How to Prevent Back to School Burnout

Back to school, the waning of the light, the shortening of the days: autumn beckons. What do you think of when you think “fall”? Pumpkin spiced lattes brewing, or packed schedules with carpool lanes? Excitement, exhaustion, or a mix of both?

Fall is when I begin to emerge from my fallow time of the summer. Summer has always for me been that time of year of stopping, of observing, of slowing down, of dedicated family time, of reduced schedules, and allowing the heat and humidity of Central PA summers to be the invitation to the poolside. Summer break for our family has never been my favorite season–I’m a service-oriented person who does best with a regular rhythm and schedule to my life. I imagine it has something to do with being a Libra sun baby, where my solar light is birthed and emerges just as the cosmic daylight is submerging. As a therapist and healer who most days observes silence as sacred and inner work as necessary, I think this fits!

September is also the month, besides January, I get the most requests for soul care and therapy. I think we all have ingrained in us a “back to school” energies of when we feel ready to do “the work.” We also have to be careful we don’t take too much on, despite the sense of waning sunlight that can for some of us feel like we have limited time. Perhaps this is the invitation to deepen into our soul and self care strategies and relationships that sustain us–regardless of what season we “come alive.”

Those of us in the wellness or service community—the Helpers and Healers out there—are very susceptible to feeling overwhelmed, stressed, anxious. We can feel burdened by others’ needs, responsibilities, and our unending to-do list. Lest we fall into the trap of losing another weekend to work instead of savoring your tea with a loved one or pet, here are a few tips to get you started on your own summer wellness care:

Assess those boundaries–notice what your gut, your heart, your mind “says” when you think about the quality and quantity of your resources: your time, your energy, your commitments. Give yourself the day at work, and when it’s over, hang it up. This may take some finagling on your part, communicating with peers and being clear about your needs. Who can support you in establishing these boundaries?

Recognize where your attention is—and practice pulling it back to the mo moment. Mindfulness is a state of the soul–embodied in our heartbeat, and breath—and is accessible at ANY time! You can be mindful RIGHT NOW–take a deep belly breath, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Take a deep, restful sigh. Notice your sensations in your body, any tension, or any less-tense places. Notice your thoughts right now, whether they be racing–or slower. Notice what the air is like on your skin, or the sounds in the room. Just notice. And breathe. Welcome back.

Notice More. Have you ever found yourself instead of focusing on what you’re doing, instead mentally immersed in a heated conversation that happened earlier in the day? Perhaps notice the light of the sun as it casts shadows in its lengthy decent of autumn–and savor in that moment. In light of your work with being mindful, we don’t want potential times of presence to pass us by.

Practice attending to your thoughts—and the quality of their truth. We deserve to tell ourselves positive things, yet sometimes we are our harshest critic. When you take time to relax and recharge, give yourself permission, and give yourself a mental pat on the back. You deserve it. Hint: this is hard work for high achievers!  A great way to get started is think about what you’d say to a good friend and say it to yourself instead—even if you don’t believe it.

Allow in gratitude. So your week had snags, your kids got sick, or your work got in the way of being able to take time off. Practice gratitude and self-compassion in those moments, as hard as that can be at times. Being grateful not only changes our mood, it can change momentum in our lives. If we want success and happiness in our lives, it starts here.

Recommit to your community. Lean into your supports. Who do you need to reconnect with? What group lifts you when you are with them? Allow in your community if you’ve drunk too much the kool-aid of independence over interdependence. It’s a fallacy. You’re not an island. Allow others to care for you, too.

Establishing ourselves and our soul-self care in light of this season, we can reclaim not just time but a reconnection to people and things that matter–the allow us to feel presence, where joy and contentment can arise.