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Burnout, Chronic Pain, and the Body: How I Found Peace Through Rest

grace rest waiting Aug 25, 2025

“How in the world have you even been getting out of bed?”

That’s what my husband asked me one morning—not out of sarcasm, but genuine concern. And honestly, I didn’t have a good answer.

“All I can say,” I told him, “is that every minute is a struggle.”

At the time, I was trying to keep everything from falling apart. I was running a financial planning practice, preparing to sell it, meeting with clients to explain what was happening—having the same emotional conversation over and over again. Some cried. Some panicked. I tried to stay strong, but inside, I was worn thin.

It wasn’t just burnout. It was something deeper. I felt like I was unraveling from the inside out.

 

The Pain No One Could Explain

The physical pain had started years before. Low back pain. Hip pain. Nerve pain that shot down my leg. Chronic pelvic pain. Fatigue that no amount of sleep could fix. The list grew longer every year, and doctors kept looking for structural answers.

I had a bulging disc. Hip dysplasia. A hypertonic pelvic floor. Interstitial cystitis. Early menopause. Every diagnosis came with a treatment plan, but none of them worked for long. If one issue improved slightly, another flared up.

I was prescribed medications. I did physical therapy, chiropractic care, hormone therapy. I exercised and ate well. And yet—day after day, I was still in pain.

Worse than the physical pain was the growing fear: What if this is just my life now? 

 

A Word I Wasn’t Ready to Hear

In 2021, a new doctor listened to my story and, after just a few minutes, said something no one else had.

She told me I was dealing with anxiety.

I left that appointment feeling confused, maybe even a little insulted. I wasn’t someone who struggled with “anxiety”—at least not in the way I understood it. I wasn’t having panic attacks. I wasn’t nervous or emotional. I was just... exhausted and hurting.

But that word wouldn’t leave me. So I started researching. I wanted to understand what anxiety actually was and how it could possibly be connected to what I was feeling physically.

That’s when things began to shift.

 

Understanding What Stress Really Does

I learned that anxiety isn't just a mental condition—it’s a full-body experience. And chronic stress can wreak havoc on your nervous system, your hormones, your immune response, and your pain levels.

I read that the sympathetic nervous system—the one responsible for fight-or-flight—can stay activated for long periods of time when we’re living in survival mode. That overdrive can cause everything from inflammation to hormone imbalances, digestive issues, and chronic pain.

Suddenly, my symptoms didn’t seem random anymore. They were messages. Signals. My body wasn’t betraying me—it was begging me to listen.

 

One Sentence Changed Everything

I eventually met with a Christian counselor named Tina. I spilled out my story, hoping she’d help me make sense of it all.

After hearing me, she gently said:

“Your sympathetic nervous system is lighting up your central nervous system. You need to rest.” 

That one sentence cut through years of confusion.

For the first time, someone saw the whole picture—not just the symptoms. And she gave me permission to do what I hadn’t been able to admit I needed: Rest.

Not just physical rest, but nervous system rest. Soul rest. The kind of rest that requires surrender and faith.

 

Learning to Heal from the Inside Out

Healing didn’t come overnight. But everything began to change when I stopped treating the symptoms like enemies and started looking for the source.

I began to notice patterns. My pain flared up when I was overwhelmed. I’d crave ice for my back when I was angry. I’d long for heat on my pelvis when I felt afraid. My body was speaking, and I finally started to understand the language.

I learned practices that helped calm my nervous system—deep breathing, slowing down, laughter, time in nature, gentle movement. I began to let go of control and allow space for God to do what I couldn’t.

I found tools like the Curable app that helped me connect the dots between pain, trauma, and the brain. I devoured neuroscience and pain education. And I prayed—desperately and honestly.

 

More Than Physical Healing

Through all of this, God was doing something deeper than healing my body. He was healing the fear, the striving, the belief that I had to carry everything myself.

He began showing me where I had been living out of scarcity—of energy, of trust, of time. He revealed the places where I had been running on empty, clinging to control, or idolizing my work and my health.

He didn’t just want to heal me—He wanted to transform me. To lead me into a kind of peace I didn’t even know existed.

And that peace began with rest.

 

If You’re In the Middle of It…

If you're in the thick of survival mode—if your body is breaking down, if you're exhausted, if nothing seems to help—I want to encourage you:

Don’t ignore the signs.
Don’t keep pushing just to prove you’re strong.
Your body is not your enemy. It's your messenger.

Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is stop long enough to listen.

And if you’re afraid of what slowing down might cost you, I want to gently say: The cost of never stopping is far greater. 

Let rest be the first step, not the last resort.

You are not alone in this. Healing is possible. I’m living proof.