As a professional, it can be difficult at times to maintain our enthusiasm and dedication for a higher standard of service delivery in the face of increasing demands and pressures in our work place. You probably have entered the profession with a passion for helping others, but years later your compassion may have faded a little, experiencing more fatigue. Sometimes, we may grow resentful at the inadequacies of the organizations.  Burnout can present itself in various ways; maybe feeling less effective, questioning, doubting ourselves, becoming less tolerant of our colleagues, feeling isolated or dissatisfied.

Many professionals(teachers, nurses, doctors, psychologists, social workers, coaches, trainers, physiotherapist, occupational therapists and so on) will experience some burnout at some point in their career, which causes many to leave their professions too early. Mindfulness and Self-Compassion can help you turn burnout around and restore your sense of effectiveness; helping you to manage stress better and improving your relationships with your peers.

When we are not satisfied in our workplace, often our home life also suffers. We may find it difficult to recuperate at home, which may lead also to a decline in our personal relationships. Our life enters a downhill slide: less relaxation, less enjoyment in our personal life, less satisfaction in our work. Learning mindfulness and self-compassion give us the edge. Learning mindfulness and self-compassion from inside out helps us to become more effective in our work but also we can teach those same tools to our students, clients or patients.

Mindfulness, meditation and self-compassion aim at developing resilience as well as promoting a sense of well-being through some effective self-care practices.  We can learn formal and informal practices so we reconnect with ourselves, to attend to ourselves in a caring way.

We can give ourselves what we so readily give to our patients/clients/students; kindness and compassion, so that we may also thrive and have a good life.  It is important to re-engage with our values at work and in our personal lives so we can become whole again.