What Burnout Really Is and Why Pausing Is the Bravest Thing You Can Do

We live in a culture that treats busyness as a badge of honour. The more you do, the more you’re worth.In this week’s episode, I sat down with Lorena Bernal — author, speaker, and the founder of LiveLoveBetter — and within the first few minutes she said something that stopped me in my tracks. When I asked her who she really is, beneath the career and the roles and the accolades, she didn’t hesitate:“A soul with a little girl kind of vibe. Very happy and grateful to be living a human experience on earth.”That answer struck a chord.The storm in your headLorena’s take on burnout cuts through the noise. It’s not simply about working too hard — it’s about living too far from the present moment. She describes it as getting lost in a storm of worries, future plans, and the nagging fear of not doing enough.“If you go back to the present and do what you’re doing at this moment, suddenly it loosens that weight you have.”It sounds almost too simple. But the more I think about it, the more I believe simplicity is the point. We’ve overcomplicated rest, wellness, even parenting — turning each of them into another performance to optimise.Achievement without foundationOne of the most honest moments in our conversation came when Lorena described being at the peak of her Hollywood career and experiencing a profound loss at the same time. No amount of professional success could touch the emptiness she felt.“I feel so empty and it’s going so well. What I thought would give me what I wanted in life is not even close to fulfilling the emptiness I feel inside.”That’s a hard thing to admit. Harder still to use it as a turning point. But she did. And I think a lot of high performers will recognise that feeling — the gnawing sense that something vital is missing even when everything looks perfect on paper.The one thing worth doingWhen I asked Lorena for a single daily practice that’s genuinely shifted her mental health, she didn’t sell me a morning routine or a supplement stack. She said: stop, breathe, and feel grateful — not as a concept, but as a felt experience in your body.“Thank you for my heart beating. Thank you for my breathing. Just that, a few seconds, regulates your whole nervous system.”There’s something quietly radical about that. In a world that’s monetised mindfulness and turned self-care into a productivity tool, she’s pointing back to something far older and simpler.Lorena’s book It Starts With You is a good place to begin if any of this resonated. You can also find her at livelovebetter.co.uk.Now press play. The full conversation is worth your time.Instagram: @jamieliveswellTikTok: @jamieliveswellSubstack: JamieLivesWellYouTube: @jamieliveswellLinkedIn: Jamie MacDonaldWebsite: jamieliveswell.com Get full access to Jamie MacDonald at www.jamieliveswell.com/subscribe