Battling Burnout + Reclaiming Peace

In this episode, Gina Poirier joins the podcast to share some refreshing insights on stress and spiritually healthy ways to respond to it. She unpacks toxic thinking, the good work of boundaries, and our God-given, counter-cultural invitation to rest. If you are approaching the end of your metaphorical rope, or you’re already crispy from burnout, then do not miss this episode! 

About the Speaker
Gina is a happily married mom of four, stress management coach, and writer who helps overwhelmed, exhausted moms find peace and purpose in the everyday. She creates resources for Christian moms at ginampoirier.com, where “Wiping noses for Jesus is legit!”

Episode Notes
“Burnout is nature’s way of telling you, you’ve been going through the motions your soul has departed.” Sam Keen 

1. Understanding stress

• Stress is not an inherently negative thing! It is the way God designed our bodies to respond when something we care about is at stake, and it can ultimately help us grow 
• The Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal
• James 1:2–4
• Curiosity is a great way to approach stress and while we often want to shove it away or get it over with; there is a process there. 

2. Recognizing what we can and can't control

• Most of the variables that cause stress are out of our control. By letting that go and giving it to God (Matthew 6:25–27), we can focus on the variables we can control, which are usually much more manageable.
• A lot of things we can stress about are hypothetical or completely out of our hands; processing that objectively can be helpful. 
• Some choices make us more resilient, while some choices (i.e. escapism) can actually aggravate the stress response. 

3. Taming toxic thinking 

• This is hard, but it is one of the variables we can control that make a big difference in the way we respond to stress 
• Toxic thinking aggravates the stress responses and leads more quickly to burnout. 
• 2 Corinthians 10:5
• We get into these toxic thinking cycles and it really aggravates the way our bodies can respond to stress. 
• "When we approach our minds with curiosity and work towards taming toxic thinking, that goes a long way in dealing with burnout and stress."
• Caroline Leaf & Neuroplasticity 

4. Setting healthy boundaries (i.e. taking ownership)

•  This is also hard, but again boundaries are variables we can control and make a difference in making us more resilient to stress. 
• Galatians 6:2–5

5. Choosing rest

• This is a huge lesson, especially for performance-oriented people. 
• God established rest from the beginning of Genesis, and it is a gift we can choose to accept- physically, emotionally, and spiritually. 
• There's both a posture and a practice of rest. 
• Matthew 11:28-30

For a free video series with more practical stress management strategies, subscribe to her newsletter here! And to connect with Gina and see more of the resources she offers, check out this link to her site!