Beyond Stressed
The mindful yoga solution to overwhelm
“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.”
Etty Hillesum
How often do you feel stressed to the point of overwhelm? Overwhelm is that place beyond stress that really impacts our nervous system and how we respond in the world.
It’s important to understand that stress and overwhelm are feelings that result from your thoughts, not your circumstances. For example, you aren’t overwhelmed by work or your daily to-do list, you’re overwhelmed by the thoughts you are having about your work or daily to-do list. Your circumstances, thoughts, feelings and behaviours are all intertwined. Circumstances will result in thoughts that create feelings and cause you to behave in a certain way.
If you want your feelings to be different, you need to work on changing your thoughts.
If you can change your thoughts, then you’ll feel less stress. Once the stress response is activated, though, it’s hard to reach the rational part of your mind that creates all those overwhelming thoughts.
So what do we do? That’s where mindful yoga practices will help. If you can slow yourself down and take those extra breaths, you’ll move your stress response back down to a more manageable level, you’ll respond instead of react, and life will be calmer.
I consider all practices that connect your mind (mental), body (physical), heart (emotional) and soul (spiritual) selves to be mindful yoga. To put it very simply, any activity where you are giving your full attention may be considered mindful. Connecting with the breath makes it yoga. When you do something with your full attention and focus on your breath, the practice incorporates all your mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual selves. My mindful yoga practices keep me centered, grounded and in optimum health. And even though some level of stress is inevitable in our busy lives, and even necessary, they usually keep me from becoming overwhelmed.
Some more common indicators that your stress is getting out of control include:
A feeling of fatigue or exhaustion
Difficulty sleeping despite being exhausted
Stomach problems
Aches and pains
Headaches
Rapid heart rate
Clenching your jaw
Feeling anxious or panic attacks
Tense muscles
Here are some mindful yoga strategies to help you ease the stress:
Connect with your breath, increasing your inhales and exhales. Try 3 deep breaths. If you can’t breathe deeply because you’re so anxious, just take one breath at a time until you start to feel more in control.
If you can, close your eyes, connect with the breath, and then ask yourself, “What am I thinking that has caused this overwhelming feeling?” Notice the thoughts without attaching to them. Become curious.
Take a break from what you’re doing and connect with a friend if you can.
Stretch your body and/or go for a walk.
Get out a notebook or journal and write your thoughts down.
Eat a healthy snack mindfully.
Here are some mindful ways to keep from getting overwhelmed throughout the day.
Become aware: When you start to incorporate mindful practices more regularly into your day, you’ll begin to check in with yourself more often to create awareness of when you are reaching your maximum stress level. An easy way to stay aware of what’s happening is to frequently check in with your breath. Take breaks often and pause for 3 deep breaths. Get up out of your chair and stretch your arms up over your head or shake it off. When you become more aware of your trigger points you won’t get to the tipping point as often.
Notice your thoughts: Remember, overwhelm is a feeling caused by your thoughts. Notice what you are thinking and ask yourself if your thoughts are serving you. Are they in your best interest? We have complete control over our thoughts and have the option to try out new thoughts that aren’t as stressful.
Try the 3 B’s: Instead of becoming overwhelmed by a long to-do list by thinking “I’ll never get this all done!”, try a strategy Martha Beck calls the 3 B’s - bag it, barter it, or better it. To bag it means to toss it out - does it really need to get done today? If so, then can you ask someone else to do it (barter it)? If you can’t toss it out or give it to someone else, then how can you make the task easier or more fun for yourself (better it)? Get creative!
Check in with your “why”? Why are you doing the things you do? Are they important to you? Do they point you in the right direction and move you forward, i.e., towards your ultimate goals and dreams? If your why is strong enough, then you may be able to ease your stress with these reminders. If you don’t have a strong enough why, it may be time to reassess what you’re doing.
Do you need help exploring your thoughts to move past overwhelm and start living the life you truly want? If so, life & mindset coaching will help you get there. Contact me, sharon@sharonashtonmindfulyoga.com, for a consultation and get started on achieving your goals and create the life of your dreams.
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I’d love to hear from you so please send any comments or questions to me at sharon@sharonashtonmindfulyoga.com. Feel free to share this email with anyone else who may be interested.
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Are you interested in learning more about life change & mindset coaching from a mind/body perspective? Please email me at sharon@sharonashtonmindfulyoga.com for more information or to schedule a free introductory consultation to see if coaching is right for you. You can also visit my website coaching page.
"I felt at complete ease with Sharon from our first conversation. She has a wonderful, gentle but firm way that made me focus on my thoughts / feelings so I could remove / change to move forward with a completely different feeling to what felt like obstacles. It was great having regular coaching that gently kept me accountable to actioning and moving towards my goals. Sharon has vast experience in so many areas, I felt that makes her an amazing coach.”
— Michelle Carney, East Galway, Ireland
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