You’re sitting on a planet spinning around in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Go ahead, take a look at reality. You’re floating in empty space in a universe that goes on forever. If you have to be here, at least be happy and enjoy the experience!
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Why do we feel overwhelmed?
Nowadays we’re constantly on the go. We are juggling a full-time job with family, while maintaining relationship with friends, then external circumstances happen.
Feeling overwhelmed with life became a common condition in modern world. We live a fast-paced lifestyle, we are technology-driven, and we want to be high-achievers in our society.
As we are conditioned by our society, we are expected to be Superwoman. Our whole society has a materialistic culture.
Feeling constantly overwhelmed leads to burnouts. When you reach the point of burnout you feel mentally and physically exhausted. You are paralyzed, unable to meet demands of society. Then you start trading water.
Before feeling overwhelmed, you feel fabulous. You’re accomplishing every single task, you’re full of energy, enthusiasm… you can go like this for ever. But you can’t!
So WHY suddenly we feel that emotional waterfall? It occurs as a reaction to stress that mainly comes from your job, or everyday life challenges. Maybe you are given to much work to do, or your car broke down. There are so many responsibilities and demands we need to fulfil.
When we feel overwhelmed, it’s hard to identify a reason why? Often there are many life events triggering emotional overwhelm rather than one particular event.
I am telling you all of this from my own experience. I used to push myself to accomplish more, to make every moment of my life productive. I was rushing through my day to get things done. I couldn’t stay focused on one task because my mind would swing from branch to branch like a little monkey. I was collecting stress that eventually would lead me to feeling overwhelmed. I’ve realized what I really needed to do in those moments is to withdraw myself in order to reconnect.
Rushing through your day equals a life half-lived, half-tasted & half-digested!
What to do when you feel overwhelmed
Allow yourself to take a break. Give yourself “Me Time.” Prioritize your health over work, or any life circumstance.
The practice of self-care is essential for managing work and life. The key to good self-care is to do one thing for yourself per day. The thing that makes you feel great, connects you to real you, unwinds your mind.
You need that Me Time to digest life. Mental digestion is as important as food digestion.
Take an appointment with yourself. Put yourself at the top of your priority list.
Here are some things you can use when you feel overwhelmed.
Go to nature
Reconnect with Nature and you will be restored.
Nature reminds us that everything unfolds at its own pace. We don’t really need to rush or force anything. She (nature is a woman too 
) handles everything naturally and perfectly without any effort.
Whenever you feel overwhelmed go for a walk in the nature. Find a serene spot and take a seat. Observe everything around you – flowers, trees, clouds, grass, earth, air, wind, birds…Then you can see your role in life from much wider perspective. Now you can laugh at yourself.
Accept life in all its pain, imperfection, and beauty!
start your morning off right
As soon as you wake up, you start thinking of all the errands you have to run. There is so much to do. There is so little time to finish them all.
If you start your day going 100 km/h, it’s difficult to slow down when real stress comes up.
Rushing through your morning puts your body in a state of alarm. Checking your phone first thing in the morning VS setting attention for your day.
It’s very important how you start your morning. Little morning rituals can have a powerful impact on your day. They can improve your focus and productivity, and decrease stress.
Wake up 15 minutes earlier so you have more time to enjoy your morning.
Breathe
Whenever you find yourself overwhelmed, take a pause. Let yourself feel all emotions without judgments. Be kind and loving to yourself.
Note physical sensations in your body that are provoked by those emotions, and fluctuations in your breath. Start giving those emotions name- scared, angry, anxious, sad, frustrated, nervous, confused… You can say it out loud! Go ahead, talk to them!
Emotional labelling will give you an insight and deeper understanding of what’s happening within you.
Surrender willingly to the situation. You don’t need to do everything, you can’t control everything.
Yoga provides us with so many tools. One of them is practice of breath control called Pranayama. Prana means “life-force”, and ayama “to control.”
Sit comfortably. Breathe naturally for a few rounds. Then inhale for 5 seconds and allow a natural pose after the inhalation. Exhale for 5 seconds and allow a natural pose after the exhalation. Repeat for 5 minutes.
The purpose of this breath practice is to balance your emotions and increase your ability to handle stressful situations.
Journaling
Write it all down. By doing so you’re getting those distractive thoughts off your mind.
There are no rules how you should do it. Just do it! Fill the page with everything you feel and think.
If you don’t have a notebook, take a piece of paper and a pen. Write down how you’re feeling without regard on grammar mistakes, sentence construction, proper words…let everything out!
Journaling is a strategy that has helped so many people to cope with their life adversities and improve their performance and productivity- Anne Frank, Marcus Aurelius, Leonardo Da Vinci, Frida Kahlo, Mark Twain, Anaїs Nin…
Next, jot down 3 things you are grateful for. The very first 3 things that pop into your mind. Go!
move mindfully
Every little bit counts! Doing just 10 minutes of stretching every day can positively affect your emotional and physical state.
When you move mindfully you’re placing your full attention on the movements of your body, as well as your breath. You go beyond your busy mind. You go from feeling distracted to feeling strong and uplifted. This can help lower stress by strengthening the mind-body connection.
Yoga and Qigong are the most effective mindful movement practices. Yoga increases strength and flexibility, improves balance and posture, calms the nervous system and enhances lung function. You become more aware of your body which will help you in your approach to life challenges.
I hope these tips help you to manage the thoughts and feelings so that you can focus on living a happy & healthy life!
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