Overwhelmed by Overwhelm? – Lux Eterna Healing

What triggers you into a space of feeling overwhelmed?

What does that feel like in your body?

How do you handle it?

You can meander my thoughts with me and see what resonates with you.

Things that can trigger me into a space of overwhelm:

Having to make a decision and knowing that I don't have enough information to feel confident in my choice
Having too many tabs open in my browser and feeling like I don't have enough time to tend to what needs to be done on each page
My to-do list feeling longer and longer without anything getting done
The general sense that I don't have enough time to do what needs to be done as well as what I want to do

Once I start the dance with feeling overwhelmed, I feel like I get buried.

When I feel overwhelmed, things feel like swirling chaos in my body. My brain seems to be revving while stuck in idle, my heart races as though I am in danger, and my stomach churns. Interpret that as I am completely ungrounded, not centered, and not really breathing.

Dictionary.com includes several different usages of overwhelm as a verb. Two of them stuck out to me: 1-to overcome completely in mind or feeling and 2-to load, heap, treat, or address with an overpowering or excessive amount of anything.

So what would I say is the overpowering "anything'?

Perfection...masking the need to bring in more self-love.

Now that I have gotten to the point that I can name what I'm feeling and what is going on, it's much easier to be with it. It certainly doesn't mean that it's always graceful, but I get there...eventually. Naming what is going on helps me shift into an awareness of breathing more consciously. And that helps. A lot.

From there, I start to check in with the thoughts that were battering my brain because the breath slowed them down enough for me to notice them. I give myself permission to feel how I am feeling and then use it to work WITH the emotions rather than pretend they don't exist. I also remind myself to be patient with myself in whatever task is tipping the scale. I'm treading in new waters with the nearing publication of my book. There's plenty I don't know, and even more that I don't even know that I don't know! (Did you follow that?)

New or expanding ventures can flip the overwhelm switch for me. When it does, it's a matter of reminding myself of all of the amazing things I have done so far, including all of the other unknowns that are now known.

This is a little love nudge to be gentle with yourself when you are in the midst of experiencing something new, be it a situation you chose or one that was chosen for you.

How do you respond when you feel out of control?

What does it feel like in your body?

What steps do you take to bring gentleness, acceptance and more self-love into the equation?

Walking together in light, love, peace...and perfect imperfection.