How I Support People Recover from Burnout and Chronic Fatigue: The Holistic Vitality Approach
When I founded Vitalise, I didn’t just want to treat symptoms — I wanted to give people the tools and knowledge to build real, lasting health. Vitality, resilience, and energy aren’t things we’re either lucky to have or doomed to lose — they’re things we can cultivate. But not through pushing harder or chasing the next magic fix.
Many of the people I work with come to me after months — sometimes years — of living with persistent fatigue, brain fog, chronic pain, or flu-like symptoms after exertion. Some are navigating post-viral fatigue or POTS after a difficult illness. Others are stuck in the crash-recovery cycle of CFS, trying to keep up with a demanding full-time job, relationships, and responsibilities — while silently dealing with headaches, muscle aches, joint pain, or a feeling of unbearable heaviness in the body.
They’ve often been told it’s “just stress” or “nothing’s wrong,” and yet they’re living with very real and disabling symptoms: lower back pain, lack of focus, post-exertional malaise, or the sense that their body is no longer on their side. And underneath all that, many describe the emotional toll — the hopelessness of not improving, the social isolation, and the feeling of not being understood.
What I offer isn’t a miracle protocol. It’s a structured, personalised, and compassionate framework that brings together years of clinical experience, traditional knowledge, and modern insights — all aimed at restoring the core foundations of health.
Because recovery doesn’t just mean getting back to “normal.” It means learning to live in a way that supports your energy, your nervous system, and your sense of connection — so your body has the conditions it needs not just to survive, but to heal and thrive.
Below, I’ll share the three frameworks that guide all of my work at Vitalise: the 5 Rs of Revitalisation, the 4 Therapeutic Tools, and the 4 Phases of Recovery.
The Holistic Vitality Approach summarised
1. The 5 Rs of Revitalisation
Recovery isn’t about pushing harder or just getting more sleep — it’s about addressing the root causes of why your energy systems have broken down. In almost everyone I work with, five key systems are out of balance. That’s why the first step in our work is the 5 Rs of Revitalisation.
Retrain the Nervous System
When you’re constantly tired but wired — anxious, sensitive to noise, unable to switch off — your body is stuck in survival mode. This can cause foggy brain, headaches, and even post-exertional malaise.
Unless the nervous system feels safe, the body won’t prioritise healing. So we begin with gentle tools to calm the stress response, support the vagus nerve, and bring your system back to rest. This also helps ease symptoms like POTS, muscle tension, and digestive + sleep disturbances.
Restore Mitochondrial Function
The constant heaviness, lack of focus, and energy crashes many people experience are often signs that the mitochondria — your cellular energy factories — aren’t working properly.
Mitochondria can be damaged by chronic stress, toxic build up, metabolic overload or a lingering virus. Supporting their function is key to reducing chronic pain, stabilising your energy throughout the day, and preventing that classic "boom and bust" cycle of doing too much and crashing for days afterward.
Rebuild Gut Integrity & Microbiome
Your gut and immune system are closely linked — and when the gut lining becomes inflamed, or your microbiome is out of balance, it can contribute to fatigue, inflammation, joint pain, and brain fog.
Supporting digestion, gut repair, and microbiome health is often a turning point. A stronger gut means fewer symptoms, better nutrient absorption, and improved mood and immunity.
Regulate Hormones and Immunity
Chronic fatigue and burnout often trigger a breakdown in hormonal rhythm — especially the adrenal-thyroid axis — and a state of chronic immune dysregulation.
Many people with CFS, POTS, or post-viral fatigue experience flu-like symptoms after exertion, recurring headaches, or crashes that feel completely out of proportion. Supporting hormonal recovery and immune balance can help reduce these unpredictable symptoms and bring more stability to your day.
Reduce Inflammation
Long-standing headaches, chronic exhaustion, lower back and joint painand muscle aches are often signs of silent inflammation running in the background.
Inflammation creates a huge energy drain and worsens fatigue and mental clarity. We identify and reduce key sources of inflammation — like food sensitivities, stress, and microbial imbalances — so your body can redirect energy toward healing.
2. The 4 Therapeutic Tools
Healing requires more than just knowing what's wrong — it’s about having the right tools to gently rebuild. I work with clients using four therapeutic tools that support the body, mind, and daily life.
Medicinal Herbs
Herbs can calm the nervous system, reduce inflammation, support digestion, restore hormonal balance, and help you build energy naturally.
I use tailor-made herbal formulas based on your unique symptoms — whether you’re dealing with brain fog, chronic pain, or a reactive immune system.
Nutrition & Targeted Supplementation
When your body is exhausted, it needs deep nourishment. We focus on low-inflammatory, nutrient-rich foods that are easy to digest and supportive for mitochondrial repair, hormone balance, and gut healing.
We also bring in supplements where needed — such as multi nutrients, methylated multivitamin, essential fatty acids, antioxidants and probiotics.
Lifestyle Adaptations
You don’t need to overhaul your life overnight — but small, intentional shifts to your daily rhythm can create major change.
We look at sleep hygiene, movement pacing, breathwork, sensory input, and your relationship with rest — all with the goal of reducing overwhelm, improving energy regulation, and avoiding post-exertional malaise.
Self-Reflection Practices
Living with chronic fatigue can bring up a lot of grief, isolation, and frustration. You're not just healing your body — you're rebuilding your life.
I offer space for emotional processing, gentle mindset work, and reconnection with your inner compass. This is often the missing piece that helps people move from surviving to thriving.
3. The 3 Phases of Recovery
Healing from burnout or CFS isn’t a quick fix — but it does follow a pattern. Most of my clients go through the same four recovery phases, each with its own purpose.
Stage 1: Rest and Recharge
In this phase, the focus is on allowing your body to rest without guilt or pressure.
Deep nervous system regulation
Prioritising stillness and safety
Building body awareness
For many, this is the first time they've been allowed to truly rest. It's where we address social isolation, help prevent burnout crashes, and begin to gently rebuild a sense of control and hope.
Stage 2: Restore and Rebalance
As the body starts to stabilise, we gently add back supportive practices.
Gentle movement (like stretching or walks)
Detox support and reducing inflammation
Creating balance between activity and rest
This is when people often begin noticing reduced brain fog, fewer headaches, and more consistent energy.
Stage 3: Reintegrate and Rebuild
This phase is about returning to life with more capacity and confidence.
Reconditioning your body and stamina
Redesigning your lifestyle around what supports you
Gradually increasing functional activity
Here, we focus on consistency, clarity, and rebuilding a life that works — not the one that led to burnout in the first place.
Final Thoughts: Recovery is a journey, not a destination
Burnout, post-viral fatigue, and chronic conditions like CFS and POTS are complex — but healing is possible with the right support and the right structure.
If you're struggling with persistent fatigue, headaches, heaviness, joint pain, brain fog, or the emotional toll of not being understood, you’re not alone — and you don’t have to do this alone.
At Vitalise, I offer structured 1:1 coaching and personalised holistic recovery plans that meet you exactly where you are. Together, we rebuild energy, clarity, and trust in your body again.
You don’t have to quit your job or escape somewhere tropical to find respite from your fatigue. By committing to engaging with a progressive transformation process, you can evolve into someone more embodied, aligned and deeply energised. Start with food. Layer in supplements. Honour your rhythm. Regulate your nervous system. Rebuild who you are on the other side of burnout.
At Vitalise, we can walk together a path of transformation towards a more energised body, resilient heart and clear mind. If you feel called to explore how the combination of nutrition, herbal medicine and mushrooms, lifestyle coaching and psychological support can help you in resolving chronic fatigue and burnout I’d invite you to book your 30 minutes free discovery call to have a feel if we could work well together!
