Beyond Exhaustion: How to Spot Burnout and Let Ayurveda Restore You
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Have you ever felt so tired that even after a good night’s sleep, you still wake up drained? Or noticed that tasks you once enjoyed now feel like heavy chores? Maybe you’ve lost motivation, joy, and even the desire to connect with people you love.
We often brush these experiences aside, telling ourselves it’s “just a busy week”, “I’m just exhausted” or “stress from work.” But what if it’s something deeper?
Ayurveda teaches us that there’s a big difference between simple exhaustion and full-blown burnout. Knowing which one you’re dealing with changes everything.
You might ask, ‘ok, how do I know?’ So let’s look at the definitions first.
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What is Exhaustion?
The Oxford Dictionary defines exhaustion as “a state of extreme physical or mental fatigue.”
It’s common, and usually the body’s normal way of asking for rest after periods of activity, effort, or emotional intensity.
Here is an example from last week. We were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. The entire week was full of prep work — getting the garden ready, cooking, tying up all the little details. On top of it, we were in the middle of a heatwave.
On the day itself, we were up early, final cleaning, welcoming people, and making sure everyone was taken care of. By evening, my body was begging for a break; I just wanted everyone to leave so I could finally crawl into bed.
The next day, I was still tired. I had planned to catch up on work, but couldn’t bring myself to start. It wasn’t until later that afternoon that I felt my energy slowly return.
That’s exhaustion: your body tells you it’s spent, you take time to rest, and bit by bit your vitality comes back.
What is Burnout?
Burnout, on the other hand, is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress.”
It’s what happens when we’ve been exhausted for too long and ignored the signs, pushing through when our body or mind wants a pause.
Here, even after sleeping, you still wake up tired. Small tasks feel monumental. The joy and lightness you once had seem to be gone. You might snap at loved ones over the smallest things.
And burnout isn’t just for overworked professionals. Parents, caregivers, partners — anyone who’s been pouring from an empty cup for too long — can find themselves here.
It’s not a sign of weakness; it’s a sign you’ve been strong for too long without enough nourishment.
How Ayurveda understands Burnout
Ayurveda, the world’s oldest holistic health system, sees burnout as a depletion of ojas, your deepest reserve of vitality. It also affects the doshas — the biological energies formed by the five elements — differently, showing up in the body and mind in unique ways.
Vata, consisting of the space and air elements, governs movement, communication, and the nervous system. When out of balance, we feel fear, anxiety, restlessness, and may experience physical symptoms such as dry skin, hair, or lips, joint pains, bloating, gas, constipation, and dehydration.
It often begins here: too many responsibilities, uncertainty, lack of rhythm. We slip into fight-or-flight mode and get stuck there.Pitta, made up of fire and water, governs transformation and intensity. When Pitta takes over, we become short-fused, easily irritated, overly critical or perfectionistic. Mentally, there might be frustration, impatience, and a feeling that nothing is ever good enough. Physically, this can show up as headaches, skin flare-ups, heartburn, or loose stools.
Pitta-dominant people often ignore tiredness, pushing past hunger and sleep, cutting down their social life to stay on top of work — until one day they can’t.
Picture a wildfire. What begins as a small spark (Pitta) gets fanned by the wind (Vata). The more wind, the bigger the fire — until eventually everything feels burnt up and burned out.Kapha, formed by earth and water, might later manifest as the final stage: heaviness, emotional dullness, withdrawal, and a complete lack of motivation.
Healing Burnout with Ayurveda: Why Quick Fixes fall short
A hot bath, a glass of wine, or a Netflix marathon might feel soothing in the moment, but true healing takes longer.
Ayurveda teaches that it takes as long to come out of an imbalance as it took to create it.
If you’ve been living in this depleted state for months or even years, small, daily steps will slowly guide you back, deeper than any instant fix ever could.
7 Ways to heal from Burnout — the Ayurvedic Way
These suggestions are not meant to be tackled all at once. In fact, trying to do so could leave you feeling even more overwhelmed. Pick one or two that feel easiest to weave into your life right now — the practices that resonate most.
Or simply start from the top of the list and work your way down, giving yourself a full week (or more) to consistently integrate each new habit before adding another. This gentle, steady approach is what creates real, lasting change.
01 Go to Bed early
Heading to bed by 10 pm syncs your body with the calming Kapha time of evening. This simple shift grounds the mind, supports digestion, and allows for true rest.
02 Sip hot Water throughout the Day
Hot water keeps digestion kindled without aggravating Vata. It opens up the channels, keeps tissues hydrated, and calms the nervous system in a subtle, profound way. PLUS, it keeps the snacking at bay.
03 Eat more Sattvic Foods
Ayurveda groups food by how it affects the mind.
Sattvic food (steamed seasonal vegetables, warm grains, ghee, soaked almonds, sweet fruits) keeps the mind calm, steady, and clear.
Rajasic food (overly spicy or sour) agitates the mind, stirring restlessness and cravings.
Tamasic food (stale, processed, heavy) dulls mental clarity and can worsen feelings of inertia.
Sattvic foods nourish all the tissues and slowly rebuild ojas, your core vitality, while keeping the mind steady.
👉 Read more about Sattvic Food here and learn about the gunas and how they stir the mind.
Need inspiration? Try this simple kitchari recipe or a soothing mung dal dish — both easy on digestion and deeply nourishing.
04 Build a steady Daily Routine
Especially for Vata, structure and regularity are medicine. Try waking, eating, working, and sleeping at roughly the same times each day. This predictability signals safety to your nervous system and reduces stress for the body. We might not feel it, but our body gets stressed if we don’t provide it with regular meals.
05 Practise restorative Yoga and calming Breathing Techniques
Restorative Yoga offers deep rest by guiding awareness inward and helping release held tension. Breathing practices like 3-part breathing or just deep abdominal breathing, focusing on longer exhales than inhales (as described in Yoga Sutras 1.34), calm the mind and ease the body out of fight-or-flight.
New to restorative Yoga? Try one of these restorative sessions.
06 Self-massage with warm Oil
A daily abhyanga (oil massage) is deeply grounding. It nourishes the nervous system, calms scattered thoughts, and brings comfort, especially soothing for Vata and cooling for Pitta. Use warm sesame oil for Vata dosha and warm coconut oil for Pitta dosha during the summer months. Sesame oil for all during the cold months.
07 Free write and Journal
Free writing helps empty the mind, letting uncensored thoughts pour onto the page. Journaling then allows you to process emotions and bring clarity. If you have strong Pitta tendencies, you might find relief in creating a to-do list for the coming day, but be sure to also schedule in rest.
✍️ Also, try jotting down a few things you’ve already done today — no matter how small. This simple shift changes your focus from what’s missing to what’s complete, easing that constant sense of falling behind.
Final Thoughts
It’s never too late to restore balance
If you’re reading this and recognising yourself, take a deep breath. You’re not broken. Your body is simply asking for a different approach.
Burnout is your body’s way of saying, “Slow down. Replenish. It’s time to tend to me.”
Small daily shifts will rebuild your energy more deeply than any quick fix ever could.
And remember, it’s not selfish to rest — it’s essential. You can’t pour from an empty cup, and your family needs the best of you, not what’s left of you.
If you’d love personal guidance, this is exactly what we explore inside my Stress Less, Live More course, where I help you create a daily rhythm and toolkit to truly restore your body and mind.
Let me know — did any of this resonate with you? Have you experienced burnout? I’d love to hear your thoughts — feel free to leave a comment below, message on Instagram, Facebook, or even via email.
I love hearing from you!
Katja x
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