• 25 Oct, 2024
• Jenn Bruer

Beyond Self-Care: Jenn Bruer’s Holistic Approach to Conquering Burnout and Thriving to a Balanced Life

Jenn Bruer is not your typical wellness expert. She’s a burnout survivor, a mother, a youth counsellor, and a seasoned coach who understands the pressures of modern life. Jenn’s approach to wellness goes beyond bubble baths and self-care, offering practical strategies for mindfulness, sleep hygiene, and sustainable lifestyle changes. In this insightful interview, Jenn shares her journey, the warning signs of burnout, and actionable steps to reclaim your energy and thrive. Prepare to be inspired and empowered to create a life of balance and fulfillment.

Magazica: Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Jenn Bruer. Jenn is a renowned burnout trainer, parent, coach, and author of a fantastic book. Her expertise spans burnout prevention, mindfulness, sleep hygiene, and overall wellness. Jenn’s dedication to helping individuals and communities thrive is truly inspiring. We are excited to learn from her insights. So, ladies and gentlemen, dear readers and viewers, this is Jenn Bruer. Welcome, Jenn.

Jenn Bruer: Thank you for having me.

Magazica: Let’s start with burnout prevention and recovery. From your expertise, what are some early signs of burnout that people often overlook or should consider red flags?

Jenn Bruer: There are many symptoms of burnout. The most common one is chronic exhaustion. This isn’t just feeling tired after a long week of work; it’s waking up feeling a lack of energy and constantly needing coffee to get through the day. Other signs include constantly reaching for caffeine, sugar, or carbohydrates, as these can lower the stress hormone cortisol. Frequent cravings for sugary or carb-heavy foods can be a sign of burnout. I encourage readers to take Dr. Alan Christianson’s adrenal reset quiz and use professional tools like the Maslach Burnout Inventory to assess burnout. Burnout can also manifest as salt cravings, low or high blood pressure, and other symptoms that overlap with conditions like prediabetes. It’s important not to self-diagnose but to recognize chronic, prolonged stress and a sense of overwhelm as potential indicators of burnout.

Magazica: That’s quite comprehensive, covering everything from exhaustion to chronic stress. What are some effective strategies to prevent burnout in our day-to-day lives, beyond self-care?

Jenn Bruer: One of my workshops is called “Burnout Prevention Beyond Self-Care.” While self-care is important, it’s not enough if you’re in a serious state of burnout. In 2012, I experienced profound burnout, feeling like I had been hit by a truck every morning. I had nine children at the time and had ignored the signs of chronic, prolonged stress. When you’re in that state, you need more than just self-care.

Learning to say no and taking time out for self-care, like an hour-long bath on a Friday night, isn’t going to pack the punch you’re hoping for. It might help a little and give you a relaxed evening, but there are more tangible strategies we can implement immediately to start calming the burnout experience. Strategies are totally my jam, so I’m glad you’ve asked. However, I want to preface this by saying there is no silver bullet. We’re always looking for an easy solution, but there isn’t one. Self-care is one strategy among many, and none of them alone will be a silver bullet. They need to be stacked up, and by strategies, we’re talking about practices—changing our practices.

The first strategy I always encourage people to start with is sleep. It doesn’t matter how much self-care you have if you’re chronically underslept and burning the candle at both ends. You’re just asking for a deeper state of burnout. There are many strategies, and I could talk all day about them. How many do you want to know?

Magazica: I was really blown away by the term “burning the candle at both ends” because I personally use it a lot with my team and students. I teach international students at the college level, and they’re often overwhelmed with their studies, unfamiliar with North American study practices, and in a completely new environment. Many are far from home for the first time, facing a language barrier and cultural differences. Even local students find the college system different and overwhelming. So, I can relate to the overwhelmed situation you’re describing. Let’s start with mindfulness. How can mindfulness and meditation help in managing stress and improving well-being?

Jenn Bruer: When we talk about strategies, self-care is one, sleep cycle hygiene is another, and mindfulness is yet another. Readers or listeners need to know that your recovery and health journey, your daily practices, are your jurisdiction and no one else’s. As a burnout coach or expert, it’s not my job to say, “This is how you do it.” That’s your job. My job is to present all the possibilities and let you pick and choose what works for you. For international students, mindfulness is a great strategy because their central nervous system is in a heightened state of alert due to constant overwhelm, culture shock, stress, burning the candle at both ends and isolation. Mindfulness can help, but if it doesn’t resonate with you, that’s okay. Many people say they’re not good at mindfulness because they can’t stop their minds from thinking. If you have a mind, mindfulness is for you.

There are different types of mindfulness practices. We typically think of meditation, which is a closed-eye mindfulness practice. Meditation is always mindfulness, but mindfulness doesn’t always have to be meditation. If meditation isn’t for you, there are other mindful techniques to explore. I encourage people to start by finding guided meditations or mindful practices on YouTube. On my website, there’s a downloadable PDF of mindfulness exercises, many of which are open-eyed.

Mindfulness doesn’t have to be about sitting like a yoga guru; it can be more relatable. Healing should be body, mind, and spirit. For the body, think about movement and exercise, and nourishing your body with a good diet. For the mind, our thoughts create our reality, especially our emotional reality. A consistent mindfulness practice allows us more control over our stream of consciousness. For example, a gratitude practice is a mindfulness practice. Writing down things you’re grateful for every day can rewire your thought patterns over time.

If you bump your eye and then someone steps on your foot, you’ll forget about your eye because your focus shifts. Similarly, a body scan meditation can divert your focus from your problems. I really believe in mindfulness and encourage people to practice it. However, if mindfulness feels overwhelming, especially for international students, I recommend starting with breathing techniques. These evidence-based techniques calm the central nervous system and take us out of fight-or-flight mode. Guided breathing techniques can be done anywhere, and extending the exhale longer than the inhale can signal the central nervous system to calm down.

Magazica: Very recently, someone shared a TEDx video with me. The speaker talked about the connection between good breathing techniques and weight loss.

Jenn Bruer: Yeah, amazing, isn’t it?

Magazica: Amazing, and I didn’t realize it that way. As you were talking about journaling, I was thinking about how journaling can be a form of mindfulness. I practice meditation and have been doing it for over 20 years. It’s an Eastern method called the Quantum Method, and I do it twice a day for about 25 to 30 minutes each time.

Jenn Bruer: Wonderful, good for you.

Magazica: Thank you. I also practice gratitude journaling and reflection journaling, especially on weeknights. I believe that if we can’t turn our experiences into learning, growth becomes far-fetched. My mistakes are my best teachers, and I use journaling to reflect on them and learn.

Magazica: My teacher used to say that busyness is not productivity. Very recently, I came across a fantastic book called “Slow Productivity” by Cal Newport. He’s one of my go-to authors for self-development, along with Stephen Covey and Jim Rohn. Stephen Covey also said there’s production and production capability. We’re often focused on production but not on maintaining our production capability. We focus on the golden egg but not the goose, sometimes to our detriment.

Jenn Bruer: Yes, exactly.

Jenn Bruer: Sometimes people who work at the computer all day get blue blockers in their prescription glasses to reduce eye strain. However, what I’m referring to is different. The blue blockers called Uvex from Amazon block 99.9% of blue spectrum lighting from overhead lights, devices, and TVs. These are for nighttime wear only. The ones for computer usage block 5 to 25% of blue light to reduce eye strain. It’s important to distinguish between the two.

Magazica: Yes, that’s why I wanted to clarify. Many people confuse the two. Whenever I get new glasses, they ask if I want the blue light-blocking feature, but it’s not the same thing.

Jenn Bruer: Exactly. Remember, we’re not always avoiding bright lights—only an hour or two before bed. In the morning, we want to expose ourselves to as much bright light as possible to increase the stress hormone and decrease melatonin for sleep.

Magazica: That was also a big part of the morning routine suggested by Andrew Huberman.

Jenn Bruer: Yes, Andrew Huberman is great to follow. Health is about stacking habits. He suggests a morning routine that includes looking at bright sunlight, having a glass of water, and taking a brisk walk within 15 minutes of waking up. This boosts your awakened state.

Magazica: I call it your “pep in your step.”

Jenn Bruer: Exactly. You don’t want to feel like you need coffee to get through the day.

Magazica: Now, let’s shift our focus to practical health and wellness tips for our readers. What are some tips for achieving a balanced lifestyle?

Jenn Bruer: It’s hard to know where any one person should start, but chances are you know the areas in your life that have become imbalanced. If you’re sitting on the couch all day, get up and move. It doesn’t have to be a formal gym membership. This is one of the mistakes we make when talking about health and wellness.

So, health and wellness—you know where you’re experiencing imbalance. Don’t make the mistake of going all in. I’m a type-A perfectionist, and that’s one of the traits that exposes me to burnout. Just do a little bit better. If you’re sitting on the couch all day or sitting for your job, set a timer and walk around the house. It doesn’t have to be at the park; just make an effort to do more than what you’re doing. In terms of movement, it’s that simple. For diet, reduce your sugar, prioritize your protein intake, and eat fruits and vegetables that work for your body. Consider an elimination-style diet if you’re suffering from IBS or similar issues. What works for you might not work for someone else. Reduce your sugar, eat more whole foods, and less packaged foods. Take tiny steps, not huge dramatic ones, because you can’t keep those up and they’ll exhaust you even more.

Magazica: Evolution is better than revolution.

Jenn Bruer: Absolutely. When we go all in, it’s too much to handle sometimes. Slow but consistent efforts bring great results. You become effortless in doing things.

Magazica: What was your inspiration for writing your book, “Helping Effortlessly”? What message were you trying to convey to the readers?

Magazica: In HR, we call it ROI—return on investment. Helping employees out of burnout has huge long-term fiscal benefits.

Jenn Bruer: The ROI is huge, both for individuals and organizations. It’s about optimizing yourself and enhancing the quality of your life. I initially thought I’d be working in the nonprofit sector, but I’ve been training corporate people on burnout. The strategies are the same, but the language might differ. In the helping field, there’s vicarious trauma and heaviness. The focus should be on challenging your worldview and wondering if you’re making an impact. I talk a lot about impact and how to face internal disappointment and conflict. The answer is yes, you are making a difference. I teach how to move away from the need to make an impact with a rooted sense of self-love and acceptance. Assume you’re helping and making an impact rather than needing to see it.

Magazica: You don’t know what a big act is. It’s not for you to know.

Jenn Bruer: Exactly. There’s a story about a man who was about to end his life, but a woman’s smile changed his entire trajectory. She had no idea she saved a life that day. As a foster parent working with the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto for 18 years, I wanted and needed to see my own impact. My identity is deeply ingrained in being a helper.

But I realize now that I don’t need to see my impact because it’s not for me to know. I proceed every day assuming that I’m making an impact. Maybe our conversation has a profound impact that I don’t know about. I just assume it’s there. This helps me to proceed with love, gratitude, and rootedness in my work. It certainly has helped my burnout experience. There’s a depression for helpers in that. When you start your adult life thinking you’re going to help people and then wonder if you’re really helping, there’s a real internal conflict, especially in the nonprofit sector.

Magazica: Such a deep thought. The story you shared about one smile changing the course of a life, and the person who offered the smile not knowing it, is profound. You are not supposed to know the big act. It is for nature to take care of.

Jenn Bruer: Exactly. There’s an arrogance in needing to know. You must live in your own greatness and know that there’s purpose and depth to this. The Bhagavad Gita says you have control only over your work, not the consequences of it. Do the work with the deepest intention and let nature take care of the rest.

Magazica: The world is a great accountant. If you do your work with the best intention, it will benefit those it needs to. The world will take care of it. This inherent, unconditional sense of value that mindfulness gives, challenging the thought processes like needing to make an impact, is crucial. It keeps you humble and creates a serving mentality. Success doesn’t go to your head. The most successful people I’ve met are humble. They do good and try to make a tiny bit of change.

Jenn Bruer: Absolutely. It keeps you humble and helps you proceed with a sense of purpose.

Magazica: With that note, as we wrap up for today, I hope we can have another conversation on a different topic in the future. This has been one of the deepest conversations we’ve had. What are some other life lessons you think would be beneficial to our readers, given your experience as a burnout expert, wellness expert, foster parent, and coach for both corporate and nonprofit sectors?

Jenn Bruer: I think I could sum up all of it—the mindfulness, the sleep cycle hygiene, the ditching of sugar. Your health and balance are made up of the sum total of all your routines and daily habits. What you eat, how you speak, what you think, how you move—these are all the things you do daily. True balance is about creating those little routines, not just grand gestures. It’s the small daily routines that you engage in with intention that support your mind, body, and spirit, so that balance becomes your natural state, not constant effort. The constant effort used to be my natural state, hence the brick wall. Now, balance is my state because I intentionally ask, “What do I need? How do I take care of myself? In what area am I imbalanced?” It’s tiny things stacked up with an intention to create balance in all areas.

Magazica: Simplify.

Jenn Bruer: Is that a summary?

Magazica: No, that’s a complete summary that also resonates with the title of your book and your overall LinkedIn profile. Such a powerful and empowering thought—that you make your daily routines and habits in such a way that a balanced state becomes your natural state.

Jenn Bruer: Yes.

Magazica: Such a powerful thought. With that, I cannot express our gratitude enough for having this conversation with us. I think our readers and listeners will benefit greatly from this conversation. Thank you very much on behalf of all of us.

Jenn Bruer: Thank you. Thank you, Suman. Thank you for having me.

Magazica: Thank you.

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Keywords: Burnout Prevention; Mindfulness; Sleep Hygiene; Wellness; Balance