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Interview with Nadine Menger - founder of @lightmyfire.mag

· work-life balance,digital publishing,Burnout

Energetic, full of creative ideas and stronger than ever before. Our todays Heroine of the week Nadine Menger founder of @lightmyfire.mag radiates gaiety of joie de vivre.
In late 2015, Nadine found herself facing a serious case of burnout and it took her half a year to recreate her life and kick burnout´s butt. Today this beatiful young women not only combines multiple roles as a publisher, a yoga teacher, a mom, she also created a space for information around personal growth, consious lifestyle and mental self-care. Her web magazine helps people to find joy in every day and to live a more fulfilled, balanced life.
Read Nadine´s inspiring interview below.

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Many women start their entrepreneurial journey in order to have healthier work-life balance and to be able to live a happier, more fulfilled life. Was that your motivation as well and would you say you succeeded?

After recovering from a burnout and quitting the job that was the reason for it, I was looking for a way to combine my professional skills with my experience. As I am a writer, an online editor and a yoga teacher and deeply in love with magazines I developed the vision of a place where I can enjoy myself and maybe help others to get along in times of mental suffering. And yes, I would say I succeeded because every day I can't wait to get to work, to write, to connect, to turn my inside out.

Your blogazine “Lightmyfire.mag” deals with personal growth, conscious lifestyle, and mental self-care. Do you create all the content yourself and where do you draw inspiration from?

At the moment I create everything by myself but for the future I want to invite guests to share their experiences and their knowledge. So many people suffered from mental illness and got back into a healthy and happy life, I want to give them the chance to share their story and inspire other people to love their lives again. My personal inspiration I draw from my own experience, from my yoga practice, the many books I read and the people I talk to.

Is the magazine developing the way you hoped from the start, or were there some surprises on the way?

Since I've started just recently everything is still very exciting and new to me, but it develops in a way I like. I have to check out now what my audience likes to read and how I can use my experience as best to inspire them. Maybe a little surprise for me was, how many people really suffer from mental illness like depression or burnout and how happy they are that there is one more source now where you can read and talk about it.

 

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What are the first “red flags” of burnout and what would you advice to prevent it?

For my self I recognize two different red flags. One is the "emotional red flag", the other one the "physical red flag". There are many different signs, that you may suffer from a burnout, for the body like sleep disturbances, immunodeficiency, stomach pain or problems with your cardiovascular system. For the mind it maybe lethargy, depressed mood, not being able to stop brooding. My red flags where having the feeling of losing my meaning of life as the first thought when I woke up in the morning, stomach pain and a buzzing in my right ear. Finally, it was an inflamed bladder that made me see my doctor. My advice: Listen to your body, to your inner voice, take them serious. And go and see a doctor or other professional to talk about it, if you aren’t sure, what’s going on with your body and mind. Find assistance to help yourself.

You combine being a mother, managing your blogazine, and teaching yoga - how do you find your healthy work-life balance? What does your average work day look like?

I wake up in the morning with my daughter and prepare her for school. While she gets dressed I send of my morning post on Instagram, that I prepared the evening before. After my daughter left the house I take a shower, dress myself and then start to work on my blogposts, answer comments and look at what the insta family posted in the morning. On two mornings and one evening in the week I teach Yoga. When my daughter returns from school in the afternoon we live the normal family life with homework, getting food on the table, driving her to her karate class and all that stuff. So the morning is my pure business time, in the afternoon its family time and in the evening I return to business for an hour, not more. I keep my balance by listening to my inner voice, by checking if I enjoy what I do. And I separate business and family time as consequent as I can.

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What is your favourite tip for better work-life balance?

There is this quote "built a live you don't need a vacation from". I think everyday is a gift and should be lived like this. Enjoy the little things like that you are able to read, to walk, to talk, to see. And don't be afraid to change things that doesn't work out for you any more. As life develops you mature. Nurture that longing inside of you, that wants more joy, more love, more inspiration. You don't have to leave your job or your family and travel around the world. Just ask yourself how you want to feel about yourself, your life, your job, your relations and then do the things you have to do to feel like you wish.

 

Is there a quote or an affirmation that helps you focus and gather your inner power?

I love this quote "You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf." from Jon Kabat-Zinn. For me it says that life is the way it is, things go the way they go and it's my decision how to handle it. I can drown in the waters or get myself a board and use my energy to ride the wave, it will take me somewhere. My inner power is always there, I just have to connect to it and use it.

 

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