Feeling overwhelmed? Try this trick
“I feel overwhelmed.”
How many times have you thought or said this in the last week? How about in the last month?
I know that overwhelmed is one of my default settings. In motherhood. In my working life. In life in general... In fact, I often feel like I'm always saying "things will be more manageable after this week" on repeat. Forever more. But that manageable week never comes, does it?
And after working with women as a coach and breathwork facilitator, I’ve come to understand that I’m really not alone in this - overwhelmed is like a constant undertone of daily life for many of us.
To be honest, I'm not surprised. As women, and especially as women who have kids, we are told we can do it all and we can be it all: partner, business woman/employee, friend, mother, daughter, sister... We are expected to do it all and be it all and just cope.
So we try. And we get used to this constant hum of overwhelm; it becomes a familiar companion as we go (rush) about our daily lives of jumping from to-do to to-do with barely a breath in between.
But then overwhelm starts to feel too much so you try to shift out of it. Often when you feel something unwelcome, you set your sights on an objective of feeling the opposite thing. When you feel stressed you want to feel calm. When you feel tired you want to feel rested. And so on.
So when you feel overwhelmed what do you want? To have control over everything so that it doesn’t overpower (i.e. overwhelm) you? That’s almost impossible to do. I know because I’ve tried.
But, my goodness, you try. You employ various tactics from your wellness toolkit you've built over the years to help you tackle this beast that is overwhelm: fewer to-dos, plan A/B/C and D (just in case), conscious downtime, delegating home/work tasks, early nights…
You might even try doing a meditation or calming breathwork practice, like this free one I made for you to download.
These are all great and have huge value as day-to-day coping mechanisms but what would happen if you let go of controlling everything?
What if you created space to actually allow yourself to feel overwhelmed, to feel what sensations are present in your body when you enter a state of overwhelm?
What if you let yourself really feel overwhelm so you can receive the message it’s communicating to you and invite it to release or transform?
This is exactly what conscious connected breathwork is about - a held space where you’re invited to feel. Really feel. In today's world of living in our minds and turning down the volume on what your body is saying, this is profound.
I think conscious connected breathwork is a wonderful tool to help you weather the ups and down that are just part of life. To become more resilient. I chose the example of overwhelm as that’s something that many of us can relate to, but you could replace that with any emotion or feeling.
A personal example: since becoming a mother in 2019, I've used conscious connected breathwork as a space to really feel and process my emotions at a time in life when I've very often felt overwhelmed and a whole host of uncomfortable things. At times I've brought my anger, frustration, overwhelm, bitterness or pain to sessions specifically to allow space to fully feel - in mind, heart and body - what's really going on. I've ended these sessions feeling much lighter, more connected to myself and with an insight as to what's underneath the emotion or feeling. They don't call conscious connected breathwork therapy without the talking for nothing!
If you've read this far, I guess that means you're curious to try conscious connected breathwork for yourself, right? With good reason - it's amazing! I have a variety of ways you can do so with me: online group sessions, an in-person event and 1:1 sessions.
It's honestly such a honour to share this practice and see how it's changing peoples' lives, one breath at a time. Get in touch if you want to be next!
Grace X
