How to deal with overwhelm

A few simple pragmatic pointers for life. You probably already know these, but when overwhelm hits it’s easy to forget.

1) It’s extremely important to heal your nervous. Overwhelm means that your nervous system is on hyper/hypo arousal. Long term nervous system dysregulaton is often present in chronic illness. Act now to avoid unnecessary pain later.

A few points to consider:

1) Physical touch and a few habits.

A)Human touch from people you trust, hugs and soft touch. It’s great to calm your nervous system.
B) Gentle movement or gentle slow stretches.
C) Salt baths.
D) Slow deep breaths and slow and very long exhales ( exhales activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows down the heart rate)
E) Don’t skip breakfast, even if you are the fasting type, when in hyper arousal, hunger will naturally feed the fight/flight response in your system

2) Avoid the news. If you can’t stop completely, at least be very selective to what you let in, including types of conversations you take part in.

3) Get a proper daily routine going. Wellness, cozy routine to get you grounded every single day. A Calm morning routine is extremely important. It sets the tone for the day.

4) Take things from the abstract realm down to the physical and practical. Start doing the simple things you keep on procrastinating on. Start small, with simple tasks, like organising one shelf of your home office, or cleaning one kitchen cupboard. Little by little, without pressuring yourself with big tasks. By doing this you will stop overthinking about imaginary concepts and scenarios beyond your control. Besides, a clean and organised space soothes your nervous system. Your nervous system likes order and predictability.

5) Focus on what is in front of you. Your normal, ordinary daily life. Self responsibility and responsibilities with people in your immediate surroundings. That’s what keep us grounded and this is what we have control over.