Overwhelm is a familiar feeling for most of us. It’s hard to avoid it completely in this world where we have constant access to information, there’s an expectation to be engaged with it, and a pressure to show up to life in socially acceptable ways. It makes us feel stressed out, anxious, confused, like we are spinning in circles and can’t break free. It can feel like life is simply too much to handle which can lead to serious depression.
Not everyone experiences overwhelm to this extreme though. Some people can overcome overwhelm much better and quicker than others. Why is this? It’s not that their life circumstances are easier, it’s what they’re doing to counteract the overwhelm. They have methods to deal with it, strong inner power, and trust in their ability to bring themselves out of the fog.
The 5 tips I’m sharing here will help you find your cool when feeling overwhelmed in life. Your path will become clear and life will be both manageable and enjoyable again.
5 Tips Of What To Do When Life Is Too Overwhelming
Even though it’s my work to help women and their families heal from overwhelm, I still experience it too! I’m constantly needing to adjustment to my schedule and lifestyle to soothe my nervous system and avoid getting overwhelmed.
These 5 tips I give to my clients (and am sharing with you now) are based on what I’ve learned to support my own body, heart, mind, and spirit.
I suggest you do these steps ASAP, when you are starting to feel the first signs of overwhelm. The quicker you start in with these tips for overcoming overwhelm, the easier it will be for you to recover.
1. Stop Consuming Information And Coping Mechanisms That Contribute To Or Cause Overwhelm
The first thing you need to do when feeling overwhelmed by life is to stop doing the things that are causing it. When we’re overwhelmed, it means that we are too full – there’s no space to process and it may not even be clear exactly what you’re searching for. So you need to stop consuming information and looking to the outside world for ideas and validation. All of this information has a cumulative, stressful effect that weighs us down.
If you are feeling lost, it’s natural to turn to others for help. If it’s a coach, therapist or healer – that’s fine! They will help you process the stress and overwhelm, and identify what is contributing to it.
What I don’t recommend is going to social media for advice (besides helpful videos like this!) or reaching out to friends who are just as lost and overwhelmed as you are. It’s unlikely they will help you fully process, and again, you may just be adding more information to your brain.
Also, filling yourself with junk food, alcohol, television, and other coping mechanism don’t help you overcome overwhelm because they’re still “input”. This is just adding to the energy that you’re all ready filled with and making it more challenging for you to process and let go.
2. Seek quiet and solitude
When you’re feeling overwhelmed by life, it’s important to remove yourself from intense energy and people, even family members. Be honest, and ask that you have 15-30 minutes alone to recharge. You can do this at work too!
Figure out a way to make that happen. You’ll need to prioritize alone time, and it’s possible for everyone to do so (yes, even you busy moms!)
Getting out for a walk in nature is perfect. I’d refrain from listening to music and just let the healing sounds of nature soothe you instead.
3. Breathe To Overcome Overwhelm
Deep, conscious breathing is one of the best things you can do to release stress and overwhelm. When we’re stressed, our breath is shallow and quick. Mindful breathing, especially when you extend your exhalation, will help you let go. I have many articles & videos that can help you. Three Part Yoga Breath For Improved Digestion and Less Stress is probably best to start with.
4. Actively Clear Your Energy To Release Overwhelm
There are many ways you can do to move stagnant energy out of your body that’s a symptom of overwhelm
- Grounding with the earth – so putting your bare feet on the earth asking the it to take this old, stagnant, and possibly negative energy from your body
- Walking meditation – similar to grounding, each time you’re placing your feet on the
ground you can imagine that the energy is dripping off of your body and down into the earth - Visualize – imagine that a column of light is pouring down through the crown of your head, and as it passes the transverse plane of the body you’re clearing out this energy and removing overwhelm with it
- Gentle Yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong – are wonderful for you to move this energy out as well
These are all things you can do yourself in the moment when you need it and I teach them to you in my Yoga & Self Healing Practices Course.
Get 12+ yoga videos plus Qigong instruction, aromatherapy acupressure massage techniques, meditation, and other ways to develop holistic health in a structured, effective manner.
Energy clearing sessions where you can simply receive are extremely useful too – you just need to be proactive about scheduling them. See an acupuncturist, get a massage, or try my favorite – working with an energy healer.
I offer distance energy healing for my clients so they can just relax and receive in the comfort of their own homes. This is how I prefer to receive as well. Instead of going to my mentor’s house for in-person energy healing sessions, we now just do them over Zoom which feels even more powerful to me.
5. Receive spiritual nourishment
The first 4 tips were all about clearing overwhelm and stress. Once you create space within yourself, spiritual nourishment happens passively. We start to communicate with our spiritual essence which knows exactly what we need in the moment and what to do next. This is where we meet our higher self and can also communicate with God, Source, and our spirit guides.
We can only hear these messages when we’re fully open. This is available with a meditation with wide open awareness such as Vipassana.
(Though guided meditations are relaxing, it’s still a lot of input and we want your mind to have freedom & flexibility).
Spirit will nourish you when you stop trying. Our work is to stay energetically clear and get out of our own way.
Further Support When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed In Life
I hope these tips help you overcome overwhelm when life is too hard to manage. I gave you lots of ideas for each tip. Just pick what resonates you – don’t add to the overwhelm!
If you need more support, consider scheduling a holistic healing session with me. We can treat emotional overwhelm from many different angles using my vast toolkit. As I mentioned before, distance energy healing is my favorite modality for this situation. But we may need to talk about changing negative beliefs and making lifestyle changes if overwhelm continues to be an issue for you.
I would love to hear if you do with these tips – please let me know in the comments. And if you have any friends who can use this support, share the love and forward this article to them.
Thank you for reading…well wishes to you!
