Issue #02 — December 2025: 'Gratitude'

Welcome back, beautiful soul 💫 

As the year draws to a close, we’re turning our hearts toward Gratitude — not as forced positivity, but as a gentle practice of presence.

Gratitude softens the nervous system, rekindles joy, and reconnects us to what is already here, already working, already loving us forward.

This month, we’re remembering that even in the messy, imperfect middle of life… There is always something to hold tenderly.

Let’s close 2025 together with appreciation, spacious breath, and a heart open to receiving.

🧭 Monthly Focus: Gratitude

Gratitude isn’t about denying the hard things — it’s about creating enough safety inside the body to notice the good stuff too. When we pause to appreciate, the nervous system shifts from defence into connection. We become softer, clearer, and more grounded. Gratitude is medicine for burnout — a return to enoughness.

This month, we practice gratitude as a state of being, not a checklist.

✨ Affirmation of the Month

“I welcome joy with a grateful heart. I find beauty in small moments. I receive more when I appreciate what is already here.”

Let it become a breath, a mantra, a frequency you live in.

💡 Featured Article/Tool

Finding Joy in the Little Things: A December Gratitude Guide

In this month’s feature, we’re celebrating the small moments that make life feel softer, brighter, and more beautiful. Finding Joy in the Little Things explores how simple acts of gratitude can shift the nervous system toward calm, boost serotonin, and remind us that joy doesn’t always arrive in big, sweeping gestures — often, it’s found in everyday sparks of enoughness.

April invites us into her world this month as she shares her personal gratitude practice, the tiny rituals that steady her through busy seasons, and even a cosy peek at her Christmas tree glowing softly in her frosty Chicago home. A gentle reminder that when we slow down and pay attention, the ordinary becomes magical.

A December guide to presence, warmth, and the kind of joy that grows quietly — one grateful breath at a time.

👉 Full article available on Substack/blog

🌟 BOTJ Roundup

A warm December glow-up of what’s unfolding across Burnout to Joy:

• Here’s what’s been alive inside Burnout to Joy this month:

  • 🎙 Podcast: Real Talk for Service Professionals — New episode exploring “Receiving Without Guilt” [LINK]

  • 🧠 Foundation Course — Sam and April celebrating all the way 🎉

  • 🌀 Foundation-Course: NEW PILOT DATES now available February 22nd 2026    [LINK]

  • 🧘 Guided Gratitude Meditation Drop just added to the library [LINK]

Thank you for being part of this growing, glowing community.

So much movement.

So much magic!

💬 Community Corner

This month, we’re celebrating the humans:

Notes from community sharing “little joys” — morning sun, warm mugs, quiet breakthroughs

Those embracing gratitude even on hard days — because that's courage in motion

Do you have a joy moment or win to share? Reply to this email — we love hearing from you!

🪞 Journal Prompt

Time to grab your journal, a warm cuppa and get cosy.

“What is one thing I am grateful for today - and what feeling does it bring into my body?”

Write it slowly - no need to rush the process - allow it to unravel...

📄 Download This Month’s Reflection Worksheet 

🌿 April’s Joy Sanctuary

Each month, April or Sam brings a moment of soul-softening — a sanctuary to step into.

This month, April offers a simple practice to deepen gratitude:

“Place one hand on your heart and one on your belly.
Name one thing you are thankful for — softly, out loud.
Let the warmth of gratitude move through your body.”

A 30-second joy ritual to return to presence.

🔮 What’s Coming Next

January unfolds with fresh energy and embodiment:

✨ Theme: “How to Set Intentions That Actually Support Your Wellbeing This Year”

🧘 New meditation: 'Intentions to Support You'

💻 Live virtual gathering — 'Setting Intentions Without Burnout'

📄 Year Ahead Reflection PDF 

2026, we’re ready for you!

Big energy. Clear intention. Deep alignment.

💖 Closing Message

Thank you for being here — for reading, breathing, healing, choosing yourself again and again. Gratitude is a bridge, and you’re crossing it with so much grace.

As you move through December, may you find small joys everywhere — the light on the snow, the warmth of connection, the softness of a slow morning.

Gratitude grows joy.
Joy rewires the nervous system.
And you — you are the heart of it all.