Everwell Mama

Feeling Drained? How Moms Can Recognize and Reset Energy Depletion

• Siobhan Bingham • Season 1 • Episode 4

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Have you ever felt so drained that even a full night's sleep doesn’t help? This episode dives into the hidden epidemic of energy depletion among moms and why it’s more than just being tired. We’ll explore the signs of exhaustion, uncover the root causes, and, most importantly, share practical tools to reset and recharge. If you’ve been running on empty, this one’s for you.

In this episode, you’ll learn

  • How to recognize the emotional, physical, and mental signs of energy depletion.
  • The truth about the “supermom” myth and its impact on your well-being.
  • Two sneaky culprits of mom burnout.
  • High-impact physical, mental, and emotional strategies to get your energy back in time for the holidays.
  • How to make space for what really matters. 
  • How to take a simple, actionable first step toward restoring your energy.

Noteworthy quotes from this episode:

“Energy depletion isn’t just feeling sleepy. It’s a full-system shutdown when you’ve been running on empty for too long.”

"Chasing the fantasy of the perfect mom is exactly why so many of us feel depleted."

“Every unresolved stress and unmet need is a withdrawal from your emotional bank account. If you’re not making deposits, you’re running in overdraft.”

“Saying yes to everything means saying no to yourself.”

“Your energy is your most precious asset. Protect it, nurture it, and watch how everything transforms.”

Ready to Reset?

Don’t forget to take the #EnergyResetChallenge this week: Choose one strategy, try it, and document how it makes you feel. Share your journey on Instagram and tag me—let’s celebrate your wins together!

Tune in now to learn how to protect your energy and show up as the best version of yourself for your family, your work, and YOU.


Connect with Siobhan:

  • Tired of being tired? Go from “Too Tired” to “Ready for Anything” with Siobhan’s 21 Energy Hacks
  • Ready to reclaim your energy and wellness, Mama? DM Siobhan on Instagram for details about her coaching services.
  • Instagram: @everwellcoaching

About Siobhan:

Siobhan Bingham coaches working moms to boost energy to be more present with their kids. Through her ALIGN framework she offers personalized strategies for managing exhaustion and finding a daily rhythm that is made just for you.



 Hey Mama, welcome to the Everwell Mama podcast, the place where we explore simple, sustainable, self care and wellness strategies to help you feel your best while managing your busy life. I'm Siobhan Bingham. A holistic life and wellness coach here to guide you as we uncover practical tools that will actually stick so you can enjoy self care without the guilt trip.


Whether you're a new listener or returning for more, I'm so glad you're here. Let's dive into the next step on your journey to becoming an ever well mama.


Hey, how's it going? Today we're diving deep into something that has likely been considered a bit of an epidemic. And that is your energy depletion. But before we jump in, I want you to do something for me. Close your eyes for just a moment, if it's safe to do so. Like, please don't close your eyes if you're driving.


Now take a deep breath, and then ask yourself, when was the last time you felt truly, genuinely energized? Not just caffeinated, not just functioning, But truly alive and present in the moment, and if you're struggling to remember, you're not alone. In fact, you're exactly who this episode is for. Society has sold us this impossible narrative of this perfect mom who works a full time job, keeps an immaculate house.


Raises these emotionally intelligent children, maintains a thriving marriage, looks Instagram ready at all times. She never complains, never breaks down, and never shows weakness. But let me be crystal clear, that version of motherhood is a complete fantasy. It's like super mom, right? Super humans. Super literally doesn't exist.


It's fantasy. And we like it because that's an amazing idea and how great would it be to have all of this be possible. But it's fantasy, and chasing it is exactly why you're feeling depleted. And energy depletion isn't just feeling sleepy. It's a full system shutdown that happens when we've been running on empty for far too long.


Now some people like to call this burnout, which is what we're all trying to avoid, especially moving into holiday season. So let's break down some of these symptoms that are shutting down and what that really looks like. First up are the emotional signs of depletion. I want to start here because often these signs might be your first clue, If you're able to actually recognize it for what it is.


Now when you're in deep emotional exhaustion, you're irritable at the smallest things. Your patience has left the building, maybe even the country. You find yourself crying at literally the meet cute in Meet Me Next Christmas. You feel disconnected from joy. Like when your little one tries to show you the picture they drew, or the tower they made.


Or when everyone else is laughing, but your laugh just isn't fully hitting the spot. And all those interactions that used to excite you, like hanging out with a mom bestie, or watching that guilty pleasure show, those things don't feel exciting anymore. Now they just feel like pure survival. And the cost of this is pretty intense.


I want you to kind of imagine your emotional energy like a bank account. Every unresolved stress, every unmet need, and every ignored boundary is a withdrawal from that account. And if you're not making deposits, then you're in the red, or at least in a pretty significant overdraft. Next up are the physical manifestations.


I picked this one second because when I was in energy depletion, I had all these crazy aches and pains for no particular reason. Other than what my husband would say is just getting old. And this is something that I see with my clients a lot too. They're not just tired, but they're in pain. Physical pain in their bodies.


And that's because our bodies whisper to us. Or sometimes even scream at us. Let's look at some examples though. So when you're always so, so tired and no amount of sleep can seem to fix it. You get this unexplained muscle tension. You've got frequent headaches. This one is super common. Random headaches that just spring up out of nowhere and these are the worst because they exacerbate all those emotional symptoms that we already talked about.


And then you can also see a compromised immune system. Hello, getting sick every month. Sudden weight changes and disrupted sleep patterns. This could be not being able to get to sleep or not being able to stay asleep. And the impact on our physical body is pretty intense as well because our bodies are not separate from our minds.


One of my biggest philosophies, not only in coaching, but in life in general, is that everything is connected. That's what pushed me towards holistic coaching, because you can't solve one symptom and say that everything is great now. Every time something breaks down, this is gonna lead to something else not functioning properly, too.


Think about your digestive system. If you aren't pooping, that's gonna affect how you're eating, how your body is utilizing the nutrients that you have put in, gonna affect your skin, and other systems like your circulatory system. But, back to energy. When our emotional tank is empty, our physical system starts to break down too.


And this is not a coincidence. It's a connection. Get it? Next, let's look at our mental exhaustion indicators. You can tell you're mentally exhausted when you have difficulty concentrating on anything. You have constant brain fog, and this is different from mom brain. Mom brain is when you have difficulty remembering external factors, but you're remembering all those itty bitty details of each of your kids lives, right?


Like you remember when their birthday is, what their weight was, um, the exact time that they were born. You remember how much they weighed at their last doctor's appointment. But you're maybe forgetting to put gas in the car, right? That's mom brain. Brain fog is when you're forgetting everything. You literally can't focus on anything.


And this can lead to reduced problem solving capacity too. So think of when your kids are having an argument and you literally couldn't help them through it. Like you were useless in that situation. It could also be overwhelmed from decisions that used to be simple. Like, what's for dinner? Or, when do I need to leave the house?


And it could also show up as feeling mentally paralyzed. So, this can be intense decision fatigue, but the easiest way to recognize this is when you're saying, I just need to sleep and then I'll feel better. That's how you really know that you're mentally exhausted. Now, if you're nodding along with me, you're thinking, Holy shit, this is me.


How am I so exhausted? How did I get here? Let's take a look at that next. Probably the number one reason that I have seen it again and again with my clients, as well as in my own life, is what I call the overscheduling trap. There are a lot of reasons why you may have fallen into this particular hole.


For almost all women though, it's because we've internalized this toxic productivity narrative. We need to do more to achieve more. We need to be better to be taken seriously. We can only be good moms if we're doing all of these things. This might look like more meetings, more tasks on the to do list, more responsibilities at home and at work.


But, here's the truth bomb. Saying yes to everything means saying no to yourself. Now, do me a favor. If you're in a safe enough space to do so, pull out your calendar right now. Go ahead. I'll wait.


And I'll let you choose if you want to look at it as a day, a week, or a month view. You got it? Now take a look at those commitments that you've put in,


and then I want you to count how many of those commitments are truly aligned with your core values, things that are genuinely going to help you to be a better person. Things that are very important for you to feel like your life is a success. And then I want you to count how many things that you're doing because you feel guilty, or because you feel there's a sense of expectation that you have to do it, or maybe it's a bit of people pleasing.


You're worried about Hurting someone else's feelings by not doing it.


Now, are there any of these commitments that you can drop? Or maybe just push it back to a time when you have a bit more space and capacity? Or maybe it's something that you can delegate to someone else? And if you're saying to yourself, yeah, yeah, Siobhan, I know I have a lot on my plate, but all of it needs to be done.


And if I don't do it, it won't get done. Let's see how that's impacting your day to day. So I've already touched on the mental load in previous episodes, and with Matt especially on the last episode, and he gave some great ideas for sharing those responsibilities with your partner. But if you haven't been bombarded on Instagram by influencers talking about what the mental load is, and you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm going to give you a few quick examples.


There is the mental load of family scheduling. So making sure that everyone is where they need to be and when. It can be the emotional tracking of everyone's needs. So making sure that everyone is not just physically cared for, but nurtured through connection time and things like hugs and affection.


Then there's household management. These are chores like laundry or cleaning, or it could be meal planning or meal prep, and then there's the anticipatory planning. So thinking of things that are coming up next, like getting the snowsuits and the next size up while they're on sale, things like that. These are all pieces of invisible work that keep a family running.


And it is work, real, exhausting, complex work that deserves recognition and rest. So let's break down some of the ways that you can get your energy reset. I'm going to talk about really high level things here that are absolutely helpful to every woman. I go into more personalized strategies with my clients, but I hope that this is a good starting point for you.


If you are that mom that said, Oh my God, this is me. How did I get here? Let's first look at some physical strategies. So we're going first with hydration and nutrition because that's just a basic foundation. And this goes way beyond just drinking water. You want to make sure that you're getting some electrolytes in and you're getting the right amount of electrolytes in.


And you want to make sure that you've got some nice mineral rich nutrition. These are some of those things that are super important for our energy levels, but we don't often think about minerals when we're grocery shopping, right? Most people who maybe have started to think about this will start with vitamins like B12, vitamin C, vitamin D, all that good stuff.


But are you getting the right amounts of magnesium, zinc, and iron? And those three especially around your period. Because that's going to really impact your energy levels. You also need to have a better understanding of your body's unique needs. Literally everybody, not just everybody, but everybody is unique.


And so what you need isn't going to be the same as your BFF, or your mom, or your sister, or whoever else. Your own body's needs change when you're pregnant, or breastfeeding, or trying to conceive, too. So, your body is unique, but also your season of your body is unique. And you need to make sure that you are catering to that.


A really helpful tool for an overview of your body type and nutrition is using the DOSHA system. And this can help you see what foods are kind of best for your body type. Then, we need to chat snacks. Because when you're really busy, you're likely looking for something quick. And quick isn't bad, so long as you've got something that's nutrient dense.


So, maybe you need to chop up some extra veggies when you're prepping dinner, or you make protein balls, or have smoothie ingredients ready to go in a bag in your freezer, so that you're getting something quick, but it isn't processed or over sweetened food that's just going to give you that quick energy boost before you crash again.


Thinking of drinking water, though, you need to know your approximate water needs. And the more you practice this, the better. The more you'll be able to figure out your exact needs for water, because again, every body is different. Then you're going to want to invest in a water bottle that you actually enjoy using.


Not that one whose lid doesn't quite seal perfectly that you hide at the back of your cupboard. Then you want to set hourly hydration reminders. This could be on your phone, on a smartwatch like Apple or your Fitbit, or it could be even on the side of a clear water bottle. They make those. And if you're someone who hates drinking water all day, but try to experiment with herbal teas.


Make sure it's herbal because caffeine will just dehydrate you. Or you can try some infused waters. My favorites are berries or citrus. Or if you need some bubbles in your life, have some carbonated water rather than reaching for a pop. Our next strategy is breathwork to help our nervous system to chill the fuck out.


So the most common technique is box breathing, and it's super helpful if you need that quick two minute emergency reset. And I'm going to invite you to try it with me now. You're going to inhale for four counts, in,


hold it for four, Exhale for four,


and you're going to repeat that three to five times. And as you're doing it, it's really helpful to literally imagine yourself going around the outside of a square box with each four count. So you're going to go up one side for four. When you inhale, you're going to hold, go across for four. Exhale, go down for four, and then go across, hold for four again.


Okay, now for some slightly more advanced techniques. The first is the morning nervous system priming. So, this is pretty much just a fancy way of saying a set of practices that are designed to prepare and optimize your nervous system at the start of the day. Usually you'll see some sort of gentle movement or stretching, some specific breathing exercises, some mindfulness practices, and you're going to be activating your parasympathetic nervous system to create that calm, alert state.


And an easy way to have all of these included is a quick morning yoga routine. The second strategy is evening stress release protocols. And these are methods aimed at helping you to decompress and release all that accumulated stress from the day. just wipe that stuff right off of you. You might have relaxation techniques or gentle stretching or yoga, maybe some meditation, some breathing exercises or journaling or reflective practices.


And one of my favorites is progressive muscle relaxation. For this one, you're going to want to find a comfy spot. It could be either sitting or lying down. And then I want you to take a few moments to just kind of settle into a quiet, chill space as much as possible. And you're going to systematically tense and then completely relax different muscle groups in your body.


I like to start at my feet and work my way up because I'm the most tense in my shoulders and my face. So when I finally get up to them at the end and they fully relax, then I am ready to go. to bed. Third is breath awareness meditation. And this is a mindfulness practice that focuses on conscious breathing.


This technique needs you to be paying close attention to the natural rhythm of your breathing, observing your breathing without trying to change it, And bringing awareness to the sensations of breathing. What does it literally feel like to have the air go into your body and come out? And you're using your breath as an anchor for present moment awareness.


To really be present in this moment and not thinking about what you're needing to make for dinner. Or what email you need to send next. This is really helpful for calming the mind and reducing stress and I personally love medito as a free tool But calm headspace and a bunch of YouTube videos are all really fabulous At guiding you through this if you're getting easily distracted trying it on your own Or if you're just someone who likes to follow along now if you've been listening and thinking like um, hello Where do I find the time to do this?


I'm going to give you some practical and realistic recharging tips now. So all of these things can be done in five minutes or less. And I promise you, you have five minutes in your schedule somewhere. And this doesn't have to be every day. If you're just starting out, maybe you just pick five minutes out of your whole week and build up more and more time or build up more and more days until you feel like you're in the best place for you.


And that's going to look totally different for every single person. One person's only going to need five minutes out of the whole week, whereas someone's going to need 15 minutes every single day. One person will only need 15 minutes throughout the whole week, right? Like, every single person is unique, so you have to just kind of experiment and see what works best for you.


And where to do this, especially if you're room sharing with a baby, or if being surrounded by the toys in your living room is not going to let you relax, you could maybe find a little bathroom sanctuary moment. Even if you're just sitting in your tub with the shower curtain pulled in front of you, or you're sitting on the toilet, just having that time will be so helpful for you, I promise.


And if you're at all able to, going out into nature for a micro break is game changing. Vitamin D. And calming techniques, and movement. Yes, please! If you live in an apartment, you could go out onto your balcony for a few minutes. Or, if you are in a house, you could go out onto a porch. If you want to get some movement in, you can go to a park, or go to the nearest nature trail.


Even just down your sidewalk. Any time outside will be beneficial. And for my overstimulated and touched out mamas, I've got a trick for you. You need a sensory reset. Some of the best tools that I've seen for quick sensory resets are some sort of weight work, heavy work. So this could be a weighted blanket or giving yourself literally a huge bear hug.


Because when you're touched out, you don't want anyone else touching you. It could be dimming the lights or turning them off completely. Like trapping yourself in the closet. This could be noise canceling headphones. I have found that the quiet ear loops are really helpful because you can still hear if your kids are having an emergency, but it's really limiting that volume of all of the noise that's in your house.


Quiet time is super helpful for not only you, but your kids too. Everyone needs to have some downtime throughout the day, so quiet time is really helpful for sensory reset. And then any sort of tactile tools, so these are anything that you can is something that you're touching. Think of those sequin cushions that change the picture depending on how you move it up and down.


Or fidget toys. Or anything textured really. Walking barefoot. Some people swear by doing this outside when it's warm enough to do so. And even giving yourself a mini massage when you need it. All of these things are super helpful. Okay, so those are some of our physical strategies. Now let's get into the mental strategy of boundary setting.


If you didn't get rid of any of the commitments on your calendar before, but really wanted to, here's your permission slip to do that. Go back and look at them again, but this time, I want you to look at them knowing that it's okay to say no. A no is a complete sentence. No, and all other complete sentences, are extremely powerful.


So, some examples are, I appreciate your invitation, but I won't be able to join you. I can't take on any additional work right now, so I'll have to decline. And, you don't have to explain yourself there. You've said, no, gone. Now, your kids and your family members are probably the only ones who might need a bit more of an explanation.


But you're still giving them, this is not right now. So an example there could be, I don't want to play right now, but I can play after blank, right? And it's going to feel uncomfy at first, but when you get this right, your no creates space for more meaningful yeses. And if there's an area of your life that you're feeling is really tricky to say no to and you really need to create that boundary, DM me on Instagram and I'll send you some personalized scripts totally free for your situation.


I want you to remember that working moms like us, who are refusing to let societal expectations dictate our worth, are people who prioritize our energy, our values, and our goals. And we do this so that we can show up fully for what matters most, our families, our work, and ourselves. Now ladies, before we wrap up today, remember I'm not trying to just give you information.


Today, I'm giving you a mission. And here's your challenge for this week, should you choose to accept it. I want you to choose one strategy from today's episode. And try it out this week. And then document your experience. This can be through journaling, taking a picture, or just making a note of how you felt before and after trying the strategy.


And if you're feeling brave, I'd love it if you would share your journey with me on Instagram. You can tag me and use the hashtag Energy Reset Challenge so I can celebrate you and your win for your family, your work, and for you, lovely lady. And extra bonus points if you recruit another mom to join you.


Because we're in this all together. And I really need you to remember, Mama, your energy is not an unlimited resource. It's your most precious asset. Protect it, nurture it, and watch how everything transforms. And until next time, I see you, I believe in you, and I'm right here in your corner. Thank you so much for tuning in today.


You can find the transcript and all the resources mentioned in the show notes below. If this episode was helpful, I would really appreciate you leaving a 5 star rating and review so I can keep making it. Also, I want to make sure this podcast actually answers your wellness questions. If you've got a specific question about how to implement more wellness into your already filled day, send me a DM on Instagram at everwellcoaching so I can share resources or create a future episode just for you.


Stay tuned for our next episode and until then, remember to take a moment each day to do something that fills your cup, mama.