Is Luxuriating The Cure For Burnout?

One thing’s for sure, it’s a slow arduous road to burnout. Each person’s journey is different and yet there is at least one thing those of us who’ve walked this road have in common; we’ve stopped taking pleasure in life.

A few months ago, when dealing with a flair up in hip pain (a signal for me that it’s time to slow down), I consulted one of my teachers to see if she had any ideas.  After listing all of the things I was DOING to release and stop the pain, she suggested that maybe I needed a glass of wine, a piece of chocolate or a hot bath. She reiterated her point by mentioning how Europeans are famous for luxuriating, taking time to enjoy the small pleasures in life.  This wasn’t the first time I had heard that perhaps exactly what I needed was to do less and enjoy more.

Up until that point, I thought I was pretty good at luxuriating; but there is a big difference between what you do to relax and how you do it. One of the definitions of luxuriate is “to enjoy oneself without stint; to revel.” As I thought about the pace at which I typically move, I realized a hot bath loses its healing effects if you are multi-tasking or quickly jumping out to move to the next thing. I’ve even noticed that on a rare night home with my husband, I feel the need to check emails while sitting on the couch together, again not exactly savoring the moment.

For most of us, the idea of scheduling time to relax, let go and luxuriate sounds like a pipe dream. How can it be possible to stop and take pleasure in life when there is so much stuff to get done?

It turns out that learning to do exactly this may be one of the keys to avoiding and recovering from burnout. “To grow fully or abundantly; to thrive” is another definition for luxuriate. If the words full, abundant or thrive made you cringe in any way; then I have a challenge for you.

Write down a list of 10 guilty pleasures you have in life, think about the stuff that makes you feel nourished, relaxed and joyful.

Choose 1 or 2 of these things and commit to weaving them into your schedule in the next week. 

Allow 5 -10 minutes more than you normally would for each activity.

Let yourself linger in the feelings that come from taking your time to enjoy pleasure.

Repeat this every week, making your way through your list and observe the impact on your overall level of energy.