From Burnout to Breath: My Journey from the Charity Sector to Breathwork

I remember that day with absolute clarity.

I was almost at work, walking through the town centre, when I suddenly stopped in my tracks.

The sound of traffic shifted from a far-off hum to right inside my ears. The sun broke through the clouds and the warmth hit my face. I could hear pigeons cooing nearby. It was a wave of sensory overload, as though I had landed back into my body at full speed.

Then came the panic.

Where am I? How did I get here?

Presence brings freedom

I looked around, down at my clothes, confused at how I had managed to get dressed without remembering a single moment of it. I could not recall waking up, leaving the house, or even the walk here.

I had been living on autopilot.

Wake up, get dressed, go to work, come home, eat, sleep, repeat. A joyless life. A mundane existence.

I had checked out from my body and my life.

Have you ever had that moment when you realise you have been living without really being here?

Burnout and the Slow Disappearance

Burnout, autopilot, and disassociation all stem from the same thing. They come from a loss of life force, when the desire to live feels distant and unreachable.

You work hard. Your body aches. You watch the clock, wishing the day away. You hope weekends will restore you, but they never quite do.

You reach for wine, gin, cigarettes, weed, nights out. Anything to bring a flicker of aliveness back. And maybe it works for a moment, but deep down, you know you are still drowning. You repeat the pattern. Mini resets that never make you feel fully resourced, fully satisfied, or fully anchored.

Where do you go when you are not present? What habits are keeping you afloat without bringing true life back to your body?

That morning in the town centre shook something in me. I realised that if I did not change something, I would be swallowed whole by my own shadow.

Taking Time to Heal

I took a couple of months off work. At first, my system was a mess. Anxiety, depression, and sickness all arrived at once. I slept a lot. Years of over-giving, self-neglect, and poor boundaries had left me utterly exhausted.

Eventually, my body began to release tension it had carried for years. I started to feel lighter, more present, and more curious about who I really was.

When I returned to work, I quickly realised it was not the life I wanted. I hated leaving my bed, hated going in, hated living only to earn money. Something had to change.

The Leap into the Unknown

I moved jobs and enjoyed a better team environment, but nine months in, the longing for something more returned. I wanted to work for myself, though I had no idea what that would look like.

In November 2018, I handed in my resignation with no plan. Three months later, I began an intensive breathwork training programme that would change my life from the inside out.

When I first began the training, I was lost. Barely keeping my head above water, I was just trying to survive on my own. Every day felt heavy, and even simple tasks felt exhausting. At the time, I did not realise it, but this was when I started to face the shadows I had been running from.

Looking back, I can see that this is when I became the shadow hunter. Step by step, breath by breath, I began to explore the parts of myself I had hidden away, my insecurities, my fears, but also my gifts and strengths. It was messy, challenging, and sometimes overwhelming, but it was the first real movement toward being fully present in my own life.

Learning Who I Really Was

The first training hit me hard. I realised I knew very little about myself. I had spent so long going along with other people’s choices, saying "I don’t mind, you choose," that I did not truly know my own likes and dislikes. I had been malleable, shaped into what others wanted me to be. Or I had been rigid and guarded, unable to connect. I had kept myself isolated for safety.

The breath did not come easily. It took time, commitment, and patience. The more I softened, the deeper I could go. Breath by breath, I began to remember childhood moments, forgotten dreams, and painful truths.

If someone asked you today, what do you really want, would you know the answer, or would you default to "I don’t mind"?

From Invisible to Leading Rooms

Delivering a workshop on Breathwork at The Wellness Journey

When I first started training, I made myself invisible. If there was reading out loud, I would "forget my glasses." Panic surged through me. Nausea, shaking, the urge to flee.

I carried deep beliefs that I was incapable, stupid, inarticulate, and had a horrid voice. These thoughts ruled my ability to show up in the world.

As I worked through trauma, I began to release them.

Now, I deliver workshops at events with over a hundred people present. I speak openly, knowing it is okay to get it wrong and that my voice matters.

A Breath That Brings You Home

Breathwork has given me more than I ever thought possible:

The ability to connect deeply with others

The courage to face my shadows 

The self-trust to take up space in my own life

Most of all, it has given me presence, the choice to be checked in, not checked out.

The breath holds you in the present while uncovering the past. It is a gateway into the subconscious, a treasure chest of forgotten gifts and hidden truths.

Every time I guide someone through it, I am reminded:

You can come back to yourself.

You can come home.

So I ask you, are you living on autopilot, or are you truly here?

Get in-touch...

Website: www.in-exhalebreathe.com

Phone: 07779101861

Email: In-Exhale@outlook.com

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