Daily Telegraph - Experts on how to avoid career burnout

Along with burnout comes continued flooding of our bodies with the stress hormone; cortisol. This in turn puts both our mental and physical health at risk, with our chances of experiencing everything from depression to digestive issues increasing. Normal tasks can also become a struggle, including ones that previously gave brought you joy. Maybe you have always loved going out with friends, but suddenly you’re finding you don’t have the energy for it. And if you go, you are not present, you don’t get the same enjoyment from it.

In a society that values super-human achievement, where YouTubers peddling productivity hacks have millions of followers, it is no surprise that burnout is on the increase. Constantly over-stimulated by social media's ever-present glow, we are forever striving - chasing the next promotion, the Elle Decor home, the best school for our kids. In the workplace, a culture of competitiveness and strict targets contributes further to the urge to keep ‘doing’. The very notion that we might just stop, just be, produces extreme discomfort, making us grab for the ‘to-do’ list.

But this is unsustainable. Humans are not built to be hyper-alert 24 hours a day. Chronic stress and burnout become inevitable when high levels of adrenaline and cortisol are constantly surging through our bodies. To be healthy and resilient we need downtime. We need space for social connection and support. We need moments of reflection. Indeed, these ingredients are crucial for good health and optimum performance.

Stress isn't just in the mind, it's in the body, too – and this is where the mind-body connection comes in.

When we are able to release muscle tension, the nervous system can also calm down, which allows us to become more balanced.

Working somatically has an effect on our nervous system and gives us an extra bonus:

Giving our constantly busy minds a rest!

As “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, I urge everybody to give their body a chance to de-stress.

This could be going for a run or “shaking it off” as I teach TRE (Tension Releasing Exercises) – a stress release tool, once learned is a tool for life and one can feel better after just a few minutes.

Absolutely nothing fancy, nothing woo-woo – just our body's innate reaction to deal with stress. You've seen the shaking process in dogs – and they don't get burnouts!

More than happy to talk to you about it.