A simple way to reduce overwhelm

Do you feel overwhelmed in your life?

What is overwhelm?

Overwhelm most commonly means “to cause to be overcome with emotion as a result of an amount of something (such as work, stress, etc.) that’s just too much to handle.”

Being overwhelmed isn’t always about stress or other negative emotions. You could be overwhelmed by a friend’s generosity or the birth of a child. But in our world we commonly use the word overwhelm in the context of negative, or unmanageable feelings that lead to anxiety, stress, or burnout.

I hear from many women who feel overwhelmed. The way they describe overwhelm is a feeling of treading water and having no idea how they’re going to manage all the things they need to get done. They feel so drained and run down that they’re just doing the bare minimum in their life.

Can you relate?

When you feel this way – overwhelmed and barely keeping things together – it puts your nervous system and your body into fight, flight, or freeze mode.

As you may know, this is our instinctual way of protecting ourselves, and from an evolutionary perspective we’re meant to be in these states for very short bursts of time during an emergency or dangerous situation. However, in our society, women especially, are staying in one of these heightened intense states for long stretches of time, which negatively impacts all aspects of health and wellness – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

In fact, according to an article I recently read in Positive Psychology, staying in this state of overwhelm for an extended period of time can cause: high blood pressure, formation of artery-clogging deposits, anxiety, depression, addiction, obesity, and poor sleep. These are terrible side effects of overwhelm and why I’m so passionate about helping women reduce their overwhelm.

A simple way to reduce overwhelm

One of the simplest ways to reduce feelings of overwhelm is to breathe. Breath with focus and with intention.

Here’s what breathing does:

• Calms the central nervous system
• Centres you and brings you into the present moment
• Slows down the heart rate
• Provides nourishing and cleansing oxygen to be drawn into your body
• Expand lung capacity
• Relaxes your entire body
• Slows down internal mind chatter

Breathing gets you out of the fight-flight-freeze state and into a calm, rational, focused and grounded place – from which you can think, make decisions that make sense, and in general feel more peace, ease and flow.

Doesn’t that sound amazing?

A simple breathing technique

A simple breathing technique that I love, takes about thirty seconds and is something you can do several times a day, between meetings, in the car, before a presentation, in a line up at the grocery store, or anytime you’re feeling overwhelmed.

Place your hands on your heart, close your eyes (if you’re able), and take three deep, intentional breaths. Focus on listening to your breath, feeling your heart, and being in the present moment.

Don't you feel better already?

?

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For more simple and effective ways to reduce overwhelm, join my FREE masterclass where I share 3 strategies for reducing overwhelm in just 5 minutes per day.