Releasing the Overwhelm

It takes a LOT of energy to resist anxiety, to resist the overwhelm we can sometimes feel on a daily basis, and to resist the discomfort we feel when we’re experiencing heavy emotions.

When we’re experiencing emotions we don’t want to feel, naturally, the first step is often to resist them. We avoid these deep emotions and push them into the back of our minds, hoping that pretending they don’t exist will make them go away. 

Unfortunately, they don’t – and the energy we use trying to resist the discomfort leads to more discomfort and exhaustion. We end up in a lose-lose situation, disheartened by our failed attempt to “fix” our problems while feeling drained from spending all of our energy trying to resist.

(At this point I often struggle between, “who needs coffee when you have anxiety?” and “I need coffee to bring me back to life” because I am so dang exhausted. Rinse & repeat - it’s a vicious cycle. 😉)

Lately, I’ve been focusing my daily meditation practice on acknowledging this resistance – noticing it and sitting with it - and leaning into the surrender. I’m working on acknowledging those heavy emotions without judgment. I use meditation to bring myself to a safe space where I’m free to feel everything; it’s crucial to get to a space of acknowledging these deep emotions in order to release them. 

Learning to sit with these heavy emotions is a something that I’m actively working on – it takes patience, but the more I practice, the better I feel – because I’m able to use my energy acknowledging (and releasing) my anxiety and deep emotions rather than letting them deplete me. 

Here are a few tools I’m using to help me through this practice: 

1.    Movement - When I know I have a busy day ahead of me, I make time to get a sweaty workout session in. For me, being able to push myself to accomplish physical challenges is a mental reminder that I’m stronger that I often think. There is also something insanely stress-relieving about releasing sweat - it correlates to an actual release of whatever I need to let go of mentally. And Legally Blonde wasn't lying with its famous quote. 😉 Some days movement looks like a HIIT class, sometimes it’s a soothing yoga class. Find a movement that works for you.

2.    Silent meditation – I start my allowing myself to simply notice how I’m feeling without judgment. I acknowledge what emotions are present and where I feel them in my body. I then move on to acknowledging the fact that taking the time notice these emotions is healing in itself, and remind myself that the very practice of just sitting and allowing myself to feel these emotions without judgment is an act of self care. 

3.    The White Room Meditation – If I notice that I’m having trouble getting centered, I use the white room meditation to bring myself to a safe space where I can be for the moment. This always helps me to get to a space free of judgment and allows me to think more clearly. 

4.    Introspection – I ask myself, “what would it feel like if I fully accepted these emotions, even just for the next 30 seconds?” “How would I feel if I didn’t resist these emotions?” “What would I say to someone I love who is struggling with these same heavy emotions?”

5.    Free journaling – Taking a pen to paper and letting thoughts free flow is incredibly healing. Often times, when I don’t know where to start, I will actually write, “I’m not sure where to start. I’m feeling XYZ…” and the words seem to find a way to appear. I write for at least a few minutes, often longer. 

& Guided journaling – Using prompts is a great way to reflect. I often follow free journaling with guided journaling. A few journal prompts and reflective questions I’ve found to be helpful are:

·     Write down three things you’re grateful for. 

·     What do I need right now to feel comforted? 

·     What would I tell my friend who was struggling with the emotions? 

·     Write down three good things that happened today / this week. 

·     Make a list of compliments you’ve received from others. Read them out loud to yourself. 

·     Write yourself a love letter and tell yourself exactly what you need to hear today to power through.

·     Is my anxiety / stress trying to tell me something? What is it? 

·     List 3 ways your anxiety / feeling of overwhelm has helped you.

·     List 5 ways you can support and take care of yourself right now. 

·     How would I feel if I let go of these heavy emotions? 

·     How can I support myself in this moment / today / this weekend / this week? (Choose whatever timeframe feels right for you.)

It may seem like a very daunting thing to actually allow yourself to feel all of the emotions you’ve been trying to avoid – but the practice of acknowledging these emotions – the anxiety, the stress, the overwhelm – is an extremely healing practice.

These are tools that have been incredibly helpful in helping me move through a crazy few weeks – and I plan on using them to help me through a crazy few months ahead (or whenever I’m in need of a little extra self-care.)