In this episode, Hilmarie sits down with Tim Thomas to explore why burnout is often less about motivation and more about exhaustion, recovery, and the state we are operating from. Drawing on his experiences in extreme environments, including military service in Afghanistan, Tim shares how confronting regret, fear, and his own physical limits fundamentally changed the way he thinks about resilience.
The conversation explores why rest and recovery form the foundation of sustainable performance, how prolonged pain can turn into isolation, and why simply pushing harder can make burnout worse. Tim explains how his own struggle with severe fatigue led him to experiment with breathing practices, eventually inspiring Breathwork in Bed and his work supporting veterans, first responders, and others struggling with stress and exhaustion.
A standout theme is Tim's belief that "sleep is the soil from which everything grows." Rather than treating recovery as something that happens after the important work is done, he encourages people to see it as the foundation that allows their energy, relationships, performance, and unique abilities to flourish.
His message is simple: sometimes progress doesn't begin by doing more. It begins by creating the conditions to recover.
About The Guest
Tim Thomas is the founder of Breathwork in Bed, a platform designed to help people use guided breathing practices around sleep and recovery. A former special forces candidate with wartime experience in Afghanistan, Tim has dedicated much of his later work to supporting veterans and helping people better understand exhaustion, stress, connection, and resilience.
His work grew from his own experiences with extreme fatigue and recovery and later expanded into veteran support programs that used unconventional approaches, including ocean-based experiences, to help participants reconnect with themselves. Tim has also raised more than $1.3 million for veteran medical research and continues to advocate for practical approaches to improving sleep, restoring energy, and helping people bring more of their potential into the world.
Quotes
3:42 - You can live with people not thinking much of you, you can live without not a lot of money, but you cannot live with regret.
11:30 - I don't want to die with any ideas, hopes, and dreams still stuck in my head.
14:12 - You don't get more by doing more when it comes to your own state of burnout. You actually get more by doing less.
24:42 - Desperate decisions often lead to poor sleep, and poor sleep often leads to desperate decisions. They feed off each other.
32:23 - No one's gonna make you realize your body is the most incredible regenerative thing we own.
35:56 - Your breath is gonna be your best life partner. It's gonna be your best friend going to sleep, your best friend waking up. That it's gonna be that person that's gonna be there for you at 2 a.m. when you can't get back to sleep. It's literally like waking up a the most amazing relationship you've ever had from inside your own body.
46:53 - The body knows how to charge up, but it can't do that until you allow it to feel safe.
49:43 - Don't expect from others. The answer's not in alcohol, it's actually underneath your own skin. So, if I was to put that in understandable language, for me, I still take too long to realize the answer's underneath my own skin.
Useful Links
Website:https://breathworkinbed.com.au
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/breathworkinbed/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breathworkinbed
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bettersleepbetterworld/
The Matrix Green Pill Podcast: https://thematrixgreenpill.com/
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