I used to work in environmental policy and I was doing pretty well—if well means climbing up the ladder to the detriment of one’s wellbeing. It turns out being fuelled by external validation, climate anxiety and takeaway coffee alone wasn’t sustainable. I experienced a debilitating burnout that took years to recover from.

Looking back, I lacked the tools and mindset to manage stress, didn’t recognise the tell-tale signs my body was giving me, and prolonged the recovery process by not understanding what burnout was (let alone implementing sustainable habits to get better). Deeper than that, somewhere along the way I had learnt that self worth equalled output.

As I recovered and made the necessary changes in my life, I became a massage therapist to be able to give to others what was so helpful to my recovery. In my practice, I have still been surprised by quite how prevalent burnout has become in our society.

Burnout is on the rise amongst ever younger age groups. Such a trend suggests there’s something about our collective world that needs to change. Sure—there are absolutely tools for individual stress management and resilience that we can learn. But also, just maybe, disconnection from ourselves, community and the natural world has a part to play too.

Regather will grow as a space to route oneself, find autonomy and strength in community and explore what wellbeing might look like when it places connection over consumption.

I hope you will join the ride!