Are you feeling squeezed by life and more edgy, anxious, and tired than you’d like to admit?

If so, you might be dealing with burnout.

I’m Dr. Crystal Frazee, a women’s burnout recovery and resilience expert with over 15 years of experience dedicated to figuring this out so that smart women like you don’t have to continue suffering. I created this guide to walk you through a practical process to reclaim your time, energy, and attention so you can end overwhelm and enjoy this life you’ve worked so hard to build

I understand the practical challenges of running a business, pursuing a career, and raising a family with minimal support. It’s intense. It’s through my own journey and in partnership with hundreds of female coaching clients that I’ve realized the ingredients to persevere and rebound from burnout. 

From what I can tell, this work stands apart from anything else out there because of two specific reasons: 

First, it’s centered around a feminist approach. Truth bomb! The long term stress you’ve faced is not your fault. I’ll show you a broader lens to understand how things got this way and how to resolve it, one that points to the unconscious cultural conditioning that distracts women from what matters most – our deepest truths, our personal desires, and our inherent worthiness to fulfill them. 

Second, this work is powerful efficient and effective because I take a body based, trauma informed approach to helping you get out of your head and into your body. In some respects, your mind can’t be trusted. Yes, you’re whip smart and a top performer, but your mind continuously over estimates what you can and “should” do. It also tunes out your body’s messages which is your most valuable asset to ending your burnout and building stress resilience for good. 

In this guide, you’ll get a taste of the Somatic Attunement Method the result of years of medical training and exploration of body based therapeutic techniques. It’s designed to answer your deepest questions with frank answers and give you the integrated solution you can’t find anywhere else. 

I’m honored you are choosing to spend your precious time here. My intention is to provide easily available support that truly honors what you’re going through. 

Burnout recovery is like peeling back layers of an onion. It happens in stages and at the pace of developing new body awareness. You have done many hard things and you can do this. Move through the guide one chapter at a time. Look into my private offers if you get stuck.  

With love and truth, always,

Crystal

Chapters

Chapter 1

How To Tell If I’m Burned Out?

So you’ve realized you aren’t feeling like yourself lately. Your body is wired and tired and your mind is both sluggish and scattered. Most likely nothing extreme has changed in your life (or maybe it has) so what exactly is going on?

First, let me say that while you can find plenty of quizzes online that claim to diagnose your burnout in one minute, it’s not that simple. 

You are a unique person with a childhood past, professional work pattern, and life circumstances, unlike anyone else. There is no 10-question quiz that can explain exactly what’s going on or how you got here. You and I know there is a subtle nuance to your story.

Let’s start with the technical definition of burnout. Then you’ll ask yourself some basic questions about your schedule because having an overloaded schedule is a big contributor to burnout. Lastly in this section, you’ll identify the specific symptoms you’re having to paint the full picture of what you’re experiencing. 

Clinical Researchers Have Identified

3 Primary Signs of Burnout

Emotional Exhaustion

Definition: The fatigue that comes from caring too much for too long.

This probably rings a bell for you because in general women tend to spend much of their time and energy concerned about everyone else’s wellbeing. Caring for everyone’s need leads to emotional exhaustion over time. 

Also, many women are the obligatory “problem solvers” at work and home, adapting to life’s challenges by “fixing” or “handling” things. Too often that mental heavy lifting goes unnoticed and unappreciated which can lead to unaddressed feelings of resentment, grief, and anger. 

Decreased Sense of Accomplishment

Definition: The unconquerable sense of futility of feeling that nothing you do makes any difference.

You may relate to this if you feel like you just want to run away to a deserted island.

You might relate to this if you feel like no matter how hard you work, it’s not enough. You can never dig yourself out. It’s exhausting to imagine continuing on with things as they are.

Depersonalization

Definition: The depletion of empathy, caring and compassion.

You’ll recognize this if basically you feel numbed to the world around you. Life feels surreal and you are just going through the motions.You just don’t have the capacity to care about what is happening to other people. 

Can you relate to these three signs of burnout? Is one more significant for you than the others?

These signs are related to long term, high levels of stress that are straining your adrenals and your body’s ability to rebound. It’s not permanent! Things can get better with the right strategy for you!

Can Your Schedule Reveal Burnout?

Let’s look at burnout a diffident way, by examining your schedule. As you’ve gotten older, you’ve probably taken on more responsibilities without any increased bandwidth or support. Telltale signs of burnout will show up in your daily schedule.

Answer the following questions with a “yes” or “no.”

1. Are you getting 7-9 hours of consistent, restful sleep?
2. Are you waking up feeling like your “body battery” is fully charged (vs still drained)?
3. How many hours do you work per day on average with your job? Less than 9?
4. Do you have unscheduled blocks in your work day of 10 minutes or longer (not including lunch)?
5. Do you have a specific routine to help you transition from work into your home life?
6. Do you participate in weekly hobbies?
7. Do you have time to be with friends one to one or in a small group at least monthly?
8. Do you spend time in nature daily/weekly?
9. Do you tend to schedule yourself knowing you’ll have to multi-task (i.e. take calls while driving)?
10. When you have free time, are you able to feel relaxed (vs feeling wound up)?

The more questions you answered with a “yes” the better. If you answered “no” to more than 3 questions it’s a yellow flag for burnout. If you answered “no” to 4 or more then it’s a red flag and you are likely already experiencing detrimental impacts of high stress and burnout.

Do You Recognize These Symptoms of Burnout?

I don’t actually like the word “symptoms,” but I know it’s a widely used and understood term. Symptoms are actually just messages from your body to communicate how well it’s functioning.

Most women agree that when they are functioning optimally they feel the following qualities:

• • Physically energized and strong
  • Mentally clear and creative
  • Emotionally grounded, content, and confident

Since you’re here on this page, you’re probably feeling something other than that. Take a closer look at what messages your body is communicating by referencing the list below. Write down the ones that apply on a sheet of paper. Note: these are separated into 3 categories: physical, mental, and emotional. Understanding that will be important when we get into recovering from burnout. 

Emotional

Irritability

Feeling Alone

Increased Self-Doubt

Nervousness

Getting Triggered Easily

Feeling Anxious

Sadness/Grieving

Mood Instability

If you recognize some of these symptoms in yourself, and if you answered ‘no’ to some of the questions above on your schedule, then you are probably dealing with burnout. The good news for you is that you have found your way to me and this site. My passion and mission is to help bad ass women like you recover from burnout and build the skills to avoid it in the future by cultivating a lifestyle of resilience. 

The rest of this multipe chapter article will help you better understand some of the specific issues of burnout and how you can begin recovering.