I recently celebrated my 35th birthday.

I’m not much of a birthday person. I don’t like to make a big thing of it.

This year my husband offered to make a dinner reservation. Instead I took the day off from work, and requested that we let the dogs run at a Wildlife Management Area and have Culver’s for dinner. It was pretty great.

I don’t think 30 year-old Erin would have planned such a birthday.

Although with the new birthday requests, there’s been some other changes I’ve noticed throughout the summer. I’m less consumed by social media, I’ve felt less inclined to submerge myself in the hustle, and lately I’ve felt really good about saying, “I’m not interested.”

Maybe I’m just getting older. Or maybe I’m narrowing down my priorities. Perhaps it’s a bit of both.

It could also be that therapy really works. And talking about life’s challenges with an unbiased human is an important practice for everyone’s mental health.

There was a time in my life when it seemed like I was never doing enough. I regularly felt like I needed to promote my classes more - even though I was not compensated to do so and was not paid more if more students attended my classes. It seemed like I had to host more workshops, more trainings, more retreats. And all of that I need to do more is a guaranteed path to burnout.

Although stepping away from teaching yoga full-time was a challenge for me and my identity, I know it’s been incredibly good for me! I’m able to focus on myself, my dogs, and consider other professional outlets.

And I know my 12 years hustling as a full-time yoga teacher helped me create a thick skin and incredibly strong work ethic.

After all this time, I still love teaching yoga. I actually think I love teaching yoga more now that I’ve stepped away from it a bit.

I suppose if you’re feeling burned out or uninspired you might benefit from taking a break from social media, finding a therapist you jive with, getting outside, and petting a dog or two.