had never known a partner who didn't have inner demons, who wasn't severely toxic or completely unconscious and driven solely by the really-not-so-pleasant side of ego. And since I didn't even know what living consciously was until yoga, nor did I have any awareness of who I was underneath the many traumas, societal expectations or childhood programming that stuck, I took on their problems. I didn't just take them on to help — I physically felt their pain, anxiety and discomfort. Their bad days became my terrible days, all the while trying to deal with my own stuff.

Empath life.

For my fellow empaths, you may have been told from a young age that you're too emotional, too sensitive, or even too much. I used to (still do) cry at movies, adverts, or even at a lovely-looking, perfectly capable old man slowly walking down the street with his walking stick. Because I FEEL BIG. And for years this was not only exploited, it was manipulated and used against me. But now I've embraced it as a significant part of who I am, and honestly, it is how I am able to connect to you and your stories so deeply. Downside — feeling too much, too often, without boundaries = compassion fatigue. Before my burnout, I had a lifetime of this that had built up, and it was a sloooow journey in restoring that energy. And now that I work in wellbeing, I know I have to be careful with this — trying to be who I want to be without actually absorbing it. Stay tuned, as this is a work in progress :-)

Over-exercise. Movement is medicine, but too much of the wrong kind, at the wrong time, can become another form of stress on an already overloaded system. Pushing hard in the gym when your body is asking for rest isn't discipline — it's another way of not listening. Makes sense, right?

Well, for all of the above, exercise was my escape, my go-to, the way I used to reset, manage hormones, mood swings and stress. That's all well and good, but if it's your sole coping mechanism, and life just keeps getting more and more stressful (which mine did), there's only so much exercise you can do. And let me tell you, I did. I'm talking two CrossFit sessions a day, five times a week. Physically I was bloody ripped (a little too much, perhaps), but I was happy with how I looked. That's what I thought it meant to be healthy and to 'look after yourself'. Boy, was I wrong. I worked out TOO much, and again, finally paid the price.

Poor nutrition.

Skipping meals, living on caffeine, eating on the go, relying on sugar for energy. Your body can't regulate stress well when it's not being properly fuelled.

So, imagine those two CrossFit sessions, five times a week, and then picture me drinking three Huel shakes a day. NOT SUSTAINABLE. It is so obvious looking back why I ended up in burnout, but I was focused on managing the immediate effects of a stressful job and, predominantly, whichever current toxic relationship I was in at the time. That's before we even get into family, friendships and co-parenting...

So my focus was never "I need to FUEL my body" — it was stay slim, look ripped and just keep moving forward. And I did. My god, I did, until I physically couldn't lift my leg to take the next step.

Not resting when your body asks.

Rest isn't a reward you earn after finishing everything on your list. It's a biological requirement. The list will never be finished. And resting is not lazy! It is something you need to survive and be healthy.

But rest? What was that? I'd be up at 5:30am, PT/CrossFit, work for up to 12 hours, and depending on childcare, do the child bedtime routine/CrossFit or gym again. This is before I would log back on for as many hours as I could before I physically passed out, and would do it all again the net day. I never honoured the importance of rest, and it is why I ended up shut down. My actual body shut down. If you don't rest, your body will take that decision away from you and force it. You won't get a say on when it happens, nor for how long it will be. So, if you want to stay well — REST.

Not listening to your body at all. This is the golden thread running through all of them. Every one of these contributors is, at its core, a small moment of overriding what your body is trying to tell you.

I was completely disconnected from my body — this body that I spent hours in the gym keeping 'strong'. Those inner voices telling me to stop? Nope, didn't hear them. Stopping wasn't an option. All I was focused on was keep going, move forward, be better, train more, work harder...

But the signs were there....

The early warning signs

Burnout usually announces itself long before it arrives. These are some of the signals to pay attention to:

Physical signs include persistent fatigue that sleep doesn't fix, tension headaches, digestive issues, frequent colds or illness, muscle tightness (especially in the neck, shoulders and jaw), disrupted sleep, and changes in appetite.

Emotional signs include feeling numb or detached, irritability over small things, a shorter fuse than usual, a loss of joy in things you used to love, cynicism, feeling overwhelmed by tasks that used to feel easy, and tearfulness that seems to come from nowhere.

Mental signs include brain fog, difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness, indecision, and a sense of being perpetually "behind".

And perhaps most telling of all: a quiet, persistent feeling that something isn't right — even if you can't name what.

For me, the fatigue was there, but I ignored it. The hormones were insane — PMDD (which I didn't know I had at the time) was out of control, with pre-menstrual anxiety, low moods and rage.

Physically, I remember the day I went to my friend's and she popped open a bottle of beer. I drank it. Within 5 minutes I looked 5 months pregnant — the bloat and reaction was insane. This worsened, and I kept ignoring it, until I became intolerant to pretty much ALL food. Sugar, dairy, fibre, gluten — you name it. Honestly, it was the food intolerances that made me think something needs to change. It made me feel so unwell.

This then further contributed to growing brain fog. At my worst, I couldn't read a sentence, or even have a coherent conversation — I was like Dory from Finding Nemo. Blink and you miss it.

Work became unattainable and I went on long-term sick. I tried to train CrossFit in this period, in those brief moments I felt okay — but the odd class I did would knock me back on my arse in bed for days. I tried to go back to work after 3 months. - ignoring that i wasn't ready but telling myself that i needed to as being off for this long wasn't ok. And what was worse amonsgt all this, the Dr's lept telling me all was ok! Throw in a dash of gaslighting in there and you really can find yourself in a pickle.

Every coping mechanism I had, while poorly managing and ignoring the many signs, was no longer accessible. I had to regroup, retrain my brain and, for once, listen to what I needed. This is when I found yoga.

Yoga isn't just good for preventing or overcoming burnout — it's a great way to stay connected to yourself, to take care of yourself, to move energy, reconnect within and look after yourself in a healthy way. I learnt this the hard way - but gosh the gratitude i have for yoga gets me through my tough days,

Why listening to your body changes everything

The single most important skill I've learned — and the one I try to pass on in every class I teach — is the ability to listen to what my body is telling me, and to trust it.

This sounds simple. It isn't. Most of us have spent years being taught to override our bodies: push through, power through, keep going. We treat our bodies like inconvenient vehicles carrying our minds around, rather than the wise, intelligent beings they actually are.

Your body is always talking to you. Burnout happens when it has to start shouting because the whispers were ignored.

How yoga helps with burnout recovery — and why the kind of yoga matters

Yoga, at its heart, is the practice of coming home to yourself. It's one of the most powerful tools I know for preventing and healing burnout, because it does two things at once: it slows you down enough to hear your body again, and it gently teaches your nervous system how to return to rest.

But — and this is so important — not every kind of yoga is right for every moment.

When you're already depleted, pushing yourself into a hot, fast, sweaty practice can actually add stress to a system that's crying out for softness. Part of the practice is learning to choose what your body actually needs, rather than what your ego wants, or what you feel you "should" do.

At Inner Lifetime, we've intentionally built a timetable that offers something for every state you might find yourself in:

When your nervous system needs a full reset, slower and more restorative/ Yin classes — like Heated Yin , Hormone Yoga, Restorative + Sound, Kundalini Yin + Sound or Yin, Nidra + Sound classes— use long, supported holds to help your body drop into deep rest. This is the kind of yoga that literally changes your nervous system state, moving you from fight-or-flight into rest-and-digest. It's medicine for burnout.

When you want to move but gently, join our beginner friendly Vinyasa , Vin-Yin or Hatha classes to give you mindful movement without pushing you past your edge. You leave feeling more yourself, not depleted.

When you have energy to give, more dynamic Hot Yoga, Power Vinyasa or Power Pilates classes are there for the days when your body genuinely wants to move and sweat.

The key is this: come to the class your body needs today, not the class you think you should be doing. Some days that will be the strong flow. Some days it will be lying on a bolster for an hour and breathing. Both are yoga. Both are valid. Both are listening.

A gentle word on starting

If you're reading this and thinking I need this but I'm scared to walk into a yoga studio — I hear you. So many people who walk through our doors at Inner Lifetime tell me the same thing. That's exactly why we are a beginner-friendly studio. There's no "right" way to look, dress, or move. There's no level you need to reach before you're welcome. You just need to arrive.

The first step towards healing burnout is often the hardest: it's the moment you admit you need to stop, breathe, and begin to listen again.

Here are 5 simple nervous system resets you can do to help with burnout:

If any of this is hitting close to home, here are five really simple tools you can start using today. None of them require a yoga mat, special equipment, or hours of your time. They all work with your body's natural wiring to help shift you out of fight-or-flight and into rest-and-digest — which is exactly where healing happens.

1. Long exhale breathing (1 minute)

**What to do:**

Breathe in gently through your nose for a count of 4, and breathe out slowly through your nose or mouth for a count of 6, 7 or even 8. Keep going for around a minute, or as long as feels good.

**What's happening:**

Your breath is one of the only parts of your nervous system you can consciously control — and your exhale is directly linked to your vagus nerve, the big nerve responsible for calming you down. When your out-breath is longer than your in-breath, your body gets the signal: *we are safe, we can rest*. Your heart rate slows, your blood pressure drops, and your stress hormones start to settle. One minute really is enough to shift your state.

2. Legs up the wall (5–10 minutes)

**What to do:**

Lie on your back on the floor with your legs resting up a wall (or on a sofa, or a chair seat — anything that gets your legs higher than your heart). Let your arms rest wherever feels comfortable. Close your eyes and breathe. Stay for 5 to 10 minutes.

**What's happening:**

This one is magic. When your legs are above your heart, your blood flow reverses gently, taking pressure off your heart and lowering your cortisol levels. It also switches on your parasympathetic nervous system — the "rest and digest" side — almost immediately. People often report feeling like they've had a nap after just 10 minutes. It's especially good after a long day on your feet, or when you're too wired to actually rest.

3. The physiological sigh (30 seconds)

**What to do:**

Take a big breath in through your nose, then — without exhaling — take a second, smaller sip of air in through your nose on top of it. Then let out one long, slow breath through your mouth. Repeat 2 or 3 times.

**What's happening:**

This is the fastest way I know to calm yourself down in the moment. The double inhale reinflates tiny air sacs in your lungs that collapse when we're stressed, and the long exhale offloads carbon dioxide and triggers that vagus nerve response. Your body actually does this naturally when you're sobbing and starting to calm down — we're just doing it on purpose. Brilliant for the middle of a stressful day, before a difficult conversation, or when you wake up in the night with a racing mind.

4. Humming or gentle "voo" sound (1–2 minutes)

**What to do:**

Take a comfortable breath in, and as you breathe out, hum gently — or make a low "vooooo" sound — until your breath runs out. Rest, breathe in again, and repeat for a minute or two.

**What's happening:**

Your vagus nerve runs right past your vocal cords, so when you hum or make low sounds, you're literally giving it a gentle massage from the inside. Humming also increases nitric oxide in your nasal passages (which supports blood flow and immunity) and creates vibrations throughout your body that feel soothing in a way that's hard to describe until you try it. It might feel silly at first — do it anyway. Your nervous system will thank you.

5. Feet on the earth (5 minutes)

**What to do:**

Take your shoes and socks off and stand, sit or walk on grass, soil, sand or even a cold tiled floor. Close your eyes if you can. Notice the temperature, the texture, the weight of your body pressing down. Stay for 5 minutes.

**What's happening:**

This is partly about sensory grounding — when you focus on physical sensation, your brain stops looping through worries and drops back into the present moment. It's also about interoception, the skill of noticing what's happening inside your body. Burnout disconnects us from our bodies, and simply feeling the ground beneath you is one of the quickest ways to come home. Bonus points if you can get outside — fresh air and natural light add their own layer of nervous system support.

A note on "but I don't have time"

I hear it all the time: *"I'd love to do this, but I don't have time to rest."* I promise you, you do have one minute. You have the length of a kettle boiling. You have the time it takes to walk from your desk to the bathroom. None of these tools require you to carve out a silent hour — they are designed to slot into the life you already have.

And if you're thinking *"these sound too simple to actually work"* — I thought the same thing once. The truth is, your nervous system doesn't respond to complexity. It responds to consistency. One minute of long exhales, done every day, will do more for you than a fancy wellness routine you only manage once a month.

Start small. Start today. Your body is listening, even if you haven't been.

If you take one thing from this blog

Please take this: your body is not the problem. Not listening to it is. Every symptom it offers you is information, not inconvenience. The fatigue, the tension, the tears, the fog — these aren't failings. They are messages.

Burnout taught me this the hard way, and I am so much more whole for having learned it. My hope is that by sharing what I've learned, you don't have to learn it the same way.

If you're ready to begin listening again, come and find us. Come to the class that feels gentle enough for where you are.

Lie on a mat.

Breathe.

Let us hold space for you while you remember how to hold space for yourself.

With love,

Jade

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Inner Lifetime is a beginner-friendly yoga studio in Lincoln offering a range of classes to support every body and every season of life. If you're new and not sure where to start, get in touch — we'd love to help you find the class that feels right.

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