Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amy Schamberg. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Amy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear stories from your time in school/training/etc.

My training in functional medicine taught me to look for the “root cause” of disease, illness, and other ailments. I use this approach to help pull back the layers and identify the underlying issues that are contributing to my client’s struggles and keeping them stuck. Once we identify the root cause, true healing and transformation can begin because we can remove what is causing harm, and replace that with what heals.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Two years ago, I was working full-time as a school psychologist, completing my functional medicine coaching certification program, and solo-parenting two young children. I was operating as though I were superhuman, yet running on fumes.

Suddenly, I was unexpectedly faced with a challenging relationship from my past. Because I had no gas left in the tank and my resilience meter was at zero, this particular situation brought me to my knees and this is when I hit my “burnout rock bottom.”

Due to a combination of PTSD and burnout, I was literally unable to function, so I made the difficult decision to take a 10 week leave of absence from my career to put myself back together.

During my leave, I did what any ambitious, high-performing woman would do on a leave of absence for burnout… I filled my days with self-care!

Everyday, after dropping my kids off at school, I would spend the next six hours “fixing” myself. Yoga, acupuncture, and therapy. Journaling, walking outside in nature, cleaning & organizing, reading self-help books- you name it, I did it.

And then I’d pick my kids up from school, be a mom for the rest of the day, and in the evening, attempt to work on my business.

Two weeks before I was set to return to work, I realized that I was just as raw, exhausted, and depleted as when I started the recovery period. I began to get curious… what had I done wrong? I had stepped away from a demanding career so I could put myself back together. Hadn’t I been doing all the “self-care” activities I was supposed to do?

And that’s when I had an epiphany. I was so used to operating on overdrive that I was treating my recovery like another project. I was putting pressure on myself to heal by filling every waking minute of my day, as if healing was just another goal to achieve, another accomplishment to check off the list.

This was the defining moment that led me to understand that contrary to what I had believed, and been taught, real self-care doesn’t involve anything extra. It doesn’t require finding time, spending money, or adding more stuff to an already full plate. Real self-care is all about letting go.

That realization not only helped me overcome my burnout, but has allowed me to help countless others do the same. This has become a critical pillar in my coach approach, what I call, “Self-Care by Subtraction.”

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

As I mentioned, during my burnout, I learned that real self-care doesn’t involve adding anything extra. So often, we feel stressed about needing to fit in “self-care” activities, and guilty when we do.

When I began to pull back the layers to identify the root cause of my burnout, I noticed there were certain thoughts, habits, and beliefs that were perpetuating my stress cycle.

I started to recognize patterns of perfectionism, people pleasing, conflict avoidance, boundary issues, and overthinking- to name a few.

And I realized that until I removed these unhelpful patterns, piling on more “self-care activities” didn’t address the real issues.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Once I realized what was underneath my stress and burnout, I had to shift my approach to wellness. Sure, yoga and walks in nature can be rejuvenating and restorative, but perhaps even more important is releasing the need for perfection and the impulse to say “yes” to all requests. I had to learn to stop overcommitting and let go of unrealistic expectations. I had to find ways to remove my fears of setting boundaries, and let go of the need to be constantly busy.

Pivoting in this manner was hard- it was really uncomfortable to take an honest look at myself and admit that I was at least partly responsible for my own stress and burnout.

However, it was also empowering, because despite the many external factors contributing to our collective stress and burnout, the great news is we have the power within us to make internal shifts that can lead to transformative results in our health and well-being.

I’ve had the honor of sharing this message with many amazing, high-performing professionals in the past two years, and it is resonating deeply. It’s become a foundational pillar in my work, and I’m proud to say it has led to incredible results for countless people.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.amyschamberg.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amy.schamberg/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/metimemoxies
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyschamberg/

Image Credits
Bonni Pacheco Sentio Design Studio