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Hello! I'm Alexis. I'm here to help you ditch exhaustion and fall in love with life again.
Here is the story of how I climbed out of the burnout rut and never looked back...
LET'S START AT THE BEGINNING
Nature or Nurture?
I’ve been drawn to people for as long as I can remember, and grew up in a family where kindness and looking after others was the norm. Nature plus nurture had created an empath, and at the end of my school years and after travelling the world a bit, I found myself studying psychology. It was a great fit, and I immersed myself in this people-science.
I worked my way through a few different jobs in the helping professions - mental health policy, residential care, child protection, youth work, school wellbeing programs and residential rehab.
Personality traits like perfectionism and striving for achievement had their perks: I was good at setting goals and ticking them off on time. I thrived on praise for being a “diligent” and “efficient” employee, and being the one to get all the things done.
Ultimately though, this led me to overworking and undervaluing myself. A particularly bad habit I’d developed was putting the needs of others before my own. Self-care slid way down the to-do list as I continued to take on more.
In the messy middle of it all, I burned out.
Chronic stress had tipped my hormones out of balance, resulting in adrenal fatigue. I was physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted, with no real understanding of what was happening to me. Years of working in frontline roles with high exposure to trauma had left me depleted, depressed and disconnected from my own needs.
I took time off work and did the most uncomfortable thing: sat in stillness for 10 days at a silent meditation retreat. Here, I couldn’t distract myself with being busy and instead met myself on the mat. There was nowhere to run, hide or escape to, and I confronted the fact that I had to change the way I was living and working.
Yoga, psychology and mindfulness were the three key elements that guided my recovery from burnout…
Yoga
Through my yoga practice, I learned to slow down and breathe. To be at home in my body.
Psychology
By working with a therapist, I was able to shift my mindset, re-pattern unhelpful thoughts and beliefs, and create healthier habits to cope with stress.
Mindfulness
In practicing mindfulness, I grew calm and still. More aware and accepting of reality.
I began to experience life in a different way. There was more fluidity, and less resistance. Slowing down and practicing stillness allowed my nervous system to heal and return to a state of balance.
IT SOUNDS CLICHE, BUT THE END
was really just the beginning...
Putting an end to the burnout cycle meant that I finally had the energy and freedom to start living life on my terms, intentionally and by design. The whole experience inspired me to create a business to support others going through similar challenges, and I now have the pleasure of coaching those of you who are healing from chronic stress and burnout. I also support leaders and teams to create happy and healthy workplaces, where everyone is able to move beyond survival mode and actually flourish.
Now (even with two kids under 3!) I prioritise my wellbeing and don’t leave my health and happiness to chance. Motherhood has invited me to slow down even more and embrace all the beautiful little moments that make up life. Presence is the greatest lesson I've learned in all of this.
Balance in my life means knowing myself at the core level, remaining connected to the essence of who I am, and knowing when I need to push on or pull back. It also means I’m a mum that enjoys naps as much as an F45 workout, and a business owner that sets high goals but refuses to burn out to achieve them.
I created Total Life to help you reconnect with your humanity
If we glorify hustling and hard work at the expense of our health and wellbeing, we will continue to see the sky-high rates of chronic stress and burnout climb even higher. This unsustainable way many of us are living and working has created a huge disconnect from ourselves and from each other, and has left us tired, wired and burnt-out.
I believe we can prevent chronic stress and burnout, as well as intervene early, instead of waiting for a health crisis to happen before we take action.
Through supporting employee wellbeing as well as improving organisational culture, our workplaces can become environments where people feel good, do their best work, and want to stay.
Welcome to Total Life! Thanks for being here.
- Alexis
QUALIFICATIONS
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Bachelor of Science (Psychology)
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Graduate Diploma of Psychological Science
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International Baccalaureate Diploma
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Provide First Aid Certificate
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Mental Health First Aid Certificate
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Youth Self-Harm/ Self-Injury Behaviours Training
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Building Resilience in Young People Training
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Responding to FASD Training
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Therapeutic Crisis Intervention Training
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Suicide Prevention Training
EXPERIENCE
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Hosted several successful wellbeing retreats and workshops 2022-2024
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Facilitated multiple one-on-one and group coaching programs 2020-22
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Adventure Therapy Clinician, Youth Flourish Outdoors 2021-22
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Program Coordinator and Lead Clinician, Gunnebah Addiction Retreat 2018-20
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Wellbeing Programs Coordinator, Balanced Choice 2017-18