I saw a meme that said, "If I am googling symptoms and the treatment says "mindfulness", I know there's no treatment for my condition". I laughed but...for real, can't we do any better than this??

Let's have a real conversation about the pervasiveness of burnout and the gaslighting of the wellness industrial complex. If you're a regular listener, you know we have a clear line of sight on patriarchy and capitalism and we have long been well aware that they're the underlying cause, as with white supremacy, ableism, all of it. Clearly self-help and meditation isn't enough.

And yet, there is something to it, isn't there? It would be awfully ignorant of me to not recognize that a millenias-old practice probably has some merit. The benefits of meditation on our overall wellbeing and to support restoration of the nervous system are clear, (experientially if not always empirically).

Here to muddle through this with me today is my friend, Annie Bray, a longtime meditation teacher and bodywork practitioner. She's also a somatic coach and one of our Guides in The Numinous Network leading monthly Polyvagal Theory-informed meditation sessions. Annie also studied with Joanna Macy, root teacher of the Work That Reconnects, and we invoke her as a muse in this conversation, reflecting on her spiritual leadership as a woman in later life. It's nice to reflect on those who've inspired us as we navigate our entrepreneurship in the wellness space.

Annie has 20 years' experience as a manual therapist, plus deep study in trauma recovery, applied polyvagal theory, meditation, yoga and trauma-informed coaching. In her work, she aims to support folks to feel reliably well-met, relatively safe and free to engage with life meaningfully.

Check out Annie's website here

Learn more about Annie's 1:1 Somatic Coaching

REORIENT: a 12-week meditation program for midlife caregivers, based deeply in both WTR and in attachment and polyvagal theory, set to run again in January, with increased focus on midlife caregivers dealing with burnout.

Follow her on Instagram

Referenced in this episode

Joanna Macy

Work That Reconnects

Recent studies on burnout

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle, Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski

Donald Winnicott's Good Enough Mother studies

Lifting Heavy Things: Healing Trauma One Rep at a Time, by Laura Khadouri

Check out The Numinous Network to try Annie's class and more!

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