The End of Overwhelm.
How many times someone asks you how you are and you say I am overwhelmed? What does that mean in terms of what we experience when we say that?
It means an overload of emotions in the body and constant thinking. We get caught in a loop of thinking and feeling and usually we describe that as a process of negative emotions with negative thoughts. One feeds the other. We also feel like we can’t handle one more thing or that we want all to stop and get out of our own skin at times. Does that describe your state of overwhelm? It is basically a state of feeling too much. So how do we get that discomfort to stop? To shift?
First let me describe what is happening in the body when we are overwhelmed.
There is a mixture of emotions being suppressed in the body. Emotions like anger, frustration, fear …all together. Emotion is energy in motion. We may experience the energy like tightness in the stomach, pressure in the heart center, tension in the neck or shoulders and a sense of overall stress and fatigue.
To start finding a relief from overwhelm we need to first pause and accept that we are in a state of a lot of stress and choose a different state of thinking, feeling and being. We always have that choice as long as we are aware of what is happening in our bodies. We need to become present with what is, without judgment.
One of the things that the self-help world promotes and I believe it is a bad advice is that you just need to change your thinking in order to feel better. That is a simplistic and total incomplete view of stress and overwhelm. Emotions happen in the body. To say that you can think your way out of overwhelm is to completely ignore the body and the root of that stress. By just thinking you will suppress the emotions even more and actually increase the stress, the overwhelm.
Here are 4 steps to decrease or eliminate the state of overwhelm:
Pause and take 6-8 deep belly breaths
Find the tension in the body and put your attention there
Name the emotion (fear, anger, sadness, guilt, grief, hurt)
Allow space for that emotion by keeping your attention in the body and continuing the deep breaths
If you experience high anxiety while trying this, shift your attention to a neutral area of your body and/or move your body like taking a walk or stretching.
Overwhelm is a state, not a feeling. By sitting with the emotions and giving room for them to be felt, the state will shift. Emotions are meant to move and the intelligence of your body will take care of that if you allow it.
Another aspect of overwhelm is a cluttered mind. Make sure that you focus on the priorities of your day, of that moment. By thinking of all the things you need to do tomorrow or after will increase mental stress and feed the overwhelm. Have clarity about your day and condition yourself to maintain your focus on one task at the time. If you are someone who struggles with anxiety, I recommend that you address the root of it because overwhelm is a “companion” of anxiety.
If you want to learn more about the root of anxiety and how to work with it so it doesn’t control your thoughts and affects your health, book a session today HERE.
I hope these strategies help you! For questions email alex@alexgilcoaching.com
Peace and love, Alex.