How To Escape Grind Culture And Heal From Burnout

Marlee calls out the toxic systems and culture that are keeping us stuck in a cycle of burnout and brings awareness to all the ways we've been conditioned and programmed to perpetuate the cycle of burnout. Marlee dives into the root causes of burnout and discusses ways you can heal from a scarcity mindset, internalized capitalism, urgency culture, and hyper-individualism. Marlee also shares personal updates on her journey of healing from burnout while still having a corporate job and she shares practical tips and tools to help you break free and heal from burnout for good!

Transcript

Welcome to the Shifting with Marlee podcast.

I'm Marlee.

Thank you for joining me wherever you are.

All that I ask of you,

The listener,

Is to have an open mind and an open heart.

And in return,

I offer you myself.

Today,

We're going to revisit the topic of healing from burnout.

And we're going to explore some of the games,

Lies,

And traps perpetuated by the dominant systems and culture we find ourselves living within.

We're also going to bring awareness to the ways we internalize the messaging from these extractive and exploitative systems and culture,

And thus keep the cycle going.

I'm also going to share today my own personal stories from healing from burnout while still working a corporate job and the lessons I've learned along the way.

We previously explored this topic back in episode 25 from 2022,

Healing from Burnout,

And in episode 29,

Getting Free with Laura Hartley,

And again in episode 46 from 2024,

Healing from Burnout Using Human Design with Christy Yael.

This podcast episode today acts as a sort of update on everything I've been learning and experimenting with when it comes to healing from burnout these past few years.

Let's dive in.

I'd first like to start by giving a shout out to Tricia Hersey from The Knapp Ministry.

Her work has been extremely helpful and inspiring to me,

And I'll be quoting her several times in today's episode.

Let's also start off today by naming the systems and cultures we are currently living within.

The dominant systems are capitalism,

White supremacy,

Patriarchy,

And colonialism.

The dominant culture is this corporate hustle-and-grind culture along with consumerism and hyper-individualism.

These systems are inherently exploitative,

Extractive,

And violent.

We've been brainwashed and conditioned since birth to accept these systems and this culture as normal,

And to strive to want to fit in and be successful within these systems.

And for a long time,

I think we could ignore the harm from these systems and culture.

But no longer.

In today's day and age,

It is so in our faces,

It's all coming to the surface to be seen and witnessed.

The underbelly of these systems is on full display.

We are witnessing the destruction and harm in real time.

The harm and negative effects are in our faces and can no longer be ignored.

And even though that's really scary and sad,

It's also necessary because once we have awareness,

We can make changes and we can heal.

Here's the truth.

While they may currently be quote-unquote normal,

These systems and culture are hurting us,

Making us sick,

Burning us out,

Exhausting us,

And harming the planet.

And on top of that,

Most of us are still unhappy and struggling financially and in debt even when we commit ourselves to these systems and culture and do everything quote-unquote right and follow the status quo.

As Gabrielle Judge says,

If hustle culture worked,

Why are so many people still broke and exhausted?

The truth is also,

And this may be hard to hear,

But the systems want us sick and tired and in debt.

They don't care about our happiness or our mental health or work-life balance.

The system wants us sick so that we can buy their medicines and be reliant on them.

If we are tired and exhausted and burnt out,

It keeps us disconnected from our intuition and our power and keeps us numb and in line so that we don't have the energy to question the status quo.

If we are worried about survival,

We don't have the energy or time to connect with our gifts or creative powers and create a new world.

It's all connected.

It's all by design.

It's also important to point out,

This is a systems problem.

This is not a you problem.

There is nothing wrong with you.

There is nothing wrong with you that you can't keep up with the demands of this system because you are not a machine.

As Tricia Hersey says,

You are exhausted physically and spiritually because the pace created by this system is for machines and not a magical and divine human being.

There is nothing wrong with you.

Burnout is a normal reaction to the pace and demands of these systems.

There's also nothing wrong with you if you feel like you have no time.

If you work 40 to 50 hours a week,

There's barely any time to truly live.

Because not only are you working 40 to 50 hours a week,

But you're spending time getting ready for work,

And unless you work from home,

You're spending time commuting to and from work.

And then,

In our limited free time,

We are doing basic necessities like grocery shopping,

And making food,

And eating,

And laundry,

And getting movement,

And cleaning our houses,

And taking care of our families,

And sleeping.

We only get a few weeks off of work a year.

There's barely any time to actually live our lives in this model.

It's no wonder we are burnt out and unhappy.

It's no wonder our relationships are suffering.

It's no wonder we're disconnected.

When we're burnt out,

Everything is overwhelming.

Our capacity is significantly reduced.

Our patience is thin,

And everything is exhausting.

I personally often feel this doom and gloom feeling like there is no escape.

The bills keep coming.

Everything is getting more and more expensive.

Our raises and salaries barely keep up with the cost of living.

For me,

13 years after finishing college,

I am personally still paying off my student loans.

The demands on our free time outside of work keep increasing,

Especially if you have kids.

Our responsibilities keep increasing.

It can feel like there is no escape.

It's no wonder we are burnt out.

We cannot continue on like this.

Something has to change.

This podcast episode today does not have all the answers,

But what I hope it does for you is to help you begin to question the status quo and question what is considered normal.

I hope it plants a seed of awareness.

I hope it helps you gain more clarity.

I hope it inspires you.

I hope it ignites something within you.

And I hope it ignites a desire to heal and break free from these toxic systems and escape this hustle and grind culture and create something new.

Escape is possible.

So the question is,

Since we are here now and these systems are not going to change overnight,

How can we heal from burnout and begin to thrive while living within these systems?

That's what we're going to explore today.

Because while this is a systemic issue,

And while these problems are a result of the systems,

And while we work to change the systems,

I do believe there is a lot we can do to heal from burnout on an individual and community level.

We are not helpless.

We are not powerless.

So today I hope you feel seen,

And I hope to inspire you to find your power again and provide some inspiration for healing and change and action in order to thrive even while we still live within these harmful and systems.

The question is also,

How do we escape?

Because we've internalized these systems and culture,

We are partly holding ourselves back,

Holding ourselves within these systems.

So I'd first like to explore our own wounding and conditioning and some of the root causes of burnout.

I'm going to ask you a series of yes,

No questions to help you bring awareness and understand your own habits and beliefs that could be contributing to your burnout.

Do you view laziness as something negative?

If someone called you lazy,

Would that trigger negative feelings within you?

Do you view busyness as a badge of honor or as a sign of success?

Do you push rest off until you accomplish your to-do list?

Do you view rest as a luxury?

Do you ignore your body when it's asking for rest?

Do you push through and drink more coffee when you notice signs of fatigue during the day?

Do you feel you have to earn rest?

Do you sleep less if you have a lot to do?

Do you judge others for resting?

Do you judge others for doing less than you?

Do you equate success with productivity and doing more?

Do you equate success with accomplishing tasks on your to-do list?

Do you value productivity?

Do you rush through tasks?

Do you walk fast?

Do you rush around while you're driving?

Are you often rushing to get to the next moment or to get to the next item on your to-do list?

Do you rush to respond to work emails?

Does your mind race and are you often thinking about all you still have left to do?

As you are doing one thing,

Is your mind two to three steps ahead thinking about the next thing and then the next thing?

Do you constantly check your work email,

Even on your free time?

Do you view more as better?

Does buying more things bring you temporary joy?

Are you impatient?

Are you a people pleaser?

Are you a perfectionist?

Are you an overachiever?

Do you worry about money?

Do you worry about not having enough?

If you answered yes to any of those questions,

These are things to notice within yourself because these are habits and beliefs and programs that are likely contributing to your burnout.

And I am not saying there's anything wrong with you.

What I'm bringing awareness to is that these are all signs that you've internalized these systems and cultures.

These are signs of internalized capitalism.

And these are natural trauma responses and conditioning from a toxic system and culture.

These are all ways we've been forced to adapt and survive.

And these are not aspects of ourselves to judge or shame or have guilt over.

These are aspects of ourselves to bring awareness to,

To have grace and compassion towards,

To give love to,

And to lovingly work to heal and release.

Understand we've all been conditioned and designed to be good little capitalist soldiers.

We've all been conditioned and designed to be cogs in the capitalist machine.

But we have power.

We can say no.

We can do things differently and choose to be different.

Laziness is a great example.

The word lazy has a negative connotation in our society,

Right?

It's a diss.

It's an insult.

It's something we've been taught to avoid.

But guess what?

Laziness doesn't exist.

It's a trick from the system.

A lie to make us avoid slowing down and avoid resting.

As Tricia Hersey says,

Refuse the idea of laziness because it is rooted in white supremacy thinking.

Learn to rest even when you are called lazy.

Learn to slow down even when the monster of guilt appears.

Learn to morph into an escape artist.

Learn to refuse the lies of grind culture.

Rushing is another great example.

Urgency culture,

Right?

The system promotes rushing and urgency.

The system rewards speed.

The system discourages slowing down.

But rushing takes us away from the present moment,

Which is really all we have.

And rushing causes anxiety.

And really,

I ask you,

What are we rushing towards?

If our lives are just a series of present moments on this earth,

And we are constantly rushing towards the next moment,

Then all we are rushing towards is our death.

Productivity is another example.

The system has an obsession with productivity and accomplishments.

We are so conditioned to accomplish and do and achieve.

But it makes us addicted to our to-do list,

Addicted to external validation and external metrics.

We've tied our worth to productivity.

But guess what?

The to-do list never ends.

So the addiction to productivity is causing us unhappiness,

Low self-worth,

And burning us out.

What I'm saying is,

I see you.

I see you,

The people pleasers,

The overachievers,

The do-gooders,

The work-hard-to-get-aheaders.

I see you,

The anxious generation.

I see you,

The people that tie their worth to their productivity.

I see you,

The people that feel that the to-do list is never-ending.

I see you,

The people that feel at the end of the day that they didn't achieve enough or do enough.

I see you,

The people that struggle to set boundaries.

The people that don't have work-life balance.

I see you,

The people that have digested and internalized the idea that if you just work harder,

They'll get ahead.

The people that feel that if they just do more and give more,

They'll get ahead.

The people that feel that if they just make $10,

000 more,

Then everything will be okay.

If I just make more money,

Then I'll be happy.

I see you,

The people that feel they can't slow down.

I see you,

The people that are overwhelmed with responsibility.

The people that are overwhelmed by everything on their plate,

Overwhelmed by their to-do list.

I see you.

I get it.

I understand.

I am you.

And understand what I'm saying is that healing from burnout is a process of de-conditioning and unlearning.

De-conditioning and unlearning.

Because none of this is our true nature.

It is not our true nature to sit behind a desk and look at a computer for 8 to 10 hours a day,

Only to take a break to look at our tiny handheld computers.

And in addition,

In the Monday through Friday 9 to 5 grind,

There's no room to be fully human.

That is the schedule of a machine.

This is not our true nature.

Our true nature is cyclical.

Our energy is cyclical.

Our bodies are cyclical,

Just as nature is cyclical.

We are not capable of 100% output 40 hours a week on demand.

It's so against our natural rhythms,

Against our natural cycles.

It goes against our nature.

And forcing ourselves to fit into this machine-like system is harming us and burning us out and making us sick.

Our true nature is to be in relationship with each other and the earth,

To develop and share our gifts and talents,

To commune with the earth and the trees and the birds and the animals and the seasons,

To tend to the land and to grow things from the earth and to be in community.

And personally,

I feel that pull.

That's how I want to spend my time.

That's where my soul calls me.

But guess what?

In this system,

There's no time to do that because we are too busy giving our life force away to our jobs and the only free time we have is spent on basic necessities.

I,

For one,

Am so sick and tired of living for the weekend.

The system takes our time and attention and life force energy and leaves us with scraps.

And we've been so conditioned to accept this that we do it willingly and think it's normal.

But we've all been tricked.

We've all been duped.

We've all given our time,

Energy and attention and life force energy away and received crumbs in return.

We are left with little to no life force energy to dedicate to what really matters,

Like community and family and relationships and love and dreaming and imagination and creating from our hearts and our souls.

We're all burnt out and wondering why we can't keep up.

We've been tricked into working our lives away for the profit of others.

Our time,

Our attention,

Our health,

Our bodies,

Our imagination,

These are sacred and we've been conditioned to give them away voluntarily and willingly.

This corporate grind culture,

This Monday through Friday 9 to 5 grind,

Is a trick of the highest order.

We've been raised in this system and conditioned and tricked into believing that this is the only way,

That no other way exists,

That this is somehow the best way.

So I'll repeat.

The path to healing from burnout is a process of deconditioning and unlearning and saying no and peeling and extracting ourselves from these systems and culture while we build something new.

I for one say no,

No to these toxic and harmful systems and culture.

I say I want my time to be my own.

I invite you to take back your power.

I invite you to give this system less of you.

I'd like to share an update on my personal story healing from burnout while still having a corporate job that is demanding and how I've been giving the system less of me.

And through my personal story I'd like to expose some of the corporate games and lies that are really common and that try to keep us dependent on the system.

I'd like to also share a story about my recent annual review I had with my boss which really perfectly encapsulates some of the corporate games to watch out for that are really common that can lead to burnout.

So by day I am an environmental scientist which is a very corporate world and I've been doing that for going on 13 years.

Prior to 2020 I really went hard in my career and dedicated almost all my time and energy to it and worked a lot of hours every week and really pushed and went above and beyond and volunteered for everything and wore all the hats etc etc.

I was a big overachiever and as a result I was stressed out pretty much all the time.

And then in 2020 I realized I was severely burnt out and could no longer sustain that pace or that level and I realized I wasn't even happy or fulfilled and I also realized I wasn't being fairly compensated for going above and beyond and doing all the things all the time.

And that's one of the common corporate games.

My salary was the same and my raises were the same as others in my office who did less than me.

Now on top of that by being an overachiever I set a high bar for myself and set these really high expectations that those I worked with and held me to and expected of me.

And then I was expected to meet or exceed those standards every single year.

You can see the problem here.

It's a recipe for burnout and bitterness.

So beginning in 2021 I started to pull back.

I stopped working overtime.

I started actually using my vacation days and my sick days and taking mental health days.

I delegated more.

I stopped volunteering for everything.

I work from home as much as possible now.

I go to less work events.

And I started healing my internalized capitalism and prioritizing self-care and preserving my life force energy and not giving it all away to my job.

Basically I started reclaiming my humanness.

And that has meant that my raises are lower now than they used to be because of course my company eventually noticed me pulling back because I had set such high standards for myself prior.

But I made the decision that I am willing to sacrifice that money in a higher raise that's worth it to me because my life and my body and my happiness are more important to me than money.

But of course my company does not make it easy to have these boundaries that I now have.

And I have to constantly reinforce my boundaries and say no over and over and hold firm.

Which brings me to my annual review.

So because I work in a very corporate environment,

I am measured against a bunch of metrics and numbers.

So even though I've pulled back and have boundaries,

I still do my job and my numbers and metrics are still good.

And this past year actually all my numbers and metrics improved over the previous year and I hit almost all my targets.

But guess what?

The messaging I received in my annual review was it's not enough.

I need to be doing more.

My numbers should be even better than they are.

The message is do more,

Work more,

Give more,

No matter what.

No matter what cost.

The message of not enoughness is pervasive in the corporate world.

But here's the corporate game.

Here's the lie.

It's never enough.

It's never going to be enough.

You will never give enough to satisfy and satiate the capitalist beast.

For example,

At my company,

Our profits have consistently gone up year after year.

But the corporate messaging is still,

We could have done better.

Hear me when I say it's never enough.

Capitalism demands profits and growth and it doesn't care about people or happiness or mental health.

It doesn't care about work-life balance.

It gets that profit and growth through extraction and exploitation of our life force energy.

And the system will take as much as you're willing to give.

Which brings me back to my annual review.

As I'm told every year to do more,

I say no.

I reaffirm that I am at my capacity and unwilling to give more.

I reaffirm my value as evidenced by my strong numbers and metrics and I hold firm to my boundaries.

In those moments,

I have to stand in my center and my worth and validate myself because my company is never going to do that for me.

And even though my heart might be palpitating when I do it,

I don't shy away in fear and I stand my ground with conviction.

And I can see so clearly the corporate games and the corporate messaging and the negative reinforcement and the subtle and sometimes loud messaging of not-enoughness and I don't play into it any longer.

I no longer let myself be defined by this job.

I no longer seek validation and approval through my job.

I'm no longer willing to give all of my life force energy to this job.

I have found safety and trust within myself and I know that even if I'm fired,

I'll be okay.

For me,

I no longer operate from that fear-based place of scarcity and guess what?

That makes me less valuable to the system.

That makes me less valuable to capitalism and I'm personally proud of that.

But more importantly,

I'm less burnt out because of it and that's the goal.

And remember this,

It's not about asking for permission.

The system will never give us permission.

We must demand it and hold firm in our boundaries.

The system does not care about us or our happiness or our bodies or our mental health.

So therefore,

It's up to us.

As Tricia Hersey says,

You will have to say no because the system will continue to say yes.

So let's talk solutions.

Let's talk tips and tools.

Let's talk about ways we can heal from burnout while existing and living within these harmful systems.

Let's talk about ways we can decondition,

Unlearn,

And heal.

Tricia Hersey's solution is channeling trickster energy and becoming an escape artist and creating a third space.

She says,

To be an outlier to grind culture requires flexibility,

Grace,

And a trickster energy.

Start by being okay with being seen as an outsider to grind culture.

An outlier wizard.

Embrace the mystery.

Why would you want to be part of exhaustion,

Disembodiment,

And trauma?

Why would you want to align with and trust in toxic capitalism and consumerism?

Don't be fooled.

Rest your eyes right now.

Take a nap right now.

Daydream right now.

Sky gaze right now.

Make being on the outside a freedom space.

Hide in plain sight.

She also reminds us we don't owe these made-up violent systems anything.

Be in service to yourself first.

Be you.

Escaping is worth it.

And she also reminds us rest is resistance.

Rest is a pathway to liberation and freedom.

Part of the healing work and part of becoming the escape artist and being an outlier to grind culture is disentangling your identity and worth from your job.

That's not easy and takes time because we are conditioned from a young age to identify so strongly with a job and a job title.

For example,

With the question we ask children all the time,

What do you want to be when you grow up?

It conditions us to strive to fit into these systems and align our worth and value and identity and idea of success with a job.

These systems teach us to tie all of our value and worth to our jobs so much so that when we introduce ourselves,

We often lead with our job titles.

We say,

I am a blank.

For example,

For me,

I am an environmental scientist.

When we meet someone,

We automatically ask what their job is with the question,

What do you do?

And here's the thing.

I am is a powerful spell and affirmation.

It's a statement that reinforces that story in our psyche.

So by saying over and over,

I am my job title,

It constantly tells our subconscious that that is our identity.

The path to healing this is laid out really beautifully by Michael Singer,

Where he helps us remember that we are a soul having a human experience and our soul is in there behind the ego and behind all of our thoughts and emotions.

We are the one in there watching it all unfold.

And I've mentioned worth and value many times because low self-worth is intimately tied to burnout.

So increasing your self-worth and rediscovering your inherent worth and value is critical to healing from burnout.

I have a new powerful audio course I've developed to help with this,

Where we go deep into the worthiness wound and heal this wound at the root.

This course is available on Insight Timer.

And as I've mentioned,

Deconditioning and unlearning is a big part of the process of healing because in order to not repeat the same patterns that led to burnout in the first place and break free from the cycle of burnout,

We have to heal our wounds,

Our trauma,

And our conditioning.

If we want to build something truly new that is a healthier foundation,

We have to decondition and disengage internally from all the ways the society and culture have programmed us.

We have to learn new ways of being.

That means stopping the cycle of people-pleasing,

Perfectionism,

Seeking external validation.

That means healing our impatience,

Healing our tendency to rush around and rush through every task.

That means healing our own internalized capitalism,

Internalized white supremacy,

Internalized patriarchy,

And internalized consumerism.

And let me tell you,

This is a long healing process that requires dedication and grace and compassion and patience and also accountability.

I highly recommend working with a skilled healer or therapist for this because it can be tricky to heal on your own and it can be difficult to see our own patterns and sometimes we need the mirror and need to be held in a healing safe container with a professional to make significant progress.

We also have to make changes.

I've shared with you the changes I've made at my job and with my schedule while still having a corporate job.

Some of the other changes I highly recommend is actually asking for help.

The only way to break free from this culture of disconnection and hyper-individualism is to realize we aren't meant to do everything ourselves.

Trying to do everything ourselves is exhausting us and burning us out.

So ask for help and build community.

Community is the answer.

We need to support each other and help each other whenever we can.

So not only asking for help when you need it and accepting and receiving that help,

But also being willing to create that reciprocity within your community and helping others when you have the capacity and space and asking others in your community how you can help and be of service when you're able to.

Reciprocal supportive community is part of the answer to healing from burnout for good.

Once we have the awareness of all the ways we've been harmed by the system,

I think part of the healing journey is also grieving.

Grieving for ourselves and also for everyone that's been harmed by these systems in society and culture and for me part of grieving also stirs up a lot of anger and sadness,

Which I'm sure you felt as I've been speaking in this episode today.

It's anger and sadness for myself but also everyone and also the earth.

So much damage has come from these extractive and exploitative systems.

So many people hurt and hurting,

Including ourselves.

So much damage to the earth.

It's an important part of the healing process to feel whatever wants to come up for you.

Feel it and let it pass through you without holding on to it and release it.

We have to feel the emotions and then let them go and not hold on to them over and over as many times as we need to.

We have to feel it in order to heal it,

In order to build something new.

So grieving is an important part of the healing process.

Taking care of your body is also a critical piece of the healing process.

Listening to our bodies is critical.

Getting to know our bodies and how they speak is critical.

Our bodies are so intelligent and our bodies are always trying to help us and support us and always trying to reach homeostasis.

But our body speaks in whispers.

So it's up to us to get quiet and still and learn our body's subtle cues and give our bodies what they're asking for when they whisper.

Because if we don't listen to our bodies when they whisper,

Eventually they will start screaming and that's when the injuries and the illnesses happen.

And unfortunately those of us prone to burnout tend to have the habit of not listening to our bodies and tend to push our bodies beyond their capacity.

And then on top of that,

This culture and society we live in does not teach us how to love our bodies or connect with our bodies and does not promote listening to our bodies.

In fact,

It is the opposite in this society.

We are treated like machines.

We are always told to do more and work more and work harder.

The society extracts every last bit of life force energy it can from us before spitting us out when we're old and sick.

And even though I wish it were the norm,

In this society it's a radical and revolutionary act to love your body,

To honor your body,

To listen to your body,

To feel good in your body.

In this society it's a radical and revolutionary act to rest when your body is asking for it.

So what does it look like to listen to your body and practice on a daily basis?

It looks like drinking more water,

Eating nourishing foods,

Resting more,

Sleeping more,

Getting sunlight on your body and on your face,

Walking more,

Getting your bare feet on the ground as often as you can,

Spending as much time outside as possible,

Laughing more,

Being silly,

Hugging your loved ones.

And it also means being mindful of what your body needs during your work day when you're working.

Our bodies tend to not like sitting all day and staring at screens all day.

So notice when your eyes get tired and heavy,

Or notice when your muscles get sore,

Or you get that small ache in your back or your neck,

Or you start feeling frustrated or agitated.

I invite you,

Instead of pushing through and ignoring those signals and whispers,

Can you take a five-minute break instead?

Perhaps get up and stretch,

Or take a quick walk,

Or go outside,

Or sit in stillness with your eyes closed.

Your body will thank you for taking more mini breaks throughout your work day.

The last thing I want to say around this is a reminder that your body is on your team and has your best interests in mind.

Your body is magical and divine.

Your body is your sacred vessel carrying you through this life.

So let's start working with our bodies instead of ignoring them or fighting against them.

And then,

Of course,

Resting and slowing down are essential when healing from burnout and escaping grind culture.

As Tricia Hersey says,

You rest not as an afterthought and instead as the foundation and north star.

We must lay down and dream our own free.

So how can you find more moments of rest throughout your day?

Can you perhaps prioritize more naps?

Even quick 15 to 20-minute cat naps.

Perhaps even in your car on your lunch break.

I've done that many,

Many times and it is life-giving.

Can you find more moments of silence and less time on your phone?

More moments sitting and staring out the window?

More moments sky gazing and nature gazing?

More stillness?

Perhaps it will feel good and nourishing to take five minutes to lay on the floor or put your legs up the wall?

Perhaps lay in Shavasana at the end of your yoga practice a few extra minutes.

Get horizontal more.

Take more baths.

Read a book.

Prioritize more sleep.

Meditate more.

Perhaps do a sound bath.

Maybe it feels nourishing for you to go to a park and sit on a bench and just observe.

Can you incorporate more unstructured time to just be without being productive?

These are all forms of rest.

The point is there are so many ways to rest,

So many ways to slow down,

So many ways to extract yourself from constant productivity even in little moments.

As Tricia Hersey says,

The next second,

The next minute,

The next hour is ours to refuse the grind.

We can craft and build temporary spaces of joy and freedom here and now.

Every day,

Morning or night,

Or whenever you can steal away,

Find silence,

Even if only a few minutes.

Look for quiet time,

Quiet breathing,

Quiet wind,

Quiet air.

It is there,

Even if it's cultivated in your body by syncing with your own heart beating.

I think it's important to point out as well that as you start to rest more and take more naps and sleep more at night and prioritize slowing down,

What can often happen is we actually get more tired initially.

Because what happens is we've been go-go going for so long.

Once we finally,

Finally pause and gift ourselves that time to rest and slow down,

Our body is like,

Oh,

It's safe now to feel.

Oh,

It's safe now to rest.

And all the sleep debt and exhaustion that you've been accumulating and pushing through comes up to actually be felt.

So don't be surprised if initially,

Even if you're resting more,

That it results in you feeling more tired.

It's very common.

And again,

It's a sign that your body is feeling safer and coming out of that fight or flight mode that it's been in.

It's a sign that your nervous system is actually resetting and recalibrating.

What also happens though,

When we begin to slow down and rest more is that feelings of guilt and shame and anxiety come up.

That feeling that you're doing something wrong starts to surface.

Be aware of it.

Notice it.

That is the part of you that has been traumatized by this system in this culture.

That is the part of you that is afraid and stuck in scarcity.

Can you hold space for this part of you and give this part of you love and compassion and understanding?

Can you be a nonjudgmental witness to these feelings that pop up?

As Tricia Hersey says,

Guilt and shame will be a formidable and likely opponent in your resistance.

We expect guilt and shame to surface.

Let them come.

We rest through it.

We commit to our subversive sense of silence,

Truth,

Daydreaming,

Community care,

Naps,

Sleep,

Play,

Leisure,

Boundaries and space.

Be passionate about escape.

All of these tools and practices we've been talking about also fall under the category of nervous system regulation,

Which is a hugely important part of healing from burnout.

If you're burnt out,

It inherently means your nervous system is shot and in need of some tender love and care.

Being in the grind and being part of urgency culture and scarcity mindset,

It keeps us in fight or flight mode.

It keeps our nervous systems activated.

It keeps our stress hormones elevated.

Our bodies can only take so much of that.

We are sensitive beings,

Each and every one of us.

Being burnt out is a natural response to these violent and harmful and abusive systems and culture that treat us like machines.

That is why we must say no more and we must slow down and rest.

That is why these healing practices are so crucial and important.

Nervous system regulation is essential because it helps us build resiliency and build safety within our bodies.

It is only when our bodies feel that inner safety that we come out of fight or flight mode.

And understand this is not a temporary thing.

This is not a slow down for a cured thing.

That perpetuates the cycle.

We are talking about new ways of being,

New ways of existing in the world,

New ways of showing up that is more in alignment with our true nature.

This is a lifelong healing journey,

Friends.

You may be thinking to yourself,

But Marlee,

If I spend all this time resting and slowing down and doing self-care and nervous system regulation,

I won't have enough time to do all the things I'm used to doing.

My answer to that is yes,

That may be true.

But part of healing from burnout is restructuring your priorities and values and prioritizing yourself.

It's redefining what's actually important in your life and letting what's not truly important fall away.

I think you'd be surprised as well if you replace some of the time you spend on your phone and on social media and watching TV with these healing practices we've been talking about.

You'll find you still have time for your responsibilities in your to-do list.

For example,

Instead of scrolling on social media for five minutes,

Can you close your eyes and sit in stillness for five minutes instead?

Part of healing from burnout and breaking the cycle of burnout and creating a new way of being is doing less but with more intention.

And like I've already stated,

We aren't meant to do everything ourselves anyways,

So let's also ask for help and redistribute and share some of the responsibilities.

And I say this a lot on this podcast,

But I'm going to keep shouting it from the rooftops.

We need to spend more time outside and more time in nature and more time with nature.

Part of the root cause of burnout is disconnection.

And that is disconnection from our bodies,

And disconnection from the earth,

And disconnection from our natural rhythms.

Nature is the answer.

The earth is our master healer and guide.

Spending more time outside will not only help you heal from burnout,

But also prevent future burnout.

That could look like gardening,

Walks in nature,

Hiking,

Running outside instead of on a treadmill,

Playing with your children outside more,

Hugging a tree,

Sitting outside and just enjoying the views and sounds,

Going to a local park,

Sitting next to a body of water,

Watching the sunrise and sunset.

And maybe even instead of getting together with friends at a restaurant or for drinks,

Can you get together and go for a walk outside together instead,

For example?

Really endless possibilities,

But I just can't stress enough how important it is for our physical,

Energetic,

Spiritual,

Mental,

And emotional health to get outside as often as possible and co-regulate with nature and rediscover your connection to the earth.

Another powerful tool I want to share.

We've all heard of the power of vision boards.

Looking at our vision boards every day seeps into our subconscious mind and helps us manifest that reality.

So I highly recommend creating a vision board inspired by rest and slowing down and inspired by how you want to truly feel.

In your dream world,

If you weren't tied to capitalism and the grind,

If you were free to just be,

What would that look like?

How would that feel?

Use that as your inspiration and build your vision board full of photos and words that inspire you and remind you and support you in this new way of being.

Part of healing from burnout is also coming into balance within with your divine masculine and divine feminine energies.

Because another root cause of burnout is operating too far in one direction or the other,

Most commonly too much in the masculine energy,

Because that's what the system and structures demands and teaches us.

So this inner union is healing and powerful.

Another aspect of healing from burnout is getting out of the mind and into the heart.

The mind and logic aren't going to save us from hustle and grind culture.

Being too much in the mind is what got us into this mess in the first place.

We need to be dropping into the heart on a daily basis,

Multiple times a day,

As often as we remember.

The heart has the answers.

The heart is also the portal to our intuition.

The system teaches us to ignore intuition.

So rediscovering your intuition and then listening to your intuition.

Ooh,

Baby,

That's powerful.

And then I also want to point out laughter,

Silliness,

Smiling,

And not taking everything so seriously is also part of the medicine and the cure.

And that's all much easier to find when we get out of the mind and into the heart.

It's all connected.

Because in urgency culture,

Everything is serious,

Right?

We are conditioned from an early age for the current school system to suppress our inner child and take things seriously and prioritize the mind and logic over everything else.

So rediscovering your heart,

Your inner child,

And your intuition and living from that place as often as you can will help you heal from burnout and rediscover a new way of being that is much more healthy and sustainable and joyful.

And that also brings me to trust.

Building trust in yourself,

In your intuition,

In the universe,

In your spirit team is crucial.

The system wants you to be reliant on the system and only trust the system,

Right?

The system wants you to be in fear of what happens when you don't follow the status quo.

The way to counteract that fear,

Build trust.

Building that trust away from the system is powerful.

Building trust in yourself,

In your intuition,

In the universe,

In your spirit team so that you know deep in your bones that you are always supported no matter what.

Building trust and safety in yourself so that you know you have everything you need within you and that you are safe no matter what's going on outside of you.

That is the counter medicine to a system that runs on fear.

And I think that's why there's such a big movement to homesteading and self-reliance and growing your own food and being off-grid because that helps many people physically cultivate that safety that is separate from the systems,

But that can also be built internally as well.

And then I also want to bring up ritual and sacred space because I think it's important in this conversation.

Ritual and setting sacred space help us bring intentionality and mindfulness to our days,

Which is really supportive when healing from burnout and helps us slow down and find more presence even in little moments,

Which also helps us reclaim our time and energy.

Ritual doesn't have to be complicated.

It could be having a cup of tea every morning while sitting on the couch and staring out the window for five minutes.

It could be letting a candle.

It can be simple and quick,

But it's all about intention and presence.

And then in setting sacred space,

It's about bringing intention,

Support,

And beauty to your environment.

For example,

When I work from home,

I set up crystals around my desk and flowers and candles and I pull an oracle card for the day.

I'm creating that sacred space even when I'm working my corporate job.

And it's so soothing and supportive.

And setting up that space every day is in itself a ritual.

Creating beauty is ritual.

You can even do this to some extent in your office if you don't work from home.

Setting sacred space can also look like calling in the support from your spirit team.

For example,

When I'm having a tough day at work,

I pause and take a step back and I ask my spirit team,

Like my ancestors,

My spirit guides,

My angels,

You know,

Whoever you work with and whatever resonates with you to come in close and be with me and support me and help me.

And it helps me reset and lean more into trust and presence.

And I also want to bring up entrepreneurship as well because I think many of us think,

Oh,

You know,

I'll just leave my nine to five corporate job and start my own business.

And I think many people,

Including myself,

See entrepreneurship as a way to escape the grind.

And often it can be.

And as we've talked about before on this podcast,

More and more people are going to be turning to entrepreneurship over these next few years.

And it can be a beautiful avenue to share your gifts and be of service and create your own schedule and create the life of your dreams and create new ways of being.

But,

But here's the key.

If we don't heal these internalized wounds and programs within us from these systems and culture,

We'll just bring them with us into entrepreneurship and continue to feed the cycle which led to burnout in the first place.

And then we'll find ourselves burnt out even though we're an entrepreneur.

As Mark Nepo says,

So run if you like,

For it will all come with you.

So yes,

Entrepreneurship can be part of the answer to escaping grind culture,

But only if we also heal these wounds and these patterns and these programs within ourselves so that we don't bring grind culture into entrepreneurship,

Because otherwise we'll just repeat the same cycles and patterns.

My point is we can't escape or bypass the healing work.

And I hope you now realize there is opportunity to start the healing journey while still in the Monday through Friday nine to five corporate grind,

While we work to create something new and forge a new way and plot our escape.

And here's the real secret because yes,

Maybe by resting more and by pulling away from this system and by doing things differently,

Maybe you make less money within that model and that system.

I make less money in my corporate job because of the way that I have pulled back.

But here's the thing.

When we rest,

When we question the system and our own conditioning,

When we begin to tune into our bodies and listen to our bodies and rediscover stillness and quiet and rediscover our intuition,

What we find is creation.

What we find is creative energy.

What we find is our imagination.

What we find is the whispers from the universe.

What we find is the whispers from our soul.

What we discover is a new way of being.

What we discover is a new way we can show up in the world,

A new way we can be of service,

A new way we can use our gifts.

Maybe in stillness we receive a message that we need to hear or that we need to share with others.

The stillness unlocks potential.

It's in the stillness that I discovered my own intuition and psychic abilities and healing abilities.

It was in the stillness when I was in a state of receptivity and openness that I downloaded my new worthiness course,

For example.

What I'm saying is there is magic and potential available when we rest.

That's where embodiment is.

That's where presence is.

Rest is a doorway.

Rest is a gateway.

Slowing down and doing less is a portal.

As Tricia Hersey says,

I believe the powers that be don't want us rested because they know that if folks rest enough,

They're going to figure it all out and overturn them in the entire system.

Keep them numb.

Keep them zombies.

Keep them on the clock.

Continue to degrade their divinity because once they know they're divine,

They will not deal with a lot of this.

When I say sleep helps you wake up,

It helps you wake up to the fact of who you really are,

And they don't want us to know that.

Grind culture has stolen our imagination.

Our thinking is limited because we are deeply disconnected,

Exhausted,

And sleep deprived.

We don't believe we are worthy of anything unless we burn ourselves out to accomplish it.

Focus on the escape.

Focus on the transformation.

You can be free.

You are free.

So you see,

What I'm saying is what's available to us on the other side of healing from burnout and resting and slowing down is magic,

Is potential,

Is endless possibilities,

Is our liberation,

Is our freedom,

Is a whole new world.

And we only get there together.

We need to escape and then help everyone else escape too.

If you need some more inspiration and motivation for what a new world could look like,

Look at Tricia Hersey and her creations and teachings.

Look at Charles Eisenstein,

Who explores new ways to structure the world and economy,

Such as the gift economy,

Which is based on community and reciprocity,

Where the more you give to others,

The richer you are,

Which is basically the opposite of money culture.

But overall,

What I hope you take away from this podcast episode today is you are powerful and divine and worthy and healing from burnout is possible.

Even if you're feeling stuck in the grind,

There are many healing tools available to you right now in this moment.

And changing the outer world starts within.

Healing is possible.

Right relation is possible.

Right relation with our bodies,

With each other,

With our divine masculine and divine feminine within.

Right relation with earth.

It's all possible.

And it starts with each of us doing things differently and going against the status quo and doing the healing work and building community and building new systems and structures that actually prioritize and value people and planet over profits.

What I've laid out in this podcast today is how to survive and heal from burnout while existing in these extractive and exploitative and harmful systems.

But I present this to you today and challenge you to not only learn how to exist within these systems,

But also at the same time to build new systems,

Build new structures,

Create new ways of beings and a new culture.

Let healing from burnout be the bridge to something new and let your healing journey be the bridge to a better world where burnout isn't the norm.

I'll end today with a final quote and message from Tricia Hersey.

Listen close.

It's time to lay down.

It will take deep subversion,

Dreaming,

And community care.

Can I hold your hand telepathically?

May I lay you down on a bed made of love and orchids?

Will you transform and prepare for escape with me?

If you don't participate in the heavy lifting that grind culture demands and things fall apart because of this,

Let it fall.

Trust your body.

Trust spirit.

Trust community.

Trust your divine connection to power.

Trust resurrection.

Trust the infinite ways we can rest.