Burnout
Gentle breathing and rest during burnout
Short guided pauses to explore during a period of exhaustion. Breathing, muscle relaxation and restful imagery are offered alongside appropriate support, without a recovery deadline.
- What you practise
- Gentle breathing, muscle relaxation and restful imagery.
- Session length
- Sessions from 3 to 15 minutes
- How it is personalised
- AI selects and sequences prepared sessions using your mood, goals and feedback. It does not generate the session content.
Listen to the guided intro
A Pause During Burnout
Laptop closed. Mind still at work?
Ordinary tasks can feel unusually heavy when you are exhausted. Even stopping for a moment may bring a list of things you think you ought to be doing instead.
This programme makes room for a small pause without a performance target. It cannot resolve the causes of exhaustion or replace professional support and practical changes.
What this feels like
You might recognise yourself in some of these: a deep exhaustion that rest doesn’t touch. A flatness where motivation used to be, as though someone turned the colour down on your life. Small tasks that feel enormous, and a short temper over things that never used to bother you.
This page cannot explain your exhaustion. You can seek help to understand what is happening and choose what comes next.
What you practise
Explore comfortable breathing, notice areas of tension and follow restful imagery. Use a supported position, skip a practice or finish early whenever you need to.
A session provides time for a pause. It does not promise to rebuild your energy, repair your nervous system or determine how quickly you will recover.
This programme is for you if...
- Sleep no longer restores you, and you wake up as tired as you went to bed.
- Tasks that used to feel ordinary now feel impossibly heavy.
- You feel flat, foggy, or strangely numb to things that once moved you.
- You’re tired of being told to push harder when your body has nothing left to give.
- You want gentle, body based practices that ask nothing of you except a few quiet moments.
- You’re ready to let recovery happen little by little, without guilt and without pressure.
Try it now
A pause to explore
This is an introductory exercise, not a therapeutic dose. Choose a safe place, never while driving or in water. Keep breathing comfortable and skip any hold or count that does not suit you. Stop if uncomfortable or dizzy and return to normal breathing.
- Choose a comfortable, supported position somewhere safe to pause.
- Notice contact with the seat or floor. Let your shoulders rest without needing to change how you feel.
- Breathe in gently for four counts if comfortable, or keep your natural rhythm.
- No hold is needed. Simply let the out-breath follow.
- Breathe out gently for 6 counts if comfortable, without forcing the lungs empty. Return to normal breathing whenever you wish.
- You can finish here and stay at rest. No particular sensation is required to make room for a pause.
Common questions
Start this programme
Guided sessions from 3 to 15 minutes, at a pace that fits your day.
New to sophrology? Read the complete guide
Soa is a complementary wellbeing practice. It doesn’t replace medical treatment or psychotherapy.