3 Things Burn-Out has Taught Me

Our society is plagued with a plethora of symptoms that are outnumbering the cures the pharma industry is producing. Around 60% of the people in the US are suffering from burn-out, of which the highest burn-out rate appears among physicians. The very people supposed to help others are suffering the system more than anyone.

When burn-out strikes, there is nothing you can hold on to. It starts to slowly deplete your energy, your state of mind and your personality. Often times leaving us confused and unsure about what to do. Like: What was that? A tornado?

I had a burn-out when I was 25, but in fact it wasn´t really a burn-out. It was a spiritual awakening (I blame the every day Kundalini Yoga on it) that stopped me in my tracks of becoming a journalist to not adapt to a pre-set path in society. It synchronised my life instead (or well, let everything fall apart that wasn’t true to me), so that I would become a DJ, leave University and years later move to India, run dance sessions in the Himalayas and start coaching people. The burn-out prompted me to leave University to follow my passion, from playing one gig in a bar to a gig in front of 1000 people in one of the best clubs in Barcelona. Before that I didn´t even consider Djing a Job.

The burn-out was one of the most profound experiences, because it taught me three things:

1. Not everything we do and think is great, is actually good for our Soul (I was convinced becoming a journalist in Spain was my destiny)
2. There is millions of possibilities out there to live our dream and make money with it (seeing night life as a real business was a game changer, because it gave me infinitely more Joy)
3. Seeing burn-out as an opportunity to say ‘F*** it’ can bring unexpected synchronicities

If I hadn´t said: What the eff, I can`t go back to University (my body was striking) and since everything is falling apart, I´ll just go partying every night, I hadn´t met the person that introduced me to the bookers of the best clubs. A stroke of luck. Coincidence? Maybe. And that with no official DJ experience. I had a music magazine with friends, but not a track record of DJ gigs. When we start walking towards our passions, doors open.

The main problem everyone facing a burn-out is: They are hustling too hard. They overuse their masculine energy and deplete the feminine. Which leads to adrenal fatigue, too much testosterone in the body and too little progesterone to balance it out. For me it was too much thinking and theoretical writing, and too little creative expression. Let´s call it the inner Moon and Sun. If the Sun is always shining and the Moon never gets its turn, there is a problem. Nature goes in cycles and these follow action and inaction like day and night.

When the inner masculine is always on, the constant action mode gives too much power to the mind. When the mind is hyper busy, the body can not rest, and our energy does not restore. Let alone being able to feel the subtle messages of the body, because all our energy is in the head! The job of the inner feminine is to play, create and rest. Do things just for the joy of it! When any or all of these are lacking, we are out of balance. And no amount of yoga, meditation or gym training can help us to balance that in the long run, because we are missing the essentials:

1. Take action and go for what you want (aka work)
2. Then disconnect and do stuff that’s pure pleasure (aka rest, be creative, hang out with friends, do things that fill your Soul)

Or both in combination. Knowing what we love and what our passions are is crucial, but even then we can run into burn-out, if our passions become our jobs and there is nothing left to balance that in our free time. It took me some trial and error to figure out how to balance passion with stability. When I´m fully connected to my passion, it need time away from it as well, because the energy is at an all time high. I found a healthy balance of fiery passion and grounded talent based activities to work the best for me, like DJing and coaching. Parties and real life. I need a balance between Joy and creativity and mind based logical activities that give me the feeling of I´m challenging myself and I´m growing.

Honoring the masculine and feminine aspects within. Hence I´m not only DJing, but also producing events, coaching people on Soul Alignment, meditation and dance, plus writing. There is different layers to each activity and I need them all, otherwise I feel off, no matter what I earn. I can distinctly tell when something is missing. And I can see it in the blink of an eye in another person. The essence of the Soul is something that palpable. If that is depleted, there is not much energy left for the person to go after what they need.

What I observed with people that have a burn-out is that they fall into either of these three categories:

1. They found themselves on the spiritual path right afterwards, because it´s in Soul alignment where they find their healing
2. They entered a completely new field of career, or
3. They went back to the old and prepared for the next burn-out

One way or the other, the burn-out shifted the perspective and the outlook on life. I see everything in life as a metaphor, so when I work with people I always ask them what the moment of destruction has shown to them. Did it become clear that the job was not in alignment with their needs? Did it become obvious that rest is not a luxury but an essential part of life? Did they notice that whatever they were doing was not fulfilling, because they were not listening to their heart?

It´s a tough questions to be asked, because what everyone is most afraid of is change. Expanding into unknown territory. Leaving the old behind. Trying out the number one thing that they are most afraid of at failing. And often the mind is so cunning, it even prevents us from understanding what that actually is.

It took me two years to calm down before a DJ gig. I was dying every single time. I messed up a lot in the beginning, but the reward of being one with everything while doing it was greater than anything they can teach at University. And so I kept going, finding out along the way how the business side of it works and how to become tech savvy, which I simply wasn’t.

Now I can almost go without practicing and know that it`ll work. I still get the same fears and physical reactions though, when I enter a new field I haven´t touched before and there seems to be something in there for me. Like pitching to mentors in a Start-Up School. Speaking in front of big groups.

Just because our Soul has a passion, it doesn´t mean the mind has nothing to do with it. They both need to work together in head-heart coherence. The heart gives the signal, the vision, the mind has to figure out the steps.

So I´m asking your right here: If your burn-out was your spiritual awakening, what would the message be for you?

Follow your passion and life will follow you.