In the article below, Denise Pyles, author of “Burn Without Burning Out” and keynote speaker at PTFW’s 2025 International Women’s Day Conference, reminds us that burnout isn’t our failure, it’s our body’s way of calling us home.

Burnout doesn’t always roar in like a storm. Sometimes it whispers through exhaustion that caffeine can’t fix, or through foggy thoughts that linger even after rest, or through the dull ache of moving through the motions on autopilot. I know how heavy that weariness feels, how it steals joy from even the simplest of moments.

Burnout is not the end of your story. It’s an invitation to return to presence, to tend the inner flame that feels smothered. As a micro-mindfulness coach, I’ve walked alongside many who carry this weight, and I’ve seen how small, intentional practices can repair and prevent burnout.

Micro-mindfulness is about gently reclaiming what is already within you.                                                                                                                                         Below are tips, tools and techniques to help you find your way home to what is already within you

1. Quote to Ponder

Burnout is what happens when you try to avoid being human for too long.  ~ Michael Gungor

Michael Gungor’s words land like an invitation to remember our tender, messy, human selves. He reminds us that burnout is more than the exhaustion of too many obligations. It is the cost of denying our own humanity. In micro-mindfulness, healing begins with tiny acknowledgments: a breath that honors your fatigue, a moment of forgiveness for ignoring pain, a whisper to your body that you recognize it. Let these tiny practices of presence be your return to the rhythms, rest, and reclamation of being fully, beautifully human.

2. Mindful Tools

Try routinely practicing one of these two micro-mindfulness tools this month. Each is a brief activity that takes less than 10 minutes to complete. You’ll be glad you did!

·       Mindful Tool of the Do-Nothing Pause: Set a timer for two minutes and sit in silence. No fixing, no planning, just being. The pause itself is the practice.

·       Mindful Tool the Permission Slip Practice: Each morning, write yourself a one-sentence permission slip: “I give myself permission to pause.” or “I give myself permission not to have all the answers today.”

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