If You Are Feeling Overwhelmed

Life is a series of causes and effects. If this, then that. Sometimes, we like what happens. Sometimes, we don't. And having to constantly choose and adjust over and over and over again can be overwhelming. This practice settles our spirits to help us choose how best to live light and shine.

Transcript

I was walking in the woods the other day and I chose to wear a big floppy hat to keep the damn deer flies away.

It worked,

Thank God,

But wearing the hat also meant I couldn't see the woods because the brim kept flopping down and cutting off my vision.

How often does this happen?

We address one problem only to create another.

We take an aspirin to prevent blood clots or heart attacks or strokes and our bowels go wonky.

We take a new job to get more pay and now we have to fight traffic every day.

Not being able to see the trees on my walk might not sound like that big a deal.

Couldn't I just go for a walk on a different day or wait until fall when the deer flies had disappeared?

No,

Because I'm about to go and live in Japan for four months.

I can't wait to go and I'm a small-town girl through and through and I often frequent those treasured woods to be alone and to center.

It's one of the best ways I know to handle my stress and overwhelm.

So as I prepare to go I keep wondering what's life gonna be like for me in one of the most populated cities in the world?

This last walk in the green wild woods was supposed to be a going-away present to my uncertain spirit.

Instead my flopsy mopsy hat meant I could only see the dusty path beneath my feet.

It wasn't how I expected or wanted this walk to go.

And isn't that also often the case?

Since life is an unending stream of causes and effects we might like some of the facts but not others.

But what happens is we choose.

Things happen and we have to choose again and again.

That can mean life feels like a hamster wheel of choosing and readjusting,

Choosing and readjusting.

It's no wonder so many people I know are suffering from decision fatigue.

And if that's you it's okay.

It's okay to be overwhelmed and exhausted.

Where it gets dicey is when we act in ways that exacerbate the imbalance.

So we might be exhausted and overwhelmed and still choose to do more.

To push more.

Because our society values productivity and achievement over presence and wholeness.

This could also mean choosing to put everyone else's needs before your own because that's what we've been told good and loving people do.

But just for this moment,

Please take a breath and center.

Please be on your own side.

Listen to your body and spirit.

If you are tired,

Choose rest.

If you are overwhelmed,

Choose to trust the messages of your body and spirit and make choices that ground you and nourish you.

And for the sake of all that is holy,

Please quash all those yeah buts.

Those little demons that love to sow all kinds of troubles and lies.

Be on your own side.

Trust yourself.

Center.

Breathe.

And while a part of me didn't like the narrow vision my hat was giving me,

It did remind me of one of my favorite mantras.

Be where your feet are.

Because when life feels too big,

Too overwhelming,

One way to handle it is to get small.

To focus on the near at hand.

The next best step.

For me a next best step is to trust.

Trust that I will find incredible ways to center and settle when I am in Japan.

I can't wait to see what quiet temple I might stumble upon or what still koi pond I might find in a tiny and meticulously manicured park.

What matters is the choosing.

Choosing to seek out the things that center the self.

Choosing to trust the fragile voice in the silence.

The one that promises you are okay.

You are whole and enough just as you are.

That quiet and insistent voice that begs you to love the hell out of your fear self wherever you are.

And from there to live light and shine.

Reviews

“Live life and shine” ✨👏🏻✨ YESSSSS!
My takeaway was mostly “Wait, what?! You’re going to live in Japan for 4 months?!” I was literally clapping and gleeing out loud for you. That is SO BRAVE! You’re one of my favorite teachers. “Salty” and very, very real. I hope there are Japan updates woven in that I’ve missed…I’ll have to check your tracks.

Saved my day! My “overwhelm” caused havoc…it blocked my trust that all will be ok, it caused fatigue that wasn’t real, it just made me want to return to bed & not deal with the reality of the moment. Now I’m aware that the action I take will solve the situation.
Thank you!

So impactful! Loved your storytelling! Hope Japan was wonderful

This was pleasant and helpful 😊 i enjoyed it 😊 thank you so much 😊

Thank you dear lady. I will strive today to 'be where my feet are'..
Hope all is going well for you in Japan..
Xo

Root, ground & center in your breath, balance & blessings being where your feet are, no matter the surroundings. To new places, people, lessons, & things. To being settled, & centered where our feet are. Thank you.

Sigh. Thank you so much for offering this meditation. Be where my feet are. I will definitely listen again. Wishing you pockets of ease and centernessed particularly during your time away.

So needed. So perfect. Thank you for everything you do. For sharing your wisdom. All the best to you in Japan and enjoy those quiet moments, koi ponds , and other magical places I am sure you will find

Amazingly simple to recenter, thank you so much, this was just what I needed!

Thank you Betsy. I hope it’s a wonderful trip for you! 🙌

Choosing me is listening to you now. Take a break from the noisy place I live in and do nothing by the Ocean. The effect the woods has on you I experience it through the Ocean, could spend endless hours just staring at the blue in which sea and sky meet. That's peace. That's my cure for desicion fatigue. I'm choosing me and still hear the little guilty voice in my head judging me for doing so....it gets lower every time .....
Namaste 🙏🏾

Perfectly said and at the perfect time. Thank you so much

Exactly what I needed today! I hope your time in Japan is blessed 🙏❤️

This meditation struck my past in many ways. I always made sure everyone was happy when I was so tired. After I was diagnosed with Lupus, I knew that in order to feel better, I needed to rest to prevent bad flares. I fought that idea with all my being bc I felt people would think that I was lazy. Eventually my counselor said,” Don’t worry about what others think bc you know you are not lazy, you are caring for your body". She was so right and for probably the past 10 years, I speak up when someone thinks that we need to do this and that and everything else. I now tell them it’s not possible for me if I want to feel well. I tell them that I have to take care of myself before I can help anyone else. I am much happier now that I focus on myself bc I’m important and need do what is best for me. But
Blessings to you for all of the wisdom that you share. I have learned so much from you and I appreciate you! 🦋🌻💜🌸😀

I hope you will be able to keep us updated on your travels. This was really good btw and needed in my corner of the woods. Namaste my friend ~

Such a calming and grounding meditation. Hoping you have many beautiful adventures in Japan.

Oh wow, did this help me this morning, thank you 🙏🏻 I could relate to the floppy hat too 😉 I am excited for your next adventure in Japan. Enjoy!

Gosh, it's good to finally have technical and medical issues well enough in hand to be able to even get this app to stay open and tune in to one of your talks, Betsy!

The overwhelming is real - the last two and a half years have been incredibly stressful in both positive and less than positive ways. Overwhelm has been a major part of it. I have used the "do the next best thing right now" mantra to get me through a lot of it, and it has served me incredibly well.

As I try to keep up with my obligations and goals here while preparing for a trip up to the north next month (though not so far as the Great Lakes or Boundary Waters), I am having to add in travel planning to the mix. On top of being post-medical procedure (yesterday), a separate injury (not being seen for that for a few more days, unfortunately), and some deadlines quickly coming up, regaining access to this app and my favorite teachers - such as yourself - has been a true blessing.

If you have not left for Japan yet, a piece of hopefully helpful and comforting information.... You should have little difficulty finding that all important forest time. Japan in general places great value in the practice of shinrin yoku (forest bathing) and there are companies and services in addition to wooded areas set aside specifically for the practice. My brother and sister-in-law who taught there for a few years said some even lead guided tours out to a space and leave the group there for an hour or more before returning to gather the group and depart - some even have hammocks strung, if you prefer that! I can't vouch for it personally, but I practice shinrin yoku here and my brother loves to be out in the woods, so I imagine there's something substantial to what they told me.

Along the lines of my own musings on your talks (did you miss them? It's been over a year! Lol)... Just one thing really jumped out at me aside from wanting to mention the shinrin yoku availability in Japan.

Your comment about when in overwhelm, people sometimes take more on rather than resting. That immediately made me think, "Well, that is part of certain personality theories and types, particularly the helpful but not rigorous MBTI assessment." Within the MBTI - the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which I have been a qualified administrator of for over a decade now - certain types are more prone to do this than others. The fourth type letter dichotomy between J (Judging) and P (Perceiving) immediately left to mind. Note that of course, all four letters that make up a type work together synergistically and should not be taken in isolation. That said, those to fall on the P side of that sliding spectrum tend to have difficulty with the notion of stopping and/or knowing when to stop gathering information or experiences. (I'm one of them.)

When overwhelmed, I seek out more information and more experiences, thinking that with greater knowledge, I'll uncover a way to sort out the issues causing the initial overwhelm. "Knowledge is power" with slight modifications is truly a way of life. I am fully aware that most of the time, by the time I hit overwhelm, I already have more than enough information to move through it - more than most others would seek out. (My spouse is a J and I am envious of how easy it is for him to say, "Right, I've heard enough. This is what I'll do. Moving on!")

My personal challenge has been to set boundaries for my information/experience seeking, such as "two more events or courses" or "three more hours of research, and that's it" - and then stopping so I can sit quietly and ground/center and be still. Sometimes I meditate. Sometimes I note it for an issue my subconscious is being asked to process and resolve while I sleep, and I switch gears entirely - often to something physical or mentally absorbing like half an hour on a jigsaw puzzle or a brisk walk if the weather permits. I do keep my phone with voice dictation abilities on me to capture any thoughts I may have that pop up, but once recorded, I let them go. Once my arms get back to where they need to be health-wise and I can resume juggling - a moving meditation for me - this will be even more important.

And then I set a time when I will deliberately sit down to focus on the issue at hand, incorporating all I've learned. I have a sidebar drawn in my notebook where I jot down things that might need additional expiration, such as how to obtain a business license, for example - but that simply serves as future work and having it written down allows me to release it in the present moment and stay on track towards figuring out what "the next right thing to do" is for me at that time.

It seems like a lot of additional effort that I don't see my spouse or other friends/family/colleagues of the J type going through. But on the flip side, I do often hear them talk about hastily made decisions with not enough information beforehand, along with attendant complicating issues from those decisions. THAT has rarely been an issue for me. So I guess it's a matter of front-end and back-end challenges, more or less.

My doctor told me yesterday when I was venting a bit about how my injury was slowing my work down considerably that I knew my body best. "Let your body be your guide." If I have to take extra breaks (setting a timer or I'll be too hyperfocused to remember), do that. If I need to rest, do that. If I need to step away completely for a brief period to focus on restoring balance to my body, health, mind, spirit - do that. It will all only serve to help me do better at whatever my current project might be.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear that from him, as he's usually a lot more solution-focused during our appointments. I asked him if this advice came from his return this week from an extended vacation, and he chuckled and said probably - though the physician who was covering for him while he was gone has now left for her own vacation, so he's covering her patients in addition to his own temporarily. Still, he noted the vacation was extremely helpful, and as one who rarely gets one, it was duly noted by me - and with great interest.

Your advice in this talk echoed his in many ways. It was a welcome reminder. A pleasure to listen to your musings as always. (Did you get new recording equipment or set-up? The quality was distinctly different than your older tracks, hardly any ambient background sound, which was a trifle disorienting for me initially. Sounded a bit more flat as a result, but your voice was crystal clear!)

Thank you for continuing to share your thoughts and practices here on Insight Timer. I see you and the light within you. Be well. 🤲🏻💖🤲🏻

(And it's phenomenal to finally be back, at least somewhat! 🥰)

May the cherry blossoms 🌸 bring you kisses from home 🏡 🥰💗