By Filipa Bellette
Burnout is the new pandemic. It’s everywhere. And because of this, a lot of people have come to feel like “exhaustion” is the norm. But let me tell you: burnout is not normal and it doesn’t have to be this way. I’ve experienced three body burnout episodes and each time I had to go deeper into unlocking the root-cause so I could break the pattern and end my body burnout for good. I hope that as I share my story, it will offer you new insights and also the possibility that you can break-free from burnout as well.
Body Burnout #1: High-Achiever & A Traumatic Birth
In 2012 I had my first baby. Poppy arrived after 15 years of excessive high-achieving, over-doing, perfectionism patterns, culminating in an intense and very stressful five-year period completing my PhD. Let’s just say I was already “burning the candle at both ends”, and Poppy’s traumatic birth and post-birth complications was the tipping point.
Over time I started developing more issues – fatigue, depression, anxiety, heartburn, low-immunity, skin issues, chronic sciatica pain, muscle weakness, chemical sensitivities. When Poppy turned one, I knew my body would continue to fall a part, if I didn’t do something. The GP’s had been no help – all my blood test results were “fine.” I was a new mum, apparently it was “normal” to feel burned-out.
So I started taking my health into my own hands. I completely changed my diet. I ditched processed foods for whole foods. I was sprouting and fermenting and culturing and making everything from scratch. I even studied Nutritional Medicine and became a practitioner. I sought help from naturopaths, remedial therapists, energy healers. All these things helped to some extent, but still I didn’t feel like I’d reached the root of my issues.
Body Burnout #2: Sucked Back Into Overdoing After A Lovely Second Birth
When I had our second baby, Elsie, in 2015, I thought things would be so much better. This time it was a lovely birth and Elsie was a great sleeper. I felt so good that I got sucked back into overdoing patterns just 2-weeks after giving birth. And yep, all my symptoms flared up again – especially the anxiety. It reared its ugly head up with vengeance. I was angry, irritable, and on edge. I was the Dragon Mum. Screaming at my new born baby and toddler (and hubby!) all the time. I even started experiencing panic attacks.
Then I found functional medicine – an integrative medicine approach that combines evidence-based functional lab testing with natural therapies to address body system imbalances and root-causes. It is the medicine of WHY – why are you sick in the first place? I was fascinated that I could test the health of my gut microbiome, my brain chemicals, hormones, mitochondria and detox pathways – body systems that go beyond what regular medical doctors test.
And I was super excited that all these body systems could be healed using natural supplements, diet, lifestyle modifications and environmental changes. I did a mentorship in functional medicine, which first helped me to heal my body – and then to heal others. It was a game-changer! I recovered from body burnout, and was symptom-free for several years. Until COVID.
Body Burnout #3: COVID, Uncertainty & Fear
In 2020 when the COVID pandemic hit, the health issues flared-up again – all the same symptoms, plus insomnia and histamine intolerance. It made sense, I was freaking out about lockdowns and homeschooling and pivoting our business. I was super stressed. As frustrating as it was, I knew I had solved my health issues before, so I ran the lab tests, took the supplements, tidied up my lifestyle. But this time, nothing shifted. At all!
And I realised, once again, that I still hadn’t got to the deepest root-cause of my body burnout patterns. And so I went beyond just treating the physical body, and looked deep into the parts of me I could not see – my unconscious mind, neural pathways and nervous system – and discovered my body wasn’t healing because my whole system was stuck in fight-or-flight.
The deeper root beneath this was very deep-seated and hidden unconscious core beliefs I had about myself, that I was weak and incapable. Beliefs I’d created as a child, that had literally been causing my addictive-doing, over-achieving, perfectionism patterns and my mental and physical burnout.
As I went deeper into reprogramming and rewiring the baggage stuck in my body and unconscious mind, I was not only able to free myself from “busy” burnout patterns and live with more flow and ease, but my symptoms literally switched off too.
You can Heal Too!
It takes a holistic approach to heal from body burnout. When working with clients now, I first look at where their symptoms are coming from at a body systems level – let’s run some tests and identify what is contributing to your health issues. And then we start addressing root-causes – lifestyle and environment is important, but deeper rewiring within your unconscious is what enables you to be able to heal – and stay well long term.
Filipa Bellette, author of Ending Body Burnout ($29.95), is an accredited Clinical Nutritionist, Functional Medicine Practitioner, Coach, Trauma Therapist & PhD Scholar. She is co-founder of multi award-winning health practice Chris & Filly Functional Medicine, best known for ending body burnout (for good!) in “busy” people with energy, mood & gut issues. Find out more at www.chrisandfilly.fm.
