When we are overwhelmed, we let future needs, demands, and challenges fill our minds and we wonder how we can do it all.
We are both projecting ahead with worry, and trying to figure out the future, when the future has not happened yet. What an impossible task!
No wonder we are overwhelmed.
First
Therefore, the first thing to do when we feel overwhelmed is to come back to the present moment.
We can be present by paying attention to what is here, now. Staying here, now, and not letting future ideas of what needs to be done crowd in the mind is the first step to overcoming overwhelm.
How?
Being present to this moment is a whole body-mind-spirit experience.
Presence is embodiment, being wholly here in our bodies on Earth while not being limited to our body experience. Being present in our body and spirit allows us to bring our mind’s attention back from the future to now and only now.
For some, a good way to get present again is to go for a walk in nature.
Just the act of walking can bring us back in our bodies and out of the ethers of the mind’s projection to a future which does not exist yet.
Simply being aware of what signals our senses are sending us can make us more aware of this present moment and get us out of our projecting minds.
Simply surrounding ourselves with quiet, whether it is the quiet of nature or quietness from tuning out the white noise of a busy airport, we can become more present.
We then can hear the inner quiet of our being when we are present. We can begin to notice that there is a vast sea of quietness in which our lives sail.
In this quiet, there is no sense of overwhelm.
Give it a go
Just for this moment, stop.
Draw your attention inward.
Disregard what you heard on the news, what is on your agenda for the day, and the noises in your environment, just for now.
Narrow your focus to just now, perhaps noticing your breathing, but going inward to your core and let everything else chatter and swirl while you rest in the quiet center.
Do you feel yourself dropping into that point of stopping, of quiet?
Just let it be.
Being in the present
The perspective of this present moment antidotes overwhelm.
Did you notice that when you dropped in to rest just now? What happened to your agenda or the news?
Being present means that things are taken care of in their best timing when we attend to them as they are presented to us.
Being present can include a to-do list of priorities to remind us to attend to those things. Being present can include a schedule of activities with appointment times that we meet.
In fact, scheduling takes care of the worry of the future impinging on the present because we know we will get to it at the scheduled time.
What happens when we are present
There is fluidity in being present between meeting commitments and being flexible when new options present themselves.
Flowing with what is presented, we are at ease in what is happening right now in our lives. Therefore, there is no need to jump to the future, resulting in overwhelm.
No sense of overwhelm
We can dissolve the sense of overwhelm by reeling our attention back from the future into this present moment.
When we do this, we may notice that our mind quiets down.
When we give our attention to what is in front of us, here, now, we may notice that our lives move in a vast sea of quiet.
We can foster noticing this by getting in our bodies and out of our minds.
This is easier said than done.
Practice makes it easier
However, starting to do it and practicing doing it makes it easier and easier each time.
In addition, expert guidance is useful in learning how to master coming back to this present moment.
Dr. Cheryl offers several ways to help you master being present. Why not start with her book Antidote to Overwhelm?
She also hopes to impart wisdom in these blogs. Furthermore, she teaches specific tools like meditation and can guide you through e-courses and group meetings.
Is it finally time to give up overwhelm? Contact Dr. Cheryl.
