How to Deal with Overwhelm

How do you deal with overwhelm? Do you run away and bury yourself in food, television, shopping, or something else that helps you escape? Or do you become a soldier and tackle everything at once?

My hubby, Charlie, always says, “Be like an ant eating an elephant. Take one bite at a time.”

I think Charlie’s advice is really good, but I’d like to add some insight to it.

When you are in overwhelm, it’s because you’re projecting into the future. You’re not being present to where you are right in this moment. You’re in your head, creating stress. And the more you stay there, the more worried you get.

Here are a few steps to help you get present and back to center.

1. Get pen and paper ready and find a comfortable place to sit.

2. Take a couple of deep breaths and imagine opening up the crown of your head to allow the light of God in.

3. Invite the light in and say, “I give myself PERMISSION to breathe and receive help.” As you do this, slow down your breathing.

4. Take a moment to feel this energy, allowing it to sink to your fingers and toes.

5. Write a letter to God, the angels, your higher self, or whomever you talk to and share your feelings. Get them all out on paper. Be completely honest. If you feel like crying, cry. If you feel like screaming, scream. When you feel as if you’re empty, say, “Thank you for this healing. Thank you for guiding me and showing me the steps to take today. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

6. Switch the pen to your less-dominant hand and allow the answer to come through you.

7. Take action with the answer you receive!

Your first reaction after reading these steps is probably, “I can’t write with my other hand! It looks like chicken scratch!”

It doesn’t matter what the writing looks like. The reason you switch to your less-dominant hand is because this opens you up to your intuition. For the vast majority of people, your dominant hand is linked to your analytical mind, and your less-dominant hand is linked to your creative, intuitive mind. Your goal is to get out of your head and into your intuition when dealing with overwhelm. Your intuition guides you to a path that is less stressful. Think of it as the path of grace and ease.

Listening to your intuition takes you out of overwhelm and into peace.

If you find yourself getting stuck and not receiving an answer, go back through the steps again. Keeping the crown of your head open is key. When you shut it down, you go into fear. By checking in with it and telling it to open up, you create a connection to higher wisdom.

You might be surprised at the answer you receive in step #6. We build our to-do list thinking we have to get it all done at once. But when you ask for guidance for the steps to take, you will often be surprised that the list you receive is usually way shorter than the one in your mind. And more often than not, you might first get a message that says to do something to love yourself. This is different than escaping. When you escape, you often feel guilty which only creates more stress. But when you get guidance to rest or do something for yourself, you feel connected and loved. You feel worthy and, as a result, you open up to receive more help with the things that need to be done and were causing your overwhelm in the first place.

One of the reasons we move into overwhelm is that we don’t trust that we can handle everything or get things done in a timely manner. And the truth is, when we stay in our heads, it can be really hard. However, as you practice these steps on a regular basis and then take action with what you learn, you will get anchored in the knowingness that you have the power to shift your mindset and the negative energy you’re creating. You’ll see your life move into a graceful flow. Your trust in yourself to tap into this higher wisdom for guidance will deepen, and before long your moments of overwhelm will be few and far between.