Burned Out? How Tiny Joys Can Help You Heal

(mouse clicking) (gentle music) Headspace Studio. (gentle music continues) (calm music) Hi, and welcome to "Radio Headspace." It's Dora. So, I was deep in a season of burnout, the kind where even rest doesn't feel restful. You know that feeling where everything feels kind of gray and your spark is just gone? One night, I was doing what most of us do when we're tired and wired, doomscrolling on TikTok. But in between the chaos and the noise, I came across a video that made me pause. It was someone gently saying, "If you're struggling right now, try this. Go on a little hunt for joy. Look for the small things that feel good even just for a second." And I don't know why, but something in me was intrigued. My curiosity had been piqued. It wasn't asking me to change my whole life, just to notice something good. And that idea stayed with me because in hard seasons, we're often looking for a big fix, a clear solution, a breakthrough, something to lift the weight. But sometimes, what we need isn't a grand escape. Sometimes, what we need is a warm cup of tea, a deep breath of fresh air, a laugh we didn't expect. Tiny joys won't solve everything, but they remind us life still has beauty. Goodness still exists. You're still capable of feeling something other than exhaustion. And that reminder, that's medicine. (calm music) A few weeks after that TikTok moment, I brought all of this into a therapy session. I was still feeling heavy, still tired, still untangling what burnout had wrapped around my life. At the end of the session, my therapist, like she always does, asked, "Is there anything that stuck out to you from today?" We had shared a light moment earlier in the session, and that simple moment of ease reminded me of who I was outside of the stress. It wasn't a breakthrough, it wasn't a solution, it was just a flicker of joy. But that flicker reminded me that healing doesn't only happen in big transformations, it also happens in tiny moments of feeling human again. That became the beginning of something I now call my hunt for joy. (calm music) So, if you're moving through something hard or even just feel stuck, you don't need to fake happiness or force a shift, but you can look for the small things that still feel soft, sweet, or meaningful. And here's what's helped me. Number one is to train your mind to notice small joys. The way sunlight moves across your floor, the first sip of coffee, your favorite song on shuffle. Number two is to use your senses to ground in pleasure. Smell something soothing, touch something soft, savor a taste fully. And number three is to create a mental list of tiny delights, moments that remind you I'm still here, I'm still feeling, and I'm still me. Because when you start noticing them, you'll realize they were always...