Hey, I’m Mia.
Joyful helper.
Reformed people-pleaser.
Burnout survivor.
Master Advanced boundary setter (ok, ok, I’m still working at it).
I help helpers help others without losing their sh*t (try saying that quickly three times)
I’ve been there. Burned out from seeing to everyone’s needs but your own.
Trying to do all the things (taking extra shifts and covering all the gaps, and trying to live your life), but there’s never enough time. Feeling like you’re on a hamster wheel with no exit in sight.
And despite trying so hard to be your best for everyone you serve, you feel guilty.
Guilty for not being able to help people the way you want to, the way you know they need and deserve.
Guilty for not being more present with your children.
Guilty because you and your partner feel like ships passing in the night.
Guilty when you take even the smallest amount of time for yourself.
Guilty for wanting more. You have so much to be thankful for, and yet you’re wondering…
…is this it?
Er….no.
Is it possible to resource yourself so that you can balance your passion for service with your other passions (and, you know, maybe a bit of rest )?
HELL yes.
Of course, in my 30s I had no idea how to do that. Or that it was even possible.
In January 2010 I was an aid worker, working my ass off in an exciting role which had me sharing my time between Darfur and South Sudan. I was also out of control and a stranger to myself, and close to complete burnout. Despite a successful career, a toxic work situation had systematically stripped away my confidence and left my mental health in tatters. Combined with my soul-deep desire to serve, my difficulty saying ‘no’ to anything, and a tendency to people-please, a perfect (shit)storm had formed.
I faced a stark choice: get better, or go home. I chose to get better. I got a new job, and spent three more years living and working in South Sudan. And I got a new mission - to learn how to resource myself so I could balance my passion for service with all the other joyous stuff I wanted to fit in my life.
I tried all the things (let’s play a healthy drinking game - every time you’ve tried one too, take a swig of water).
Yoga
Meditation & mindfulness
Exercise
Being in nature
Journalling
Eating better
Vitamins & supplements
Getting a decent amount of sleep
Resting more
(When I say I tried, I mean that I went all out for a few weeks, and then fell back into my usual habits.)
NEWSFLASH: The answer to burnout is NOT ‘just rest’.
(Rest is part of it, obvs. It’s just not ALL of it.)
Here are a few things I tried that worked better than ‘just rest’… but still didn’t get me out of the burnout cycle for good.
Working on my habits
Exploring my values and beliefs
Experimenting with productivity techniques (I’m a professional frog eater)
Trying to set firmer (ok, any) boundaries
Attending increasingly weird workshops at festivals (Find Your Power Animal, anyone?)
Time for some outside help. I tried talking therapies and coaching (I loved coaching, clearly, I qualified as one myself).
I kept thinking if I just tried this; if I changed job; if I moved here; if I just got past this busy time, that event, when my son was a bit older…then things would be much better.
But ‘then’ never came.
It wasn’t until I was crying, lying on a pile of fake-fur coats in a festival tent as I experienced breathwork for the first time that I realised…
…all this time, I’d been trying to change things with only half of me - working with my mind, or my body, but never truly connecting the two.
I wasn’t listening to what my body was telling me. I wasn’t allowing myself to feel my emotions, my gut instinct. I wasn’t using all my wisdom, all my power.
And my unheard body was holding all the stress (and sometimes trauma) from those times in my life I’d felt frightened, under threat, humiliated, rejected, abandoned, invalidated, unsafe, unsupported, trapped, ashamed or powerless - because I’d stuffed it all down and never processed it. Keep Calm and Carry On, right?
Here’s what continues to amaze me about breathwork:
It’s powerful beyond words.
The breath has a way of giving you exactly what you need in the moment—even when it’s not what you expected to find. Sometimes it feels beautiful, supportive, even transporting; other times, it brings up difficult memories and emotions. But breathwork offers a safe space to sit with that discomfort and gently process it. It connects you to a depth of inner wisdom that often leads you to the answers you didn't even know you were seeking.
As I began weaving breathwork into my coaching, I saw just how potent this combination could be. Breathwork grounds you in the body and lets intuition rise, complementing the logical, reflective side of coaching. Together, they help my clients break free from old patterns, make big decisions, and release the emotional weight that’s kept them spinning in cycles of stress and overwhelm.
Often, the burnout we feel isn’t just about what’s happening today; it’s the unprocessed baggage beneath it all, adding weight to the current load. Breathwork has a unique way of reaching into that emotional storage, allowing release, relief, and a sense of freedom to emerge.
Remember our drinking game? (it’s why you probably need a wee right now).
All of those things you and I have tried do work…to a point. We haven’t wasted any time by trying them. But now it’s time to weave it all together, using the golden thread of our mind-body connection.
“How the hell do I do that?”, you may well say.
I’m glad you asked. I call it (drumroll, please….)
Balanced Giving, Joyful Living
Curious?
Today my life is beautifully balanced (ok, ok - mostly).
I have tons more time for the things that make life worth living. I know myself a lot better. My relationships are stronger. I have more energy and I’m more present, more often, in the moment.
And yet…my life, like yours, is a crazy rollercoaster of ups and downs, and it sometimes feels like I’m about to fall out of the car.
But now, when the proverbial shit hits the fan, I connect my mind and my body and I figure out what to do without adding accumulated anxiety on top. Which makes everything more manageable. So I can be there. For me. For my family. For the people I help.
It’s pretty cool knowing that, whatever comes up, I’ve got this.
You’ve got it too. I believe in you.
“I was in full burn out mode, feeling stuck but completely lacking in confidence in myself, not knowing what to do next. I had crippling anxiety, was signed off work sick and not finding joy in much or able to enjoy the things that usually nourished me. I’d tried everything - exercise, mindfulness, journaling, CBT, talking therapies - they helped, but not that much…which just further reinforced my feelings of getting everything wrong! I found it difficult to be kind to myself and was afraid of my emotions due to past trauma.
After working with Mia, my life has changed in so many unexpected ways. With her guidance I was able to connect to my true feelings and prioritise what was important to me. I renewed my connection with nature, which continues to give me great perspective on my life. I was able to let go of some limiting beliefs I held about myself. I had the space to make some big life decisions like handing my notice in at work. I also took the next step on a training course that I’d been procrastinating about for years!”
- Charlie M.
Still reading, eh?
Must be about time for some fun facts…
I’m a Mum to a creative, funny, kind, sport-loving whirlwind of a nine-year-old. Eli loves to quote my own coaching questions back to me, which is very annoying. I particularly regret teaching him to ‘ask for forgiveness, not for permission’.
I get up at 5am so I can have some blissful me-time before anyone wakes up and starts asking me questions. Sometimes I practice yoga and meditate. Sometimes I sit on the sofa in a blanket with a cacao, reading. May the universe have mercy on you if you interrupt me.
I’m a personal-growth-book-junkie (I’ll love you forever if you send me your recommendations!). I’ve too many favourites to count, but The Art of Possibility by Benjamin & Rosamund Zander is the one I give to others the most. I think Matt Haig is a gift to this world.
After years of thinking I was an ENFP, I understood I’d been masking my introversion. Now it’s INFP all the way (I love speaking to large groups but Janey Mack please don’t ask me to network). I’m an Enneagram 9 (world peace? Working on it.). And if I had the choice of only one biscuit for the rest of my life, it would be a chocolate digestive. Dark, obviously. Only weirdos get the milk ones.
I’m a rambunctious learner. I have a degree in music & pop music, was once a chartered accountant, am trained in kidnapping and hostile environments (for being kidnapped, obvs - I’m rubbish at kidnapping other people), and am a qualified paragliding pilot. (Probably of greater relevance to you, I’m an ACC ICF accredited coach and a certified Inspirational Breathing Breathwork Practitioner).