Why we’re burnt out…And why vacations aren’t the fix…

Welcome to a space on the internet where you can say it out loud:
life is hard, and you’re exhausted.

Maybe you’re not sleeping properly, but you’re getting just enough rest to function. Or maybe you spend all week looking forward to the weekend - to the rest you hope will reset you - only to find you can’t switch off. Or perhaps you’ve reached the point where you know you’re burnt out, but you genuinely can’t see a way out.

I know so many extraordinary, high-functioning people. Leaders. Business owners. Creatives. People with an incredible capacity to carry a lot - and often, they do it brilliantly. But I also see how many of them live with chronic stress, anxiety, panic attacks, and endless stress loops, where the mind never really settles and the body never truly comes down - even during supposed rest.

So… why is that?

Because somewhere along the way, we were sold a con.
We were told that rest would fix everything.

I’d go further and say this: we were sold the wrong definition of rest.

That’s not to say the things we reach for - weekends, holidays, switching off - can’t be restorative. They can. But on their own, they don’t create the deep reset so many of us are desperately searching for.

Because rest isn’t about what the external can give you, so MAKE you feel rested.
Rest is internal.

A holiday can offer beautiful opportunities for rest, but unless your body and nervous system are able to change pace and receive that rest, it simply becomes a change of scenery - one where your body continues to operate in stress.

This is where the nervous system comes in.

Your nervous system - the communication network between your brain and body - holds everything you’re moving through. It’s doing its best to keep you safe, moment by moment. And one of the biggest myths we’ve been taught is that mental and physical health are separate. They’re not. They never were.

Over and over again, I see a clear parallel between high achievers and nervous system dysregulation.

What does that mean?
It means the body is spending more time in stress responses than in safety responses.

Ironically, those stress responses can increase output and capacity in the short term - which is why driven people often “succeed” while burning out. But this isn’t a healthy stretch. It’s a burnout cycle. And staying there long-term takes a real toll on both body and mind.

One of the most influential elements of my work in trauma-informed somatic practice has been neuroaesthetics.

What’s that? I hear you say….

In simple terms: It’s the impact of our environments to either reinforce stress or support safety.

Our homes, offices, bedrooms, kitchens - all of them create sensory input that our nervous system responds to automatically. This isn’t about style or trends. It’s about how space, light, sound, texture, and layout support (or hinder) our ability to regulate, to down-shift, and to come out of survival mode, which more of us live in than we realise.

When our environment isn’t supporting regulation, even our best attempts at rest can fall flat.

I have so much more to say about this - and I’ll be sharing more as this space evolves - but for now, I’ll leave you with this:

• If rest hasn’t been working, what do you think your nervous system might still be carrying?

• What if your exhaustion isn’t a personal failure, but a nervous system responding to prolonged stress - and your environment isn’t helping you recover?

• And what if there is a way to thrive - to grow, lead, and stretch - without burning yourself into the ground?

This blog is shifting toward deeper conversations around nervous system health, trauma-informed awareness, environment, leadership, and slower, safer, more sustainable ways to thrive.

I’m really glad you’re here,

Natanya xx

If you’re interested in reading more about the journey I’ve been on to arrive to all of the above - click here:

If you resonate with anything at all that I’ve written above, and you’d be interested in making some changes - I’d love for you to head to link below and see if you’d like to join the next Cohort on the Rooted and Rested coaching program!