There’s not one particular path that if you don’t do it, it’s not going to work. If you can do anything that helps you get up a little bit: that’s the best thing you can do.

When you allow yourself to do less, or to do it in smaller bits or not to the full extent that you want, you’re starting to build a trust with yourself that you’re going to be able to do things.

You’re teaching your nervous system that it’s going to be okay in the future, by knowing when it is too much to do.

There’s no way back, but there is a way forward.

Autistic burnout recovery is, in its essence, about aligning our internal and our external realities.

Schei** Woche gehabt. Heute noch Logopädie-Stunde, wo ich auch nicht wirklich weiterkomme. Und am Wochenende fahre ich mal zu meiner Mutter, um einen Brief meines Vaters an sie abzuholen, in dem er sich bitterlich über mich beschwert, dass ich in den 2 Wochen Urlaub, die er im Jahr mit uns gemacht hat, einfach nicht das perfekte Kind war, das er gerne gehabt hätte. Der perfekte Abschluss dieser Woche also. #depression #notjustsad #burnoutrecovery

It’s not enough to get some energy back so that you can continue the cognitive and physical dissonance for longer.

You can’t just go back to that version of yourself (the pre-burnout self, the one who had energy, and could do all of the things, and be a workaholic, or change the world, or whatever it was).

That version of yourself wasn’t living in a healthy way, it was ignoring your own needs.

I’ll admit that I still need a lot more rest than our capitalist and ableist ideals say that I should need, but I don’t really care anymore.

Getting access to all of your internal information involves establishing trust with yourself.

79 Warning Signs of Autistic Burnout

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeEmkyhB2wA

Relieving cognitive dissonance is a major source of energy gain. One of the biggest ones in my experience.

Got a bunch of cleaning and organization done yesterday with my aunt's help. Hurt myself moving something I shouldn't have lifted and will be in more pain than usual for awhile now... But I have a light exercise and stretch routine that I've put together that actually helps and I will resume that soon.

One more day of work and then my roommate is moving in which will be another day of stuff to do, but not nearly as much. Things will be as prepared as they can be and then for the most part I won't have much left to do, thankfully. I've had to step away from a more active and consistent mode of #burnoutrecovery for the past couple of weeks and I can't tell yet how much it will end up costing.

I cannot wait to spend a nonverbal weekend resting, recovering, and maybe playing Palia if my arms and shoulders will let me.

Can you notice some sensations without judgement about whether it’s good or bad? Without the need to do anything about it? Only noticing?

There are times in life and situations where you’re simply not going to be able to carve out actual rest time. So during those times what you can do is focus on relieving cognitive dissonance, or painful thoughts, or anxiety.

If you are interested in starting to pay attention to your internal experience in ways that are more gentle, what I would suggest is looking at neutral experiences at non-relevant times.

Aiming for A "Good Day" Is Too Much Pressure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXFpRswS0wY

Things like knowing what you want or need, what help to ask for, how to make sensory overwhelm better, and how to get energy back are all easier to figure out when you have real time feedback from your body about what it’s experiencing.

Plan how much rest time it’ll actually take you to recuperate from something in, instead of backing yourself into a corner with some other commitments that you’ve made down the line.