COURSE

Wellbeing Without The Work: The Truth About Overwhelm

Do you feel like your life is a never-ending to-do list? Is your mind constantly racing, replaying anxieties, and drowning in "what ifs"? You're not alone. Overwhelm has become a chronic condition for many, impacting our ability to work, connect, and simply enjoy life. The Truth About Overwhelm isn't a quick-fix course overflowing with productivity hacks and empty promises. Instead, it's an invitation to understand the true nature of overwhelm, explore its hidden roots in the mind, and cultivate radical acceptance of what is. Through seven easily accessible audio lessons, you'll embark on a journey of self-discovery, shedding the illusion of control and reclaiming your inner peace. This course is for you if: You're constantly juggling responsibilities, feeling stretched thin, and never quite catching up. Stress and anxiety take a toll on your sleep, your relationships, and your overall well-being. You find yourself drowning in negativity, comparing yourself to others, and constantly planning for the "what ifs." You long to break free from the overwhelm cycle and rediscover the joy and peace in the present moment. The Truth About Overwhelm is not here to equip you with tools, to fix or conquer overwhelm. Instead, it aims to help you see with clarity, accept with compassion, and simply be. Let's step off the mental merry-go-round together and discover the transformative power of The Truth About Overwhelm.

Acceptance Flow Spirituality Stress Health & Happiness Performance Stress & Anxiety Spirituality

Meet your Teacher

Clare Downham

West Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Clare is a fully Qualified Coach and 3 Principles Practitioners, but that’s not the most important thing she wants you to know about what spending time being coached by her is like. Clare’s aim is to help you see yourself as she sees you, full of potential and the wisdom of the universe. To facilitate this, Clare will provide you with a space to explore your true nature. A safe space where you will be held and listened to like you have never been listened to before. Clare’s way of being with her clients is unique; gentle, compassionate and intuition led. A heartfelt space of love and calm. It is in this space that Clare’s clients begin to experience their calm power and reveal their true potential. As one client said, “True change and healthy movement comes about in working with Clare. There is a trust she has in her clients that allows the sessions to flow very organically and without any push or pull. I immediately felt safe with her to be a mess and knew she wouldn't put me in a box because of it. Instead, she sees the wisdom I've embodied and my innate strength and resourcefulness. This is true coaching, both fun and producing forward movement in the life while allowing our full humanity to hang out.”

7 Days

3.4k students

4.8 stars

7 min / day

Acceptance

English

Lesson 1

Exploring The Definitions Of Overwhelm

The ways in which we define overwhelm are many and varied. In this lesson we begin to unpick those definitions and start to see how they might help us shed some light on overwhelm and what it is really all about.

Lesson 2

The Inner Fabric Of Overwhelm: Untangling The Mental Threads

The ways in which the mind creates overwhelm are many and varied. In this lesson we begin to look at these thought patterns so that we can bring gentle and non-judgemental awareness and begin to untangle them.

Lesson 3

The Storytelling Mind: Unveiling The Scripts Of Overwhelm

Underpinning our feelings of overwhelm, there are invariably stories which have been conditioned into us during childhood. In this lesson, you are invited to undertake some gentle self-inquiry and begin to question the validity of these stories.

Lesson 4

The Illusion Of Control: Releasing The Grip On The Future

Control plays a huge part in the experience of overwhelm. In this lesson, we look at where control emerges in our lives and the misunderstandings which underpin it. We again look towards a gentle practice of non-judgemental awareness to begin seeing our patterns of control.

Lesson 5

The Power Of Presence: Stepping Off The Mental Merry-Go-Round

Whenever we are in a place of overwhelm, we are not in the present moment. That’s guaranteed. In this lesson we explore more deeply the power of the present moment and the truth which is held there. We also look at easy and simple ways to begin moving back into the present moment when we are not.

Lesson 6

Unmasking The Myth Of "Should": Embracing Your Authentic Self

Should is a word we often use to get ourselves to do things but how helpful is it really. In this lesson we explore how should contributes to overwhelm and what might be a better way to guide ourselves to do things without getting overwhelmed and going past our physical limitations.

Lesson 7

The Journey Beyond Overwhelm: Embracing The Unfolding Now

There is a paradox with overwhelm because it can be a catalyst for personal growth. In this final lesson, we explore how overwhelm can help increase our self-awareness and move us toward self-acceptance. We also finish with a message of hope and possibility that this journey away from overwhelm is possible for every one of us.

Ask your teacher

This course includes 78 community questions and 79 audio replies from Clare Downham. The community classroom and teacher audio replies are only available via the app.

4.8 (230)

Recent Reviews

Diane

January 24, 2026

Thank you! This was a beautiful course that I will repeat as needed. This is my year of growth and your course was a part of it. Thank you for the reminder that authenticity of self changes every day and to stay calm and compassionate as we traverse every day . Many blessings and thank you again❤️🙏🏻😊

Margreet

January 12, 2026

Great course with much Insight, very gentle and loving teacher.

Jonathan

November 11, 2025

I guess it would be very useful for a beginner. It was about general patterns. Some of it was a good reminder and much sounded cliche. There’s a lot it didn’t address or address effectively such as handling work responsibilities as more than “shoulds” we do to ourselves and we can somehow halt with in-the-moment awareness. Can courses be identified as for beginners, intermediate and advanced?

Kyoko

September 23, 2025

So peaceful and helpful. Thank you!

kim

August 6, 2025

These recordings are so helpful because they don't give me yet another formula for how to "do it right". Instead they give a series of useful inquiries I can use within my own mind body and spirit, to go through my days caring for myself and my tasks in my own personal experience- realistic, nonjudgmental, imperfect, and in the end more productive yet more relaxed.

Lori

July 27, 2025

This course was amazing. All of the lessons are an extremely valuable asset to my growth journey. I share a similar story of stress/overwhelm and burn out. I became very sick and was forced to learn self-care, which I'm grateful for. I do find, at times, I want to "rush" to get well, yet I continue to catch it and reframe my mind to practice patience, being in the moment & self-love. Thank you, Clare, for sharing your wisdom & experience. 🙏🏻

Hayley-Rose

July 8, 2025

Thank you. ☺️🙏 You reminded me of pointers and suggestions that I had previously been through in therapy, however, you delivered it as if we were friends having a chat over a cuppa and with you giving your own lived examples, it really helped me to relate and understand what you were explaining. (So much easier than how the therapist sessions 😅).

Denise

May 19, 2025

Great course on being overwhelmed and how to cope. Thank you 🙏

Francesca

May 11, 2025

The course is nice, but I found very little tools to apply. It goes more in the direction of understanding rather than giving tools to deal with this in the everyday.

Joe

May 11, 2025

A fabulous and helpful course. Make sure to listen to the full 7 days :-)

Angie

May 2, 2025

Stop & be present—has benefits I never saw coming! Thank you!

Harold

May 1, 2025

Good course for beginning to understand how to observe rather participate in our emotions.

Linda

April 15, 2025

Gave me a lot to consider, raised my insight into my motivations, which I found very helpful

Joseph

April 5, 2025

Thank you beautiful course

Caroline

April 3, 2025

Enciteful

Jocelyne

March 25, 2025

Excellent course. Definitely a do again. Thank you 🙏

Melanie

March 23, 2025

Such a wonderful course. Will definitely come back to it🙏 The tools provided are really helpful and questions get answered in depth. A million thanks 🙏

Ros

March 22, 2025

Very relevant 🙏🙏

Karen

March 19, 2025

by Clare Downham

11 min

4.5

• TALKS

Anger

Clare Downham

2 min

4.8

• TALKS

3 Principles Pauses: That’s Not You. It’s Just A Thought.

Clare Downham

10 min

4.8

• TALKS

Purpose

Clare Downham

11 min

4.8

• TALKS

Expectations!

Clare Downham

10 min

4.8

• TALKS

Mistakes!

Clare Downham

10 min

4.7

• TALKS

Fear

Clare Downham

2 min

4.8

• TALKS

3 Principles Pauses: You’re Not Behind, Just Exhausted

Clare Downham

11 min

4.8

• TALKS

Controlling Emotions Increases That Overwhelmed Feeling

Clare Downham

12 min

4.7

• TALKS

Control

Clare Downham

11 min

4.8

• TALKS

Confusion About Truth Creates That Overwhelmed Feeling

Clare Downham

Trusted by 35 million people. It's free.

Get the app

Retreat categories

Top Retreats

Find Your Perfect Retreat

Blog categories

Top Articles

How to Meditate

Meditation Timer

Wellbeing Without The Work: The Truth About Overwhelm

Recent Reviews

More from Clare Downham

Revealing Your Full Potential With The 3 Principles

21 Days To Feel Calm & Think Clearly

Beyond 'Just Accept It': The Path To Acceptance With The 3 Principles

Revealing Self-Esteem: Let Go Of The Inner Critic, Embrace Your Essence

Subtractive Sleep: Surrender To Natural Rest Without Struggle

Calm, Balance And Clarity With Ease

Wellbeing Without The Work: The Truth About Anger

From Stress to Success: A 3 Principles Approach to Effortless Productivity

Confidence From The Inside Out: A 3 Principles Perspective