Coming out of overwhelm

Overwhelm is one of the top complaints I hear from many clients.

Overwhelm is the experience of things feeling too much, moving too fast for your nervous system to process.

Interestingly, one of the characteristics of trauma, is the fact that it overwhelms the system. As explained by Peter Levine, the creator of Somatic Experiencing (SE), we see trauma when our natural somatic responses to threat (orienting and defending) are overwhelmed. So if you are living in a state of overwhelm often, you are living life “stuck” in a state of arousal.
Probably as a learnt behaviour, as a result of having incomplete fight/flight/freeze/shutdown responses “stuck” in your nervous system.

In cases of overwhelm the only solution is to create more space, letting go of everything that it’s a non-priority. It’s important to give the nervous system space to heal. To undo the unhealthy patterns of trying to over achieve to the expense of your health and relationships.

Learning how to listen to the body is one of the many things I guide my clients through. It’s a delicate job to undo such strong ingrained patterns. With trauma and chronic stress we lose our limits, boundaries and are in a constant state of ignoring our own needs.

Creating space for the nervous system to process less, adding more resources and developing a relationship with our bodies and needs are crucial steps towards letting go of overwhelm.