My favorite part of planning for another year of support groups is the reminiscing it inspires of past group experiences. I remember a time when I asked participants in a Burnout Group for Women about the emotions that came up after they sat for a period of solitude in nature. I expected to hear a variety of feelings, but instead, the universal response was simply, “I felt calm.” Giving ourselves permission to stop and listen to the birds or to let a breeze blow the weight off our shoulders is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves. It is also one of the most difficult choices because of the societal messages we’ve internalized about the importance of tasks, productivity, and goals. The doing rather than the being.
Sitting for 20 minutes examining a single blade of grass can be viewed at the onset as a “silly waste of time.” And yet, I witness often the way women benefit once they’ve been brave enough to practice being still. The intrusive thoughts are less frequent. They find themselves growing more present. It gets easier to come to a support group, to stay outside, to finally prioritize themselves. The very nature of burnout is that our minds and body have shut down after a prolonged exposure to chronic stress. This means it takes time to re-calibrate our bodies and to heal our nervous systems so we can, once again, feel at ease. This process takes longer than we often expect, but the commitment pays off. My hope is that we get to meet more women from the community this year who are ready to rebel against the unrealistic standards placed on us by society. Placed on us by ourselves. We will welcome all new members with open arms and bare feet.
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