Break Free from Burnout: Identifying and Releasing Emotional Burdens

Feeling weighed down by daily demands? The accumulation of unacknowledged stress, emotions, ruminating thoughts and responsibilities can be overwhelming. All of the things we stuff down (emotions, feelings, thoughts, resentment, guilt, shame, anger, overwhelm, stress, etc) gets stored in our bodies. What I refer to here as the invisible backpack.

Our invisible backpack is stuffed full and then we wonder why our shoulders and necks hurt, why we’re short-tempered and always exhausted. Most people, especially busy moms, don’t have time to empty the backpack. Instead, we shove it down (and more) in order to show up for everyone else.

I’ve been there. It was overwhelming, and I felt like no one was there for me while I had to be there for everyone else. I commonly felt resentful, unsupported, unappreciated, irritated, and angry.

Yet, I discovered the root cause of these feelings and want to share the solution with you. The root cause is that I was disconnected from my true Self, my Soul, Divinity. The solutions I share in this post are intended to reconnect you with your Soul by learning how to identify and release the burdens keeping you from your Soul so you can feel like your Self again (or maybe for the first time). 

I invite you to continue reading to learn more and check out the associated video for this blog.

Here’s what we’re covering in this post:

• The Invisible Backpack and Its Impact On Your Life
• What Happens When You Stuff Everything Down In The Backpack (You’re not alone)
• The Results Of Shoving More Into The Backpack
• Emptying the Backpack – Steps to Start Feeling Like Yourself Again

As a mom who has navigated the overwhelming demands of family and work, I understand the struggle to find balance without burnout. This post will help you rediscover your true self amidst the chaos.

So let’s get started!

The Invisible Backpack and Its Impact On Your Life 

In busy day-to-day life, your backpack can get overstuffed rather quickly. There’s getting the kids to and from school, a full day of work, dinner, dishes, laundry, bills, kids homework, appointments, and life.

Each demand and request is typically fulfilled with little to no support or appreciation.

Every “I’m fine” or “I’m good” stated throughout the day can leave you with a twinge of knowing you’re not. There’s too much to do. Too much overwhelm, stress, and things on your to-do list. Which can leave you feeling stuck or lost.

Do you find yourself…

• Feeling disconnected from yourself
• Yearning for something different
• Realizing you may not want what you’ve worked so hard for but don’t have the time to discover what you really want

Do you struggle with…

• Strained relationships
• Frustration at work
• Yelling at the kids
• Overthinking/overanalyzing
• Not trusting or valuing yourself
• Not believing in your full potential or fear of failure

These are symptoms of an overstuffed backpack. Do you feel like your backpack has reached full capacity?

I know your life can change, I am a living testament.

Since reconnecting to my true Self through healing my life has never been the same. My relationships with my children are amazing – I don’t feel like the out-of-control mom who yells all the time. I have patience and compassion for myself and others. I am well rested and have energy to do things for me.

If you want more room in your life for something new, something you really want, we’ve got to empty the backpack. We do this through healing and healing will change your life. I guarantee it. At the end of this post is a gift to support your healing journey.

What Happens When You Stuff Everything Down In The Backpack

Many of us have been taught to stuff everything down in the backpack, not to share/show our emotions or how we really feel. We’ve been taught to do everything for everyone else at the expense of our own well-being. Then we wonder why we explode or feel lost or stuck.

Here are some reactions from shoving down the feelings of being unsupported.

• Yell about how the house is a mess
• Yell at the kids out of frustration, can’t take on another thing
• Yell at the kids when you are really just mad/frustrated with your husband
• Ask for help from a place of resentment
• Make passive-aggressive comments or say “I’m fine” to your partner when you’re not
• Put yourself last and justify it because everything else needs to get done
• Explode when it gets to be too much
• Shut down and walk away (close yourself off)
• Overwork to avoid feeling (justifying the extra hours because there is so much that needs to get done)
• Engulf yourself in social media or tv

What actions do you take to avoid how you truly feel and keep everything stuffed down in the backpack?

The way we overreact to our children, partner, or work bubbles up from the invisible backpack. What’s bubbling up is unresolved trauma. We overreact to the situation or person in front of us, which is typically not the source of our pain. We are taking out our pain on others.

The true source of our overreaction, is commonly known to be childhood trauma. However, as a spiritual scholar I study the impacts of past life trauma and support past life healing. Here’s what I have found in my academic research and know based on my professional experience – the trauma doesn’t just dissolve and if we don’t heal it, the trauma gets passed on.

However, you have the power to transform your life and the lives of your loved ones through healing. I have experienced it and help others experience it daily. We don’t want to keep shoving more into the backpack but that’s what typically happens when we don’t make time for healing.

The Results Of Shoving More Into The Backpack

When we react from unresolved trauma it can result in behavior we don’t admire and continue the cycle…

• Kids shutting down / feeling hurt/sad/ angry
• Guilt for yelling at the kids
• Guilt for exploding/shutting down
• Blame/shame/criticize yourself
• Strained relationship with your partner
• Exhaustion from always having to do it on your own /choosing to do it on your own because there is a belief that it is easier than asking for help
• Fatigue from the constant overwhelming thoughts and emotions
• Self-criticism/justification of your own thoughts/actions
• Burnout with work/home, never being able to shut off
• Overwhelm from taking it all on by yourself
• Feeling unsupported again!
• Staying in this never-ending cycle and don’t know a way out.

What are the results of shoving it all down in the backpack?

Here’s what you need to know. You are human and have a full spectrum of emotions. It is natural and normal to experience all of your emotions. If you feel stressed it may induce more reactions because you are reacting from the sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight/freeze)

When stress turns to burnout the reactions can increase. If you are feeling burned out… you’re not alone.

93% of mothers reported feeling burned out, at least occasionally and 43% of mothers feel unsupported.*

Tired of living in these cycles? Want to feel like you again? Or, as one woman told me, “I just want to feel like me for the first time in my life.” 

If you’re ready for another way it may be time to unpack the backpack so you can start to feel lighter, less stressed, and more like you!

Steps to Start Feeling Like Yourself Again – Emptying the Backpack:

In years of my healing, supporting overachieving women and moms, and in holistic education, I have discovered the root cause of why we don’t feel like ourselves is because we are disconnected from our true Self, our authentic Self, our Soul. 

There are many reasons for this including societal conditioning, religion, culture, unworthiness, demands, expectations, degradation/oppression of women, and many more. However, the cure, the solution is to reconnect to your Soul.

Most of us have spent a lifetime doing, saying, and being who everyone else wants us to be. If you want to feel like you again, you have to get to know yourself and the struggles and cycles that need healing. The patterns that keep you from you, your Soul. We need to understand what keeps bubbling up from the backpack. And this requires us to do things differently. 

It’s natural to have concerns about making changes. You might think you don’t have time or fear that things won’t improve. Yet, time for yourself and feeling good is possible! I know from experience, both in my life and with my clients! It’s taken time, but I feel like me. I get to do what I love, and I get time for myself every day.

3-Step Rediscovery Process for Emptying the Backpack: 

By acknowledging and addressing the invisible backpack, you can reduce stress, improve your mental, emotional, and physical well being, and reconnect with your true Self.

Unpacking the invisible backpack you’ve been carrying requires awareness and intentional action. In my best-selling book Reclaim Your Self, I share how to heal overwhelming thoughts, emotions, and behaviors through the 3-Step Rediscovery Process. 

Through years of holistic education and healing on myself and my clients I developed the 3-Step Rediscovery Process, which is a beautiful anchor that can guide your healing in just minutes a day.  Throughout this process I invite you to extend compassion to yourself. As you answer the questions below, trust what comes to you. 

Here are the three steps:

Step 1: Realize – Become Aware

• I have an invisible backpack and there’s a cycle I keep re-living.
• When thoughts and feelings are triggered when you think about what keeps coming up from the backpack?
• Goal: Become aware of what you feel.

Step 2: Reconnect to Yourself – Honor and accept how you feel

• Breath deeply, inhaling fully and exhaling fully. Do this a few times and then ask yourself:
  • When is the first time I remember feeling this feeling?
  • What thoughts were present?
  • What emotions did I experience?
  • Where do I feel these thoughts/emotions in my body?

Step 3: Release – Listen to What You Need, Forgive, and Bring In Unconditional Love

• Listen to what you need… based on what you learned in step two… What do the physical, mental, and emotional parts of me need?
• What do I need at this moment to feel supported?
• I would feel set free if I forgive ______. (The answer can be yourself)
• How can I love and support myself now?

What’s Possible for Your Life: 

I know your life can change, I am a living testament.

On top of having great relationships with my family and friends, having patience and compassion for myself and others, and feeling more energized than ever. My career has completely shifted – I left my corporate engineering career, wrote a best selling book, and get to support amazing women who truly desire to change their lives, live happier, and more fulfilled. I am living my dreams.

I want this for you too! If you’re ready to go deeper, stop overthinking, and find inner peace. I invite you to read my book Reclaim Your Self offers step-by-step guidance for reclaiming your time, energy, and ultimately your Self.

This book will help you:

• Shift your mindset and rediscover your needs and wants. 
• Feel supported on your journey of motherhood and work
• Have the tools to heal old patterns that keep you stuck in people pleasing and guilt
• Learn how to manage stress, healing overwhelming emotions, and overcome obsessive thoughts 
• Remembering your worth and rediscovering who YOU are.

Invest in yourself and start your journey to rediscovering you today.

Take Your Journey Deeper with Rooted Resources

Unlock access to our empowering digital courses, guides, workbooks, and meditations by donating to Rooted In Worth. Your investment supports your personal growth and self-discovery journey while also helping other women embrace their true selves and achieve their dreams.