Reducing Stress and Overwhelm by Mindfulness
Reducing Overwhelm by Letting Mindfulness Take Over
Every person in the world knows what it’s like to be overwhelmed at one point or another. Some people live lives where overwhelm is more the norm than not. That can be chalked up to be busier than ever before; it can be chalked up to habits and also not knowing how to say no even to the excellent opportunities.
But regardless of the reason, when overwhelm hits, your stress levels rise and your body reacts with the same hormones that you get when you experience the “fight or flight” feeling.
Living in a state where you often feel overwhelm isn’t good for you, and you can reduce it by allowing mindfulness to take over instead. Mindfulness will enable you to see what’s actually happening.
That means that you become aware of the emotions and any thoughts that are driving what you do. You take the time to focus on the present and discover what’s at the root of what you’re doing.
For example, are you taking on too many projects because you have workaholic tendencies and you tie who you are into what you do? Once you see what’s really happening, you’ll recognize the emotions within you that are contributing to or causing the overwhelm.
Some of these emotions will be anxiety, fear, or depression.
If you still hear the track from the negative path from self-talk that’s a sign that your feelings are contributing to the overwhelm you’re experiencing.
Mindfulness teaches you how to stop the train of overwhelm and see yourself with honesty. It allows you to know that you’re worthy, that you’re valued, and that you deserve compassion.
You’ll learn how to stop judging yourself and in some cases, stop hating yourself. By practicing mindfulness, you’ll be able to be true to who you are, even internally, and you’ll be able to do it without condemnation by your thoughts or emotions.
When you learn mindfulness, it can reduce overwhelm by showing you that what you think and feel are just in existence. The reason that some people experience overwhelm is that they have the wrong reaction to what they feel.
Emotions are not always comfortable, and so people shy away from wanting to allow these feelings to be. So then they end up with overwhelm because they have these emotions that tie into their self worth and they end up thinking they’re not worthy.
Mindfulness calls for you to acknowledge the thoughts and feelings but not to hold on to them. You acknowledge and then release it. But when you’re accepting it, you do so with compassion, and this reduces the overwhelm that you would normally feel.
When you let mindfulness take over, it can deal with the thoughts and feelings that you have that dictate your actions.
Letting go of overwhelm starts with admitting how you feel. Here are the symptoms: You…
- are mentally or emotionally exhausted
- constantly feel fraught and heavy.
- are not having fun in life.
- feel like you have no inner space.
- are having trouble breathing.
- feel anxious.
- are always stressed and tensed.
- experience constant pressure.
- are irritable.
Here’s what you can do to stop overwhelm:
Stop.
Stop what you are doing–the chaos and disorder. Just stop. Slow down, so you can see the bigger picture and get a handle on things. If the circumstances are really overwhelming, take a day or two to rest, do nothing. Regather yourself. Center yourself so that you have the energy to make wiser, healthier decisions.
Let Go.
Lin Yutang said, “besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials.” What don’t you need to do? What can you let go?
Say No.
Often, it’s hard to say “no” because we might upset others. But to help others, you must help yourself first.
Don’t Commit to Everything.
Having too much to do often has to do with impracticable goal setting and over-committing your time and energy. Are you overly ambitious?
Simplify.
Being overwhelmed goes hand in hand with having a mind full of complicated thoughts and chaos. You see life as overwhelming because your mind and body are overwhelmed and too full. Like in #4, do not commit to everything.
Set Your Priorities Straight.
Contemplate on your priorities. Ask yourself which of the tasks is the most important. What among your priorities is the most valuable?
Set a Limitation
Be willing to focus on just a few things at a time. Put limits on certain activities that aren’t important. By having a to-do list, you can prioritize what’s important, and limit your time in a specific task.
Listen to What you Feel
Sometimes we get so lost in feeling stressed and overwhelmed; we forget about what we do want to explore and experience. Shifting your attention and intention can help you reset your energy.
Being overwhelmed is not a fact – it’s a state of awareness that limits your freedom and happiness. It requires a shift in perspective and mindfulness. Frequently, when you’re feeling overwhelmed, you’re over-thinking everything that needs to get done.
You’ve lost yourself, and you’re no longer present. Instead of seeing the things outside of you having power over you, be willing to stop and regather yourself. Bring yourself back to the present moment. Remember that you have a choice about the way you want to feel.
Mindfulness Helps You Tame and Eliminate Stress
Because stress is so widespread, most people have started to believe that it’s something they just have to put up with. But you don’t have to live with stress. Mindfulness is a technique that can help you control and get rid of the stress in your life.
Stress can impact your brain. It affects the way that you think because it causes your brain’s cortex to actually slow its ability to reason when you’re under stress. This is why people who experience stress can often make choices that aren’t in their best interest.
What practicing mindfulness does is calms the brain’s reaction to stress – which in turn calms the body’s response to stress. You’ll gain a healthy way to cope with and get rid of anxiety.
During mindfulness exercises, what you’ll learn to do is to be fully present in your life.
You’ll learn how to be aware of what’s around you, of how you feel, and of the thoughts that are going through your mind.
These exercises can focus on a portion of each – such as thoughts and feelings – or they can separate them so that you are only focusing on one at a time. You might direct your attention to how you’re feeling at the moment.
Or you might instead pay attention to the sounds of the birds you hear or to the movement of the wind in the trees. The idea is that you’ll be paying attention to what’s going on where you are right now rather than focusing your attention on whatever it is that caused you to experience stress.
To deal with stress, something else that mindfulness does is help you let go of the need to judge whatever it is that’s going on. You won’t get on the hamster wheel of running the oppressive situation over and over again in your mind.
Use mindfulness so that you don’t carry the stress of the negative emotions can bring with you into the present moment. It also prevents you from continually thinking about stress.
You learn to let go and to simply be, to accept what your present moment in time is offering. When you can utilize the ability to practice mindfulness, you can eliminate stress.
You can do this because the negative feelings and thoughts from the past won’t be what you focus on. By using mindfulness to remain in the present, you also don’t reach for the future.
So much stress enters into our lives because of past issues.
We worry about the past, but we do the same about the future. We spend hours, days, months and even years fretting and stressing over things that haven’t happened and may never happen.
Dwelling on the past and worrying about the future can increase stress. Mindfulness controls stress. It teaches users how to let go of anxiety and tension and live fully in the present.
When you practice mindfulness, you don’t allow your mind to wander and dwell on things that can cause stress or keep the stress alive. Pick something specific to focus on and let it give you clarity about what really matters.
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