A Meditation For Overwhelm

Every human gets overwhelmed sometimes so you are in good company. The feelings of overwhelm can be hard on us - making us feel anxious, pressured and powerless - but they are only seeking our help, knowing that by taking a break to settle and using some tools, our nervous systems can relax and feel at ease. This practice and meditation offers some calming reassuring that it is okay to feel overwhelmed and to be self compassionate, and some tools to feel calmer, safer and more spacious.

Transcript

Think of this practice as not something you can get right or wrong,

But something you're doing to feel better,

And which is an invitation to be easier on yourself to go steady and to let yourself be.

It's time for you to receive and refuel,

Have some nurture.

We spend such a lot of time giving our energy outwards and maybe also being too hard on ourselves,

And we're not going to do that here.

This is a time for repair,

For gentleness,

For releasing expectations.

Let's begin.

Settling into your spot,

Your space.

Making yourself as comfortable as possible.

Knowing that you are safe,

Your stress is not going to harm you.

You can make friends with it now and help yourself come down from some of the excess feelings that are uncomfortable.

But you do have capacity.

Your body is built for stress and big feelings,

Which means it's okay to have stress and big feelings.

But what your body is asking for when it's feeling overwhelmed is for a little break,

Just a little break from everything,

And some nurturing for your soul,

For your mind,

For your body and your heart.

So one of the first intentions I would invite us all to make for this practice is just for this time to be merciful to ourselves.

You are simply being human.

You're having a human experience.

And I want to remind you that it's not your fault.

You're feeling this way right now.

You're not damaged.

You're not to blame.

You haven't done anything wrong.

Overwhelmed can feel pretty big.

And all of us feel it sometimes.

Sometimes we can feel so many emotions with it.

And we're allowed to feel those things.

They're genuine.

And our tenderness,

The feelings we may have of helplessness,

Sadness,

Hurt,

Even anger,

And the racing heart and the racing thoughts and the feelings of helplessness.

They deserve tending in a tender way.

Can you feel that place inside your body that is asking for help now?

The feelings of overwhelm and all that is going on in every direction.

And can you also feel your capacity for kindness and care?

I know you are a kind person.

Knowing now you have this short space and time exactly for yourself.

Can you make that sacred by agreeing you will approach your tenderness,

Your emotions,

Your concerns,

Your doubts,

And your feelings of pressure or powerlessness with an attitude of kindness,

Which is so powerful.

And let's hold ourselves in this feeling for some breaths.

So I invite you to take your right hand and slide it under your left armpit so that it's close to your heart.

Maybe parts of your hand are touching into your heart space.

And then take your other hand and place it on your opposite shoulder.

So now you are holding yourself like this,

Feeling your body as contained within this holding and feeling your breathing contained within your body.

The contact of your hands close to you.

The feeling of the space in your body between your hands and all the space in your body.

And your breath.

And this container.

How does that feel?

Simply be here with yourself for a few breaths.

You may also rock and sway,

Which can be very soothing for our nervous system and our whole being.

And now checking in,

Asking your body with gentle curiosity,

How do you feel?

Is there any part of you feeling a bit more settled?

A bit more held?

Can you feel that there is some part of you offering to you and holding you?

Being there for you in a very simple way.

And now you can perhaps take that right hand lightly onto your heart space,

Gently pressing there in an affirmative way.

And you might take your other hand to your solar plexus or your belly or your pubic bone.

See where it wants to settle in a way which is grounding.

And taking some nice long slow breaths,

Feeling like you're gathering into your belly and then releasing slowly.

Gathering into your belly and then a slow release.

Repeating the words,

I am safe.

I am safe.

Right here,

Right now,

I am safe.

And feeling your body in contact with the solid ground and your hand on your heart and your other hand where it is,

Meeting yourself,

Breathing and grounding into I am safe.

You're safe.

You're here.

Everything's all right right now.

And then you can release your hands and let them be wherever they want to be.

So now let's feel into our bodies where there might be some holding on.

As you feel and sense into your body,

Are there any parts that seem tight or bracing?

As if trying to put the brake on all these feelings of that are coming up for you of overwhelm,

Of rushing and racing and pressure.

We can put a brake on then.

There might be some tension across your shoulders,

In your jaw,

Around your eyes,

Inside your head.

There might be some tightness in your chest,

Your ribs,

Maybe your belly or your hips.

Maybe your hands are holding on tight or your feet.

Can you just feel into that tightness and that bracing wherever you're feeling it with the gaze of kindness and with the empathy of a close friend.

So you're sensing into your body and simply noticing and feeling what you're experiencing and where there is tightness or bracing.

You're allowed to feel bracing and tightness.

It's a response to a perceived threat and a feeling that you're not as safe or stable as you actually are or as you'd like to be.

That safety and stability is right here for you and it's coming and there's no rush.

You may even feel better now than when you first settled in.

It's happening.

Just by taking a break it's happening.

Even if that's tricky for you.

You're doing so much good for yourself.

So now that we have invited ourselves to notice what's happening in our bodies and notice parts that may be feeling unsafe or bracing,

We can say to those parts with love,

You are allowed to be here like this.

I am allowed to have any feelings.

I have permission to have an activated nervous system.

It's not a problem.

It's not something gone wrong.

It's what I'm experiencing right now.

Breathing in,

Breathing out.

Your sweet waves of breath soothing you.

And then you might add,

And I have the power to offer myself some release and relief.

And that is what we're going to continue to do now.

And so I invite you now to lie on your back or get settled in some way where you can truly release.

You're not really having to hold yourself up.

And hopefully you can lie on your back.

But if you can't,

You can do this in a chair.

If you're on your back,

Lie there with your legs extended and your arms comfortably at your sides with your palms facing up.

And then flex your toes towards your head as far as you can tightly and then let them totally release.

Do this a few times.

So you're flexing your feet.

Your toes are pointing towards you.

You're getting a stretch.

And when you release your releasing everything,

Every part of that stretch.

Now clench your fists as hard as you can.

Squeeze them and then release them completely.

Now clench your buttocks as tightly as you can.

And then release them.

And inhale again and squeeze your thighs as tightly as you can.

Squeeze them towards each other.

Tense the muscles of your thighs and then breathing out totally release.

Now again,

Bring your shoulders up to your ears and squeeze them and then let them totally relax your shoulder blades slide all the way down your back.

And now screw your whole face up.

Clench your face up really tight and then let it relax.

And now do everything at once.

Flex your toes,

Clench your fists,

Your buttocks,

Your thighs,

Your shoulders and your face.

Tight,

Tight,

Tight,

Tight,

Tight.

Oh,

And then let it go completely.

Feel your body letting go of all that tension and how it feels melting into the ground.

Feeling safe.

Feeling spacious.

Feeling here now.

Right now.

Right here.

Everything is all right.

Parts of you will continue to soften and melt to the floor like butter in the sunshine.

Spreading,

Spreading.

You might take your hands to your belly or anywhere that feels settled and comfy.

Sensing inside your body.

How does it feel now?

Where is there some feeling of letting go?

Maybe dropping or dropping it.

Where is there some new space for your breathing?

Is your breath a little slower?

Has its rhythm changed?

Where is there a feeling something has released?

There may be some subtle shifting or there may be some bigger releases in places.

Simply being with your experience now and loving it and acknowledging and appreciating what you're feeling in your body,

Whatever it is.

And remember that thoughts will come,

Many movies,

Memories,

Things you've heard,

Things you've read,

Your to-do list,

And not to take it personally.

It's all life.

It's all allowed to be there.

But feeling inside your body,

Where is the space?

Where are there new spaces?

The parts that feel more melty,

More relaxed.

They may feel more tired.

That is perfectly okay.

And perhaps you make a note to rest later and treat yourself to something relaxing or pleasurable for you.

An early night,

A nap,

Something you can postpone or move or put down altogether or choose not to pick up today.

A gift you can give yourself that creates space and calm.

Even a little pocket of that is so delicious.

And the more we do that,

The more our body begins to trust that we are there for it and it feels more settled over all.

So let your body give you those notes now.

And we're going to do a bit more releasing,

Another layer of releasing.

There's always layers.

And then rest in some simplicity for some moments with some nourishing and easeful thoughts.

So going inside your body again,

Once again with these qualities of wanting to see what's there and to be there for yourself.

To participate in your own healing and to meet that and to receive from yourself something good.

So I invite you to breathe from your belly all the way up to your heart.

Pause at the top of that breath.

There's a natural pause there.

Don't race to complete that cycle.

And then slowly,

Slowly,

Slowly exhale.

So in this rhythm,

We're taking a natural pause where the pause is and not getting ahead of our breath.

That pause can feel like an empty,

A space,

A golden space.

And then the exhalation,

A relief.

And then a new breath comes.

And then as you do this,

Bring your awareness to your face and soften your face.

With your frown,

Melt your cheekbones,

Release your jaw,

Let your tongue soften and release.

Let the back of your ears soften and release and your head melt into the floor or the space behind you.

Let your shoulders soften and release everything.

Moving down into your ribs,

Let your ribs relax.

Let your belly soften and be light.

Release your hips,

Your legs,

Let go of any holding,

Soften,

Release.

Let your arms and your hands be light and buoyant and your fingertips melt,

Dissolve.

And let your whole spine dissolve.

Down to the ground where it is held,

Vertebra by vertebra,

Releasing tension,

Dissolving,

Letting go.

So your spine floats,

Is light and buoyant.

And breathing into that lightness,

Resting in these words,

I am at home in myself.

I am at home in my world.

I am at ease.

And I have time and space.

And all the movements in different directions can be present and I am centered.

I am centered in all the motion,

In the middle,

Breathing.

I am here and I am okay and I am safe and I am home,

Home in my body and I am at ease.

And then just let yourself drift here for as long as you like until you decide you're ready to come back,

Refreshed,

At ease,

Knowing what your capacity is today and that you have choices.

Only rest now.

I am here and I am safe and I am at ease.

You you you you you you

Reviews

Thank you Alison - this was excellent! I was in “overwhelm” in the middle of the night -worrying, overthinking and unable to sleep. The comforting embodied practices, the stretches to release tension, the mindful breathing techniques and gentle affirming phrases all contributed to calming my nervous system … and enabled me to go back to sleep in the middle of the night. Thank you so much!🙏✨🕊️

Very soothing and supportive, and loved the very slow pace of the music

𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚎𝚣𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏, 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

So so helpful thank you. I’m in the midst of wedding and travel overwhelm and this was like a connection to a fairy godmother angel best friend - will definitely be coming back here for the rest support and reassurance xxxx thank you

After a restless night of overthinking and overwhelm, I woke up looking for comfort and relief. You were there for me - thank you for this self-compassion meditation and for the gift of perspective 🙏

This was a lovely meditation to ease a sense of anxiety very early Monday morning - waking in anxious anticipation of a week too busy to bare to now feeling grateful for work I look forward to and knowing (feeling) I have choices at every moment - and the ability and right to carve out moments to rest, eat well, nurture whilst still being productive

Feel so much better after some serious family drama!

Thank you. This was filled with much loving kindness. I felt nurtured ushered into a soft gentleness. I felt I was receiving the nurturing of a mother who knew me and was caring for my body, mind and spirit, supporting me in letting go of any need for false ideas for the need to be perfect and giving the message that I am good enough as I am. This meditation is a blessing for my soul. Namaste 🙏🏻

Beautifully gentle and calming practice with a focus on coming into your body with compassion and tuning into yourself and feeling safe. Very centering. I’ll definitely revisit this meditation again!

Brilliant great wording and just perfect for letting go. Thank you

I've been feeling anxious and overwhelmed. This was very comforting and really helpful in not feeling as powerless. Thank you.

Absolutely beautiful and exactly what I needed!Thank you! 💛

Exactly what I needed. Thank you so much. Feel much better now. 💚💚💚

Alison. I am heading back into my afternoon feeling an overall sense of calm. Thanks for sharing this

Thank you for this very relaxing and helpful meditation. Nice to be able to recognize the tension and then let it go 🦋

This arrived just at the right time , thank you Alison. I had some bad news yesterday and have felt very overwhelmed. To make it even better it would be good to have a few quiet spaces to help release. But it’s a great meditation 🙏 💕

Just what I needed. Thank you.