How Burnout May Be Affecting Your Gut Health

When it comes to healing our gut health, those of us who are suffering are often willing to try anything, especially when we’re met with painful bloating, debilitating lifelong symptoms, and diagnoses that we wish would just go away. Supplements and elimination diets that promise to alleviate symptoms for good become attractive.

If you, like me, have found yourself in the frustrating loop of feeling like you’ve finally found the answer, only to have your symptoms reappear after only a few months or even weeks, burnout may be the culprit behind your gut imbalances. The good news is that the solutions are simpler and gentler than you might think.

Our Body on Burnout

It’s no secret that many of us today are burnt out. We’re moving through the world trying to overachieve, entering relationships without firm boundaries, and being overstimulated by endless amounts of marketing and technology. This constant bombardment of activating factors is keeping our nervous systems in fight-or-flight, a state that reduces blood flow to our digestive systems. Our bodies think, Why would I try to digest food right now when I might need to run away from a threat?

This biological stress cycle keeps us safe in the short term. A healthy nervous system will detect when a threat has disappeared and smoothly switch back to a state of rest-and-digest. Amazing! But what if, in the modern world, our bodies struggle to make that switch? In this case, a nervous system that’s meant to keep us safe will end up wreaking havoc on our digestive health. Enter bloating, pain, IBS, bacterial overgrowth, and other gut imbalances.

Approaching Healing on High Alert

When we first experience chronic gut distress, we may attempt to see every practitioner, take countless tests, and read every piece of information possible on gut inflammation and the potential causes. We panic and even obsess over every symptom.

What’s going on with my body?
What’s wrong with me?
Am I going to be like this forever?

We may be doing everything in our power to feel better, but are we listening to the needs of the body, or are we just pushing through in pursuit of the end result?

This sense of urgency on our health journey stems from the same deeply held beliefs about ourselves that are often at the root of burnout. We overwork to please our bosses so we can finally be acknowledged in the workplace. We want to be the best in class at school to achieve a sense of worthiness. And now we follow every food elimination diet, telling our bodies that they’re not “good” until they’re healed.

It’s not our fault. We do receive validation from the modern world when we’re achieving, performing, and doing more. It makes sense that we would want our symptoms to alleviate as quickly as possible so that we could go back to competing in this highly productive society. But when it comes to burnout, we can’t band-aid the symptoms long-term; they’re only soothed once the root need is satisfied. This may mean living differently than you ever have before. Long-term healing is found in slowing down, doing less, and really listening to what your body is asking for when you’re having a flare up.

The Answers Are Slow and Simple

Approaching our health journey with extreme changes, fast-paced effort, and intensity can push the body right back into a stress cycle. It is the gentle adjustments to our lifestyle that can start to restore a sense of safety back into the body. It can feel daunting to see this as a lifelong journey. But making permanent yet achievable changes to our lives can help to bring all of our favorite foods back to our plates and treat the root cause of symptoms, all while creating a life that feels aligned with your body’s needs.

Notice What You’re Taking In

While gut imbalances are often labeled a food issue, our bodies take in and “digest” more than just food. We’re constantly absorbing information through our eyes, accepting words into our ears, and embracing beliefs into our hearts. Look at what information you’re consuming throughout the day and notice how your body is reacting to the world around you.

What adjustments can be made to bring more ease and serenity to your gut? Could you do with less crowds or hectic spaces? Try keeping a log, whether that’s in a journal or just in your head, of when you feel safe in a space versus when you leave feeling frenetic or exhausted. Your gut will tell you through its unique symptoms what is aligned and what needs to shift.

Implement Consistent and Mindful Meals

If you’ve experienced painful symptoms around food, odds are you’re trying to dissociate from mealtimes with socializing, screen time, or skipping food altogether. This is one of the hardest patterns to address, but one of the most impactful.

Try making your meals a ceremony: Notice the colors on your plate, smell the aroma coming from your food, and even thank all of the elements that allowed that food to come to you. Start with easy-to-digest foods; ones that you know are comfortable for your body. Eat that food consistently and teach your body that it will be nourished often and that it doesn’t have to go without. Limit or eliminate screen time and stimuli during meals and let your body be completely in touch with the meal before you.

Check Your Expectations

How can we observe the expectations we’re putting on our health and wellness and ask if those goals are realistic and kind? Are we demanding too much healing too quickly? It might be too much to expect our bodies to be in a state of healing while maintaining a robust social life and taking on extra projects at work.

Check in with the deep programming in your nervous system (like perfectionism and overachieving) and see where you can loosen the grip.

Meet Your Body Where It’s At

It’s so tempting to want to move through our symptoms quickly and be rid of pain. One of the most impactful beliefs I’ve incorporated into my own life is that our bodies aren’t trying to hurt us—they’re trying to talk to us. When our symptoms first started, they were likely small nudges trying to be heard. They may have been saying: “Hey, I don’t like when you make me hold in my bowel movement,” “Please, can we stop sucking in our gut?” or “Why are we moving so fast? I just want to rest.” Our bodies are communicating in the only way they know how: through sensation. If they think we haven’t heard them, they’ll say it louder.

As challenging as it can be, see if you can meet your body where it is right now: with the symptom, with the food sensitivity, with the rash. Then listen to what it wants you to hear.

Listen to Your Animal Cues

The body feels safe when it’s listened to, which can be challenging in a world that tells us to ignore hunger or to push through with coffee when we’re tired. This sense of urgency reinforces the belief that we don’t have time and that everything will crumble if we take a break.

See if you can listen to your body’s “animal” cues: Massage your aching hand, close your eyes during your 15-minute break, go to the toilet as soon as you notice the need, and observe how your body starts to settle when its basic needs are met.

By incorporating small, consistent changes into your daily routine, you’ll notice changes beyond your gut health. When we work with our nervous system capacity and tend to the beliefs that caused the burnout and gut imbalances in the first place, we can experience long-lasting relief and wellness.

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