When Small Things Suddenly Feel Like Too Much

If tiny things are starting to feel enormous lately,

The noise,

The mess,

That email,

That one more question.

It may be that your nervous system is overloaded.

A lot of times we begin to assume that we're just failing.

There's something wrong with us.

We're just not doing well enough.

But the truth of the matter is that our nervous system has what's called a window of tolerance.

And so we can grow that window of tolerance by practicing good emotional hygiene,

Self-care,

Going to therapy,

Taking time to slow down and make sure that we're getting enough rest.

And we can shrink that window of tolerance by being overwhelmed,

Overstimulated.

Neurodivergence can sometimes really shrink that tolerance.

Hormonal shift,

Caregiving,

Both maybe for our children or even for our parents.

And so recognizing that we all have a different capacity at different moments in our life.

So if you're feeling emotionally overloaded,

If you're noticing that you're melting down more easily than usual,

Small things are really difficult for you to manage.

Noises or textures or those sort of sensory inputs are feeling overwhelming.

It's definitely not that you're just doing something wrong.

It may be just that your nervous system is overwhelmed.

And so recognizing this without telling ourselves things like,

I'm too emotional,

I'm too reactive,

I'm too much,

Or even I'm not enough,

Which I think is a common statement that I hear from so many of my clients as a therapist.

So your reaction very likely isn't about that noise that the dishwasher is making or that message that you got in the email,

But just that you literally don't have the capacity for this anymore.

And so one small thing that you can do,

And this is going to sound so simple,

But I encourage you to give it a try,

Is literally broaden your field of view.

Very often when we're dealing with anxiety,

Depression,

Overwhelm,

Literally our field of view starts to shrink down.

This is what happens when we enter that sort of fight or flight stage,

Is that our body literally is getting ready to flee and kind of find an exit.

And so we start sort of narrowing down the field of view and paring back the way that our body is taking care of itself.

That's why when we start to feel really stressed or overwhelmed,

We can start noticing changes in our body or discomfort in our body that we might not normally experience.

And so widening your field of view.

You can do that literally by taking one finger,

Holding your head still,

And following your finger up to the right,

Over to the side.

And down and doing that as well on the other side,

Or literally just looking around your room and naming objects that you see or just reminding yourself that you're safe in this space.

And if you don't feel safe in that space,

Then I hope that you find a space that you do feel safe in.

Practicing meditation,

Which I know is something that we hear so often,

But practicing meditation can really help rewire our brains and help us feel like we have a bigger window of tolerance.

Helps us to take care of those emotions on a more regular basis.

So I hope that you'll head over to my page and check out meditations like Before You Rest,

Soft Place to Land,

Or have other meditations for when you're feeling overwhelmed,

And give those a try.

Because if nothing else,

That's going to help soothe your nervous system.

If you can unclench your jaw,

Relax your shoulders,

And remind yourself that you're safe.

You're going to help to build that window of tolerance,

You know,

Step by step.

So thanks so much for stopping by.

I hope that you'll check out my other videos and take care.