A Practice To De Stress When "I'm Overwhelmed By The News"

I find the news to be overwhelming these days. This meditation can help in those moments when we feel helpless, fearful, or frustrated by the choas around us that is beyond our control. By returning to the present moment, and focusing on an internal sense of peace, we create a grounded starting place for meaningful action.

Transcript

So I literally just heard about another terrible act of violence in the world and when that happens I don't know what to do with myself.

I get a lot of emails from people asking me this question saying I'm an anxious person or I'm a highly sensitive person and I don't know what to do with the news.

I get overwhelmed.

And all I can say is that I do too and one thing that helps me is meditation.

Getting centered,

Riding that wave of feeling overwhelmed and helpless and finding a little bit of peace within myself because it is only from that place that I feel like I can take action and try to make a difference in the world.

So quite honestly this meditation is for me right now because I need it but you might need it too.

So let's do this together.

Get as comfortable as you possibly can.

Let the eyes close if that feels comfortable.

If that doesn't feel safe to you then leave the eyes open and just lower the gaze.

And just feel the breath in the body.

For me when I feel like this my breath gets very shallow.

So if your breath is shallow just notice that and if you can deepen it see if you can make your inhales and exhales just a little bit longer.

If it helps you to have a word to focus on you can inhale the word peace and exhale the word peace.

And if there is another word or phrase that works better for you use that.

But you can use that word in your mind as a point of attention.

It's completely normal that your mind is going to wander that you're going to perhaps be in a bit of an emotional spiral feel waves of sadness,

Anger,

Helplessness,

Frustration,

Fear.

But here's the thing that's a natural reaction.

It's okay that you feel that way you don't have to stifle that.

What's important is that you know that you can handle those emotions.

That they're not permanent even though they really can feel that way.

Notice if you have tension in the body maybe the jaw is clenched maybe the shoulders are crunched up towards the ears maybe there's a knot in the stomach.

These are all physical manifestations of what's going on emotionally.

So see if you can bring some release to the physical body.

If you can maybe get a little bit more comfortable if you can try to melt the knot in the stomach relax the throat release the jaw.

There are so many things in this world that we do not have control over.

The one thing that we can try to have some influence over is our inner experience.

So yes feel everything that you are feeling right now.

And then see if there is a tiny little bit that you can release.

Sometimes we try so hard to push down all of the emotions all of the pain that it just gets blocked up and it just sits there.

So sometimes if we can really be with that pain that fear in the moment if we can sit with it.

If we can acknowledge it we find that it dissipates on its own a little bit easier.

Take a deep inhale through the nose.

Open the mouth sigh it out.

Good.

Just return to breathing in and out through the nose.

Noticing if the thoughts are spiraling.

Continually coming back to what's happening right here.

This breath this moment.

See if you can deepen the breath anymore.

See if you can match the length of your inhale and your exhale.

And see if you can find that moment that space between the inhale and the exhale and before the exhale becomes the next inhale.

And see if you can just hold that just a moment longer.

Noticing if any tension has returned to the body.

Try to let it melt.

It can be so painful to see so much conflict and violence.

Anger in the world.

And it's so easy to get bogged down by that.

But just as anger and fear is contagious.

So is peace.

So is compassion.

So is love.

If we can find a way to embody those things in the midst of the chaos that feels so scary.

That matters.

That makes a difference.

It might not feel like it makes a difference all the time.

But it does.

That radiates out.

It has an impact on other people.

And from that place of peace and compassion and love,

That's where meaningful action starts.

Take one more deep breath in through the nose.

Open the mouth.

Sigh it out.

You can let the eyes gently open.

You can maybe roll the neck.

Stretch the arms up overhead.

Thanks for being here with me.

Take good care of yourselves.

And take good care of each other.

I'll see you next time.

Reviews

Thank you! This meditation was very helpful just now. I know you recorded it a while ago, but unfortunately the news keeps presenting new situations to feel awful about. These feel like serious and heavy times. I am grateful for this practice. 🙏

Thank you for reminding me to stay with whatever comes up, sometimes that's so hard to do 🙏💙

Lovely to experience this talk. Felt calm and relaxed at the end. Thank you! 👍🏼😊

Just what I have been needing lately. So much hate and violence and aweful stuff going on here in the US. It's just too much some days. Thank you for sharing this.

Thanks Lisa, I found this meditation really helpful to cope when situations seem to be spiralling out of control ❤️

Amazing how meaningful this meditation is right now with the global pandemic happening. Thank you for the reminders. I have struggled with anxiety for my whole life. Wednesday was a tough day and when the darkness happens it can make me forget that this too shall pass. The image of a wave was helpful. The teacher’s voice is reassuring and as someone else said natural. I highly recommend this. Many thanks.

I so appreciate Lisa’s natural voice and uncomplicated, yet profound wisdom. Listening to her is like hanging out with a very supportive, understanding and compassionate friend.

Calming and warming :)
Thank you

Thank you so much, I've been recently overwhelmed by everything and my anxiety is at a peak. It made me cry but it helped me release tension as weel, as I'm a highly sensitive person. Thanks a lot.

Great for bringing you into the present moment. Thank you!

I struggle with anxiety. Lisa’s voice is soothing and calming. She helps me to reduce my anxiety by being in the present moment, focusing on peace, love and compassion. I highly recommend all of Lisa’s meditations. I use them often. Her meditations have lowered my anxiety, bringing positive energy to me each and every day.

💓Thank you! I’m autistic and super empathic, so upsetting news can trigger meltdowns. I love how you said the feelings are difficult but that I can handle them. Sometimes I forget I’m strong enough to handle my own feelings, because starting at a young age I was pathologized for being sensitive. This meditation reminded me that feeling pained by news is totally natural and common, I’m not broken! Shoutout to any fellow #actuallyautistic meditators! 💁🏻‍♀️

Thank-you. That was beautiful. . I so needed this today.

Very powerful, very present in this moment. Thank you.

Very grounding and peaceful—and much needed—thank you so much! 🙏🏻❤️

Very nice meditation on destressing...fear, anger, hatred can be contagious but so can peace, love and compassion! Go within, breath, accept those emotions and release! Thank you, Lisa!

Just what I needed today! You are an angel!

It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness.

Excellent meditation. Thank you very much !

Clear calm guidance and kind encouragement. Very nice thank you. Namaste 🙏🏼