This meditation practice will support you with handling and dealing with overwhelm.
To start with,
I invite you to find a comfortable position that allows you to be alert and relaxed.
From here,
Please find an anchor point for yourself.
An anchor point is something that you can use to return your attention to again and again in the process of the meditation practice.
One of the most common anchor points in the meditation practice is the breath.
However,
Maybe focusing on the breath presently doesn't quite feel like it's going to serve you.
So feel free to choose either music,
Focusing your attention on your feet or your hands.
You can even place your hands on the abdomen and just use that as an anchor point.
Just from here I invite you to spend one minute with your anchor point,
Remembering that if your attention wanders off,
It's very natural,
Very normal,
Just gently see if you can invite your attention to come back to the focus point.
Your attention might cooperate or it might not.
Just thank your attention for whatever it's doing in this moment.
Recognizing that it's just trying to take care of you and thanking it for whatever it chooses to do at this moment.
Step number one in dealing with overwhelm is to release judgment.
See if you can in this moment let go of any judgments you might be holding against yourself.
Pay attention to the thoughts that might arise that tell you you should be able to push through,
Be able to handle the situation,
Maybe you shouldn't even feel overwhelmed.
As you notice these thoughts,
See if you can just gently release them as if you were placing these beliefs and these thoughts into a stream or creek or a river,
Just letting it flow away from you.
Now become aware of your relation with overwhelm.
Notice your pattern,
Do you have a tendency to push yourself even harder?
Do you want to simply keep going pretending that you are not overwhelmed so there's a sense of ignoring the overwhelm?
Do you have a tendency to disconnect from your body?
Do you turn to unhealthy habits such as shopping,
Addiction or eating?
Do you start to move faster meaning that you think you need to be accomplishing more in order to keep up with the demands that are placed on you?
Notice how you usually breathe when you feel overwhelmed.
Do you have a tendency to hold your breath until your breath becomes shallow?
Maybe you don't pay attention to your breath at all?
And from here,
See if you can invite your mind and your body to pause,
To slow down.
You're not putting pressure on yourself to slow down but you're just extending this gentle invitation to yourself,
To your nervous system to slow down.
If you place a hand on your chest or somewhere in the body that might also support you in slowing down.
If that doesn't feel right to you,
Just choose something that allows you to pause.
Maybe it's just looking around and focusing on three things that you see in your environment as a way of arriving in this present moment.
If you're seated,
Maybe it's just simply feeling your feet on the floor.
And the next thing I invite you to explore is to notice where does overwhelm reside in your body?
What are the sensations that are linked to this feeling and experience of overwhelm?
Does it show up as a gripping sensation in the throat,
Heart beat moving faster?
Does it show up as a contraction and tightness in the gut and stomach area?
Does it show up as this feeling or sense of floating and not being grounded?
And if it's difficult for you to notice the sensations in the body because they just create a lot more restlessness or agitation inside of you,
It's okay just to honor that.
It's difficult to connect to the body in this moment,
Respecting your process,
Accepting yourself exactly where you are and remembering to be kind to yourself in this moment of struggle.
So remembering that you can pause or stop this meditation at any time you choose to.
And simply remembering that discomfort might be present and notice if you can still stay present with the discomfort to the extent that feels tolerable to you.
From here just continuing to track sensations that are present in the body.
Not trying to resist them,
Change them or fix them in any way but simply allowing those sensations to be here,
Welcoming them.
You might notice that they start to shift or change or move,
Maybe the energy starts to feel different or nothing might change and that's okay too.
From here I invite you to start to gently peel away this label of overwhelm.
So we kind of started doing that already with noticing the sensations and what is overwhelm also consists of besides the sensations?
What are you overwhelmed with?
In many cases there is some sort of a feeling that's arising inside of you and you could say that you feel overwhelmed with fear or overwhelmed with sadness or grief.
So instead of being with that feeling you might be describing it as just a sense of overwhelm.
So once again without putting any pressure on yourself,
See if you can start to name the feeling that might be right underneath that sensation of overwhelm.
Can you allow yourself to the extent that feels tolerable to you to surrender to that feeling?
To soften into it,
To relax into it?
To breathe into it?
Instead of contracting around it,
You are opening to it.
If that feels impossible at this moment,
That's okay,
Just honor your experience and see if you can create some spaciousness for yourself.
See if you can place your attention on a sense of spaciousness either inside of yourself or outside of yourself.
If you're outside you might look up at the sky and notice and feel that sense of spaciousness that is always available.
You might feel a sense of spaciousness somewhere in the body that is relaxed or you might be experiencing neutral sensations or even pleasant sensations and just resting your attention there.
As if you're giving yourself a break from the experience of overwhelm and you are making space around it,
Creating space around it.
Creating spaciousness might also look like you going for a walk,
Slowing down your pace,
Being mindful of your steps.
It might also look like taking a bath.
It might look like journaling.
From here,
Tune into your intuitive guidance and notice what is it trying to tell you?
Which direction is it guiding you towards?
It's not your mind making this decision of how you can continue to support yourself through the experience of overwhelm but rather it's your intuitive sense.
Allow it to guide you and simply choose what feels right for you.
Trust that intuitive guidance and allow yourself to choose what feels right for you,
For your body,
For your nervous system,
Given the current conditions in which you're in.
And from here I invite you to place one hand on your chest,
Another one on your belly and take a couple of gentle breaths.
And when you feel ready,
Gradually bring this practice to completion.
You can stretch your body,
Move your head from side to side if you choose to.
If your eyes were closed,
I invite you to open your eyes.
Just coming back into the space where you are meditating at.
And in you many blessings.
Take care.
