Acknowledge your own humanity: you have the Play and be with children - rediscover your

right to pleasure and a right to relaxation. spontaneity - notice how effortlessly in the moment Sustainable Activism & Avoiding Burnout
Accept and show our vulnerability. We are not young children are - join them by engaging fully in
machines, when we deny the vulnerable aspects of their games. Burnout is a political and What is burnout?
our nature, they can easily resurface in more Celebrate individual and group achievements. movement issue. Every year
problematic ways. Create positive spaces, events and alternatives (like “Burnout is defined, and subjectively
committed activists suffer and experienced, as a state of physical, emotional
Climate Camp!).
Lead as healthy a lifestyle Starhawk has said that in her experience
drop out of our community and mental exhaustion caused by long term
as you can: activists who stay completely away from a spiritual because they have burnt out. involvement in situations that are emotionally
• Get adequate sleep and rest to maintain your practice of some kind, sooner or later reach a demanding. The emotional
To a great extent burnout is
energy levels. demands are often caused
burnout point, whereas those who do have practices simply accepted as a by-
• Eat a healthy balanced diet, lots of fresh fruit and they return to consistently know how to reinvigorate by a combination of very
product of being involved in
veg, cut out junk food and don’t skip meals. themselves and keep the fire burning. high expectations and
activism. However as we work
• Get regular aerobic exercise - eg. swimming, A spiritual practice could be anything from chronic situational stresses.
in groups, if a person is
cycling. meditation to walks in the countryside, from Burnout is accompanied by
suffering from burnout, it will
• Be aware of your intake of stimulant and permaculture and gardening to being entranced by an array of symptoms
tend to have a negative affect
recreational drugs, and whether it’s helping or oil rainbows on wet tarmac. Basically anything that including physical depletion,
on the group as a whole.
hindering your work. nurtures our sense of our own intrinsic worth and feelings of helplessness and
The way we behave to both ourselves and the
beauty and the intrinsic worth and beauty of all life hopelessness, disillusionment and the
Another technique is Core Energy Management people around us has profound impacts. An
on Earth. development of negative self-concept and
(CEM). A set of simple mind/body techniques to enjoyable and effective action or process can easily
Explore your creativity - it’s often said what a negative attitudes towards work, people and life
manage your physical/emotional energy. CEM uses be turned into a negative one. This is in no way
creative group of people activists are. How about itself. In its extreme form, burnout represents a
visualisation to stimulate endorphin production and meant to blame or attack people suffering from
experimenting with your creativity in areas that don’t breaking point beyond which the ability to cope
energy work adapted from Taoism. It’s useful to help burnout, it is more to emphasise the fact that we
involve outwitting the police, or foiling corporate with the environment is severely hampered.”
prevent burnout, reduce stress (ideal before and need to support each other more effectively. We
shenanigans? from Career Burnout - Causes and Cures,
during an action), and generally keep people don’t have to accept burnout as a fact of activist life.
Ayala Pines and Elliott Aronson,
energised and positive. See: We don’t have to continue to lose valuable members
Ultimately, at the end of the The Free Press 1998
/www.adrianharris.org/cem.htm of our community.
Learn some simple breathing day, there is no one size fits all This workshop/handout begins from the premise Basically life goes sour, you lose your spark
exercises - in the west we have a solution. The process of healing that the most effective way of transforming our you stop having fun and you stop being fun to
tendency to breathe very that is involved in avoiding or society and so halting it’s destruction of the be with.
shallowly - however it is coping with burnout will be as Earth, is through transforming ourselves, However we can also look at burnout
physiologically impossible to be unique and singular as each one and the way we interact with both as a warning sign - in this sense it is
stressed and anxious if you are of us is. We have to follow our each other and the Earth herself. an opportunity to re-evaluate and
breathing deeply passions, there is no point taking This, in part, is what our re-prioritise, to develop more
Take up Tai Chi, Chi Gong, meditation, or yoga up an activity just because you read about it in a movement is about, doing sustainable and healthy
(all good for getting the habit of breathing deeply) handout, for such a healing process to be truly things in different, more working methods. To
Get a massage, learn how to give massages. effective you need to make use of a combination of effective, and most importantly, paraphrase R.D. Laing the
Massage is a great way to relax and find activities and practices that really grab you and less destructive ways. Re- infamous 1960s Psychiatrist -
comfort. your passions. evaluating our approach to our ‘It doesn’t have to be all
own mental, emotional and breakdown, it can also be
physical health can play a large part breakthrough.’
...TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER... in enabling our activism to become Burnout often results from working
more sustainable, and thereby help us to too hard, from experiencing too much stress
For more info: Activist Trauma Support Tel: 07962 406940
avoid burning out, and so continue our resistance. or too many stressful situations.
Email: [email protected] www.activist-trauma.net
 This can happen when we demand too much of In short, direct action can at times be very Activist culture: Strategies for avoiding
ourselves, when we set ourselves idealistic or traumatic for most people. The best way to cope Research has highlighted that activist burnout burnout - making our
unrealistic standards, when we don’t feel able to with all the stresses is to help and support one often appears to be caused by people setting
take time out and are unable to delegate. In other another. Stress reaction begins with the release of
activism more sustainable
themselves unrealistically high standards, which
Our commitments need regular review and
words, when we don’t value ourselves, when we fail adrenaline, which gives temporary bursts of energy. they are never quite able to meet, no matter how
pruning to prevent overload. If you have taken on
to look after our own most basic needs. By continually pushing ourselves harder we can hard they drive themselves. Taking the weight of the
something but can’t do it say so publicly, rather than
stay on a high, but this cannot last. This should be world on your shoulders and not allowing yourself to
What to look out for followed by relaxing, curling up in a corner and
people thinking you are doing it when you are not.
rest until the problems of the world have been
Burnout happens slowly, over a long period of Ensure that you take regular breaks while also
recuperating. If we don’t recuperate, ignoring solved is a sure way to burn yourself out. See
time. It is expressed physically and/or mentally. combining a variety of different activities - plan some
messages that something is wrong, then our bodies www.parkc.org/activist.htm
Symptoms of burnout can include: time off, before, during and after big actions or work
and minds will resort to something painful or What kind of a culture do such common
• A creeping feeling that activism is taking over sessions - aiming for a balance that is right for you
dramatic to get our attention. This is burnout. personal attitudes end up creating? As a movement
your life. and your needs.
We are neither inexhaustible machines nor do we accept periods of low
• Difficulty in making decisions. What are the situations
soldiers who can consistently take loads of abuse. It motivation, while respecting
• Inability to stay focused. that grind you down the most?
is positively healthy to get upset about it all - it people for admitting that they
• Insomnia, difficulty in sleeping, or getting enough Can you create ways of dealing
would be worrying if we were not affected. It is need a break to recharge their
sleep. with them?
important that people talk, giving one another time batteries? Do we respect
Don’t feel you have to go
• A growing tendency to think negatively. to listen to worries and stresses. We need to make activists who own up to the fact
on every action - if it doesn’t
• Pervasive feelings of hopelessness. sure that we look after each other. And further that that they don’t have the time or
feel right don’t do it.
• A loss of sense of purpose and energy. we don’t forget the ‘strong’ people who may pretend energy to complete tasks they
It helps to know your own
to be fine all the time. Don’t be afraid to let each have taken on? Or rather, are
• Physical indications of burnout include muscle motives. Sometimes people
tension, restriction of blood flow to the tissues other know what you are feeling. respect and kudos within our
come to activism as a way of
and increased adrenalin buildup. These Burnout can be difficult to deal with, as the community earned through a
expressing anger and pain that
physiological signs can lead to headache, person concerned may claim that they are fine. If kind of devotion to the cause
actually arises out of more
backache and exhaustion you notice people around you going close to the which requires endless
personal sources - an abusive
• A loss of pleasure in food, friends or other edge, try to ease their pressure without challenging personal sacrifice?
childhood, or difficult life
activities that were once exciting and interesting - them. If you suspect you are burning out, don’t be Is there a danger that the
experiences. This is not to say
a general sense of running on empty. afraid to ask for help. often pressing and urgent
that you can’t have both, or that
• Other warning signs of burnout include temper nature of activist work fosters a
Infighting: family violence does not have political aspects.
tantrums over trivial matters, not wanting to get work ethic which in itself can be highly damaging?
One of the big causes of burnout is when However, in terms of sustainability, it is helpful to
out of bed in the morning or becoming accident While perhaps understandable, can a culture that
groups/people fall out, and exhaust their energies in know what is coming from where.
prone. respects personal sacrifice ultimately be either
infighting. Infighting often comes from people under Long term involvement in emotionally
sustainable or effective?
stress who are looking for someone to blame and demanding situations is easier to cope with when
What causes and The downsides of the activist culture of devotion
scapegoat. It can manifest itself as mistrust, you have a way of releasing the emotions that the
to the cause are that our community continually
contributes to burnout? bullying, intimidation, abuse and gossip. Pay situations create, regular emotional release through
loses some of its most committed participants, while
Direct action can stir up the most extreme attention to the group dynamics. Be aware if people support networks, co-counselling, sport, sex, being
there is also the tendency for new participants to be
emotions. You can experience extraordinary things are spreading malicious rumours and bad feeling; in nature, basically things that take your mind off
discouraged from becoming involved.
very quickly. Many people find that a direct action they are either hyper-stressed or dodgy - this is a work, they can help you bring out the best in
If we want to become the transformations that
campaign can be one of the most important, life- common tactic used by infiltrators to destabilise yourself and others around you.
we wish to see in society at large, then surely it is
changing and empowering things in their lives. But groups. Before getting suspicious, try talking to this Learn and practise the art of letting go - face up
time we accepted that relentlessly driving ourselves
some, especially if a campaign is lost and what they person to see if there is any substance to their to, accept and work through your pain, your stress,
and those around us is neither sustainable nor
were seeking to protect is destroyed, say that it was accusations. Paranoid witch hunts help no-one. your fears, while being compassionate with yourself,
desirable. We need to remember that changing the
the worst experience ever, and that they couldn’t go Above all be kind to each other, and to yourself. until you come to the point where you can let go and
world is a marathon, not a sprint. We need to pace
through that pain again. Value each other. move on from them.
ourselves.