Burnout touches nearly everyone at some point, whether it’s the kind that comes from pushing yourself too hard or the subtler exhaustion of living out of alignment with what truly lights you up. In herbalism, we see burnout as more than fatigue; it’s a signal from your body and spirit that something needs to shift.

At Dancing Willow Herbs, we believe plants are powerful allies in both recognizing and recovering from burnout. This guide explores how to identify the different types of burnout, ways to support your body and mind, and the herbal categories that can help bring you back into balance.

Rather listen to a podcast than read the blog? 

Podcast episode- An Herbalist's Guide to Burnout

Two Faces of Burnout

1. Classic Overwork Burnout

This type stems from doing too much for too long—running on stress hormones, keeping a packed schedule, and pushing yourself without enough rest. It often shows up as physical exhaustion, irritability, and difficulty sleeping.

2. Authenticity Burnout 

Sometimes it’s not about the quantity of what you’re doing, but the quality. If most of your time is spent on things that don’t align with your values or fill your cup, you can feel drained even without a packed schedule.

The Role of Subconscious Beliefs

Many of us carry the deep-seated idea that our worth depends on productivity. This belief makes rest feel unearned, even guilt-inducing. Reframing rest as not only restorative but productive, because it improves the quality of what you create, can be a powerful first step toward recovery.

Herbal Allies for Burnout

1. Spiritual Heart Herbs

These plants help reconnect you to your purpose and authenticity while supporting your nervous system. They help you feel your own energy, which allows you to hold proper boundaries around things that aren’t feeding you. 

• Rose – Opens the heart while offering thorny protection. Helps connect us to our authentic gifts and innate worthiness.
  
• Hawthorn – Strengthens the heart, physically and emotionally. Offers support with emotional and energetic boundaries (also has thorns).
  
• Tulsi (Holy Basil) – Latin name is Ocimum sanctum, which roughly translates to “the seat of the soul”. Tulsi brings us home to our true selves, calms stress, uplifts the mind and brings clarity.
  
• Reishi – Grounds and centers when overwhelmed by sensory input like too much time on technology or feeling the weight of the world.
  
• Motherwort, Linden, Lemon Balm – Gentle nervines with heart-centered energy.
• Our Rooted Heart Elixir is a blend of spiritual heart herbs: Rose, Hawthorn & Reishi. It is our go to formula for feeling overwhelmed, pulled away from one's authenticity and needing to create more aligned boundaries. 

Get Rooted Heart Elixir here! 

2. Kidney Chi Tonics (Traditional Chinese Medicine)

In TCM, burnout is often linked to depleted kidney chi, which correlates with adrenal vitality in Western terms.

• Lifestyle Support – Focusing on warm nourishing foods, time in nature, staying warm (especially lower back and feet), and reducing overstimulation.
  
• Herbs – Goji berries, codonopsis, and milky oats for deep nervous system nourishment.
  

At Dancing Willow Herbs we use fresh, local milky oat tops to make our Milky Oat Tincture. There is a moment in time (usually lasts about 1 week or even a few days), where oat tops exude a milky latex substance when you squeeze them. This means they are ready to be harvested and made into medicine to preserve the milky latex constituents which are incredibly supportive and nourishing to the nervous system. This is one of the tinctures at the shop we are most proud of- with its vibrant green color telling the story of the fresh oat tops at their peak!  

3. Adaptogens

Adaptogens help regulate the HPA axis (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal), restoring healthy stress response patterns. Especially when someone is in the classic pattern of tired and exhausted all day, with a second wind coming as soon as you lay down at night- adaptogens can be just what you need to regulate the sleep/wake cycle that can become disrupted when the adrenals are fatigued. For burnout, focus on calming rather than stimulating adaptogens.

• Shatavari – Soothing adaptogen, nourishing “yin” tonic, especially supportive for women who are overexerting.
  
• Ashwagandha – Lowers cortisol, regulating and nourishing. Does have an action on hormones, so use cautiously in women with estrogen dominance or PCOS because of the potential for Ashwagandha to increase estrogen & testosterone. Better tolerated by peri/post menopausal women & men.
  
• Tulsi & Reishi – Gentle, grounding adaptogens suitable for daytime use. Also spiritual heart herbs, mentioned above.

Our Adaptogenic Honey Paste contains Shatavari & Ashwagandha alongside Cardamom & Rose. The powders are whipped into the honey for a sweet delivery of adaptogenic nourishment. Can be added to water or milk for instant tea, eaten by the spoonful, topped on toast, or added to recipes. 

4. Nervines

These herbs act more immediately to calm the nervous system, making them perfect for moments of acute stress or difficulty sleeping. Nervines are great at helping to address the symptoms associated with burnout, while you work on addressing the deeper imbalances.

• Daytime Nervines – These are herbs that help to soothe the nervous system and keep you calm & resourced without causing drowsiness. Usually well tolerated by people during the day. 
  • Lemon balm, Tulsi, Milky Oats, Pedicularis, Motherwort
  • Our Peaceful Heart Formula
    
• Sleep Support – These herbs are supportive when taken before bedtime to help you fall asleep and stay asleep, especially if you are feeling that “tired but wired” feeling.   
  • Valerian, California poppy, Chamomile, Passionflower, Hops, Blue Vervain
  • Our Sleep Deep Formula
    
    

Listening to the Plants Around You

Sometimes the most potent plant ally for burnout isn’t in any book—it’s the one growing outside your door. A spontaneous connection to a plant that is calling you, can bring unexpected clarity, authenticity, and grounding. Trust your intuition and allow space to simply sit with plants, taste them, and listen.

Something we will be doing together at Blooming Rooted Retreat. Connecting to the plants and letting them guide our nervous systems toward restoration. 

Bringing It All Together

Healing burnout isn’t just about supplements or quick fixes. It’s about:

• Identifying the root cause (overwork vs. misalignment)
  
• Releasing the pressure to constantly produce
  
• Nourishing your nervous system deeply
  
• Saying yes to what lights you up—and no to what drains you
  
• Letting plants guide and support you through the process
  

If your nervous system feels frayed, remember: rest is not a luxury, it’s the soil in which your well-being grows. Let the plants be your cheerleaders as you come back home to yourself.

Join us for Blooming Rooted Retreat – a weekend of plant connection, nervous system nourishment, and community over the autumn equinox.