How it impacts your energy, health, and momentum (and what to do instead)

What Is Overgiving?

Author’s note: I’m Fabienne Louis—a certified medical intuitive, energy healing practitioner, and Emotional Manifesting Generator. I write from lived experience and over a decade of guiding professionals and creatives back to clarity, not from medical or psychological advice.

Overgiving means offering more time, energy, or care than you have capacity for. It often feels loving on the surface—you’re helping, supporting, and doing “what needs to be done.” But underneath, it’s often driven by fear of disappointing someone, not being needed, or fear that everything will fall apart if you’re not the one holding it all together.

This pattern shows everywhere: a business owner pushing through exhaustion to serve clients, a mother doing it all without asking for help, or a coach taking on everyone else’s pain. It becomes a silent standard: if you care, you sacrifice. For example, maybe you’re the one who always organises the birthday parties or covers extra work without being asked—because “no one else will do it right.” That invisible weight adds up. This is a classic way that overgiving affects health, draining your emotional bandwidth and physical energy.

5 Signs You’re Stuck in an Overgiving Loop

• You feel responsible for how others feel or behave
• You struggle to rest or slow down without guilt
• Your own needs always come last
• You say “yes” even when your body says “no”
• You’re emotionally, physically, or financially drained, but can’t name why

These aren’t just stress symptoms. They’re energy leaks and physical symptoms caused by constantly giving what you don’t have.

The Hidden Cost of Overgiving on Your Body and Mind

Overgiving puts your nervous system in a chronic alert state. Your body enters survival mode—even if you’re smiling and getting things done.

You might notice:

• Constant fatigue, even after rest
• Hormonal imbalances or mood swings
• Trouble sleeping, brain fog, or digestive issues
• A deep sense of emotional fog or lack of clarity

Real talk: These aren’t random issues. They’re your body saying, “I can’t keep doing it all.” If you’re searching for answers about how overgiving affects health—this is it.

Note: The patterns I mention here reflect what I see energetically and emotionally in my healing work, not from a medical or diagnostic lens. Always seek support that feels right for your body.

If you’re curious about how these emotional patterns connect with physical health from a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective, this article offers a clear, grounded explanation:
“How Emotions and Organs Are Connected in Traditional Chinese Medicine” by Sarah Vanbuskirk, published on Verywell Mind.
👉 Read it here

Overgiving in Relationships: When Care Becomes Control

Overgiving in relationships isn’t always about love. Sometimes, it’s about control.

Trying to fix someone else’s path often means we don’t trust their capacity to figure it out. We overstep. We rescue. We think we’re helping, but we’re blocking their growth.

Overgiving teaches your kids, clients, and even your partner, “You can’t handle this without me.”

But love isn’t control. It’s also presence. Setting energetic boundaries allows others to meet their challenges—and grow stronger in the process.

How Overgiving Blocks Money + Momentum

In business, overgiving often shows up as:

• Undercharging
• Overdelivering
• Saying yes to misaligned opportunities
• Launching from fear, not clarity

When you’re depleted, your sacral (if you’re an MG like me) can’t respond clearly. Your strategy stalls. Your income plateaus. And clarity disappears.

Overgiving blocks receiving. And when you’re in survival mode, it’s almost impossible to receive support, abundance, or aligned opportunities. If you’re wondering why your income has stalled or your business feels heavy, this may be the energetic root.

A Reflective Reset: Questions to Regain Energy + Clarity

Before you say yes… before you jump in to help… pause, place one hand on your heart, and gently ask:

• Am I trying to protect someone from their own growth?
• Do I believe this person is capable of figuring it out, if I step back?
• Am I acting from fear (they’ll suffer, fail, judge me)… or from truth?
• What would it look like to trust their path, even if it’s messy?
• What does it cost me—energetically, emotionally, physically—when I say yes out of guilt or habit?
• What would change if I made my well-being the model, not the sacrifice?

🧡 The most powerful shift you can make isn’t to do more—it’s to be more of a model.

Model what it looks like to:

• Honour your body’s signals
• Trust your decision-making
• Set loving, firm boundaries
• Create space to resource yourself

Because when you model self-trust and self-prioritisation…

✨ You don’t just change your life—you free others to do the same.
✨ Your kids, your clients, your coworkers learn from what you live, not what you preach.
✨ The triple ripple effect begins: your boundaries shift the energy in your family, your business, and your wider circle.

What To Do Instead: Model, Don’t Manage

Instead of trying to fix or control, start modelling what calm, self-trusting leadership looks like. This might mean letting your child take longer to figure something out instead of stepping in, or allowing a client to sit with discomfort rather than jumping in with a quick solution. When you model that it’s safe to pause, reflect, or take a different path, you give others permission to access their own strength—and stop outsourcing their stability to you.

Trust that others are resourceful—even if their process looks different.

It might feel unfamiliar or even uncomfortable at first. Especially if you’re used to being the one who “knows what to do”. But trusting someone else’s process doesn’t mean you abandon them. It means you honour their ability to grow, adapt, and learn in their own time.

Rest when your body asks, without guilt.

Taking a break, cancelling a plan, or honouring a slow week isn’t a failure—it’s energetic leadership. When you allow yourself to rest, you re-regulate your nervous system and access clearer thinking. You can’t pour from an empty cup, and the truth is, no one benefits from your depletion. Especially not the people you’re trying to help.

Share your truth instead of saying yes out of fear.

It’s okay to say, “I want to help, but I can’t right now,” or “This doesn’t feel aligned for me at the moment.” The clear truth is more loving than a reluctant yes. People might be surprised—but often, they’ll also feel relieved. It gives them clarity, too.

Build a business or family rhythm that honours your capacity.

Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or a parent, look at your routines and responsibilities. Are they aligned with your actual energy? Or are they based on what you think you “should” be able to do? Adjusting your rhythm to support your real life (not an idealised version of it) is one of the most powerful self-support practices you can choose. This is especially true if you’re an empath or emotionally open person—energetic boundaries for empaths are essential.

✨ This is where your energy shifts.
✨ This is where your clarity returns.
✨ This is where the triple ripple begins—on your health, your income, and your relationships.

A Self-Practice to Begin Right Now

• Place one hand on your heart, one on your belly
• Breathe deeply
• Ask: Where am I giving from fear, not truth?
• Say out loud: “It’s safe to give less and still be loved.
  It’s safe to pause.
  I trust others to grow while I honour myself.”

Repeat this practice daily, or especially before making decisions that involve your time, energy, or care. It’s a nervous system reset—not just a mindset shift.

You’re Not Broken—You’re Just Overextended

Most women, mothers, and sensitive leaders were never taught how to centre their own energy. Overgiving isn’t a flaw. It’s a survival pattern.

But healing begins when you choose your energy first.

When you recalibrate, your clarity returns.
When you honour your limits, your momentum increases.
When you rest, receive, and say no with love—everything changes.

If you’re looking for grounded support in this shift, and wondering why overgiving causes burnout or why women feel guilty resting—this is your invitation.

Want More Support? Start with the Book.

📘 “Nothing Is Wrong With You!” is your grounded guide to:

• Recognising emotional and energetic patterns
• Releasing survival-mode habits like overgiving
• Reclaiming your clarity, energy, and confidence
• Creating real shifts in health, income, and relationships

👉 Grab your copy here
Because when your energy is aligned, everything else begins to move.

About the Author

Fabienne Louis is a certified Medical Intuitive (Qigong & Sound Practitioner) and energy healer who helps sensitive, soulful solo-entrepreneurs and women release emotional burnout, energy leaks, and misalignment—so they can experience real shifts in health, income, relationships, and longevity.

Her grounded method blends nervous system wisdom, intuitive clarity, and holistic energetics to support:
mind-body healing, soul-aligned purpose, magnetic connection, and graceful rejuvenation.

She doesn’t offer medical advice—just honest, embodied guidance to help you reconnect with your own energy and create lasting, joyful change.

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