Serenity Wellness Podcast E38: Stress & Overwhelm

At times we can feel overtaxed, stressed out, and overwhelmed. This can be related to deadlines, obligations, have to’s, and other areas in our life. I’m going to break things down a little and talk about ways to bring balance. Understanding and rebalancing our stress cycle is vital for our mental, emotional, and physical health. The more we know, the more we heal.

Transcript

Hello,

Welcome to Serenity Wellness Podcast.

My name is Nicole White and I'll be your host.

This podcast is dedicated to helping you tap into your full potential of how you can heal and balance your mental,

Emotional,

And physical well-being.

Together,

Let's explore our inner self,

Connect with our strength,

And manifest your true nature,

One full of love,

Purpose,

And passion.

Welcome to episode 38,

Stress and Overwhelm.

At times,

We can feel overtaxed,

Stressed out,

And overwhelmed.

As the holiday season approaches,

This might even be increasing a bit for you or those around you.

At this time,

We will often be presented with increased deadlines or we'll have different obligations on our have-tos list or gatherings we have to go to or maybe even some travel.

Just some things on our plate that are not typically in our everyday flow that adds to more responsibility or more pressure that we feel that can increase our stress.

I'm going to break things down a little though and talk about some ways to balance this out because understanding and balancing our stress cycle is vital to our physical,

Mental,

And emotional health.

And the more we understand,

The more we're then able to bring in balance within the system.

It's helpful to identify first the differences between stress and anxiety.

Although stress and anxiety have some similar symptoms that we may experience,

Such as increased blood pressure or tension in our body,

Adrenal fatigue,

Some sleep disturbance,

But there are also some important differences to be aware of.

The more we're aware,

The more we can then access the correct tools for us to help to rebalance and get grounded.

So with stress,

Stress is often something external.

It can be related,

For example,

To deadlines that we have or things on our to-do list,

Pressure we might even experience from others like a boss or something like that.

It could be due to an argument that we were in and that we're trying to process.

And with all these different areas of stress,

Once things are resolved or completed,

Then those symptoms will often go down or dissolve.

So the stress cycle is often something external to ourselves.

It can be in several different categories.

But once those things are completed or if it's like an argument or disagreement,

Something is resolved,

Then often the stress and those symptoms will decrease or dissolve.

Chronic cycles of stress have many different aspects in terms of what it does to our overall whole body system related to health.

There's a lot of education out there and even the medical community will often talk with you if you're in a chronic stress cycle,

For example,

And go to see your primary care physician.

So it's well known what stress does to our physical body system.

And when we are in a chronic state of stress,

It can really deplete us all over the place.

So some things to kind of think about in terms of this chronic state of stress in our physical body is that increased blood pressure,

That adrenal fatigue.

You know,

We have that adrenaline cycle in our body.

And if we're in this chronic state of stress,

It's like firing off all the time.

But the tank becomes empty.

So we end up getting adrenal fatigue.

Our cortisol levels are all off track.

Our digestive system has difficulty digesting.

Even having proper nutrition at that time when we have chronic cycles of stress,

We might get more into emotional eating cycles or feel a rush to eat.

So maybe we're eating even way more unhealthy than we typically would try to do for our,

You know,

Using what I've talked about here and there,

Food as medicine.

So using food as medicine is vitally important for us in all aspects.

But sometimes if we're in this chronic stress cycle,

We might even,

You know,

Start eating much more unhealthy than we typically would.

It also,

This chronic stress cycle will increase that inflammation cycle in the body,

Which I've talked about at length in terms of we are seeing more and more how inflammation in our body affects pretty much all aspects of our body.

And then that brain health,

You know,

Even when it gets to the sleep cycles of brain health,

If we're not sleeping properly,

Our brain does not have that time and our cells in our body,

But our brain does not have that time to rejuvenate and get into more of the healthy cycle for us.

It kind of replenishes and heals up some areas.

But it also,

We,

If we're not getting into a consistent sleep pattern and a deep sleep cycle,

Then we don't get into REM sleep either.

And so we might be also denying ourselves the opportunity to get into deep dream cycles.

Deep dream cycles do a lot for us.

Dreams can help us to process situations.

It can help us to tap into subconscious or intuitive awareness.

It can also help us when we're in a dream,

A deep dream cycle to process difficult emotions.

I talked about this,

I think when it was about the anxious body cycle,

Which is an episode if you haven't checked out,

You might want to in terms of what I'm talking about today.

But this idea of heavy emotion and the dream cycle when we're in a deep dream cycle can actually also be our mind body connection to giving us the ability to kind of let out some of those deeper difficult emotions.

So the dream cycle brain health when we're in a chronic state of stress,

We're often not in a good healthy sleep cycle either.

We might even get a lot of those tension headaches,

You know,

In the head if we're in this chronic stress cycle.

So chronic stress,

Stress in general,

The effects it has on our body,

But then also stress can lead to anxiety.

So anxiety is an internal response.

It can again be caused by stress or it can also be caused by other factors.

Some of those other factors to keep in mind is sometimes the anxiety cycle can be caused by thought loops.

So those thought loops that can be based off worry thoughts or as we've talked about the illusionary mind,

It's based on nothingness,

Things that have not happened and that will not happen,

But we'll get ourselves into those loops.

And even if it's in an illusionary state,

We are still doing emotional imprinting in our body at that time.

And if it's about worry cycles and anxiety cycles,

Well then we're imprinting this anxious emotional response.

It can also be about past events.

So the past event events,

You know,

Can be something traumatic or difficult.

And when we go back and think about it,

It might increase that emotion for us.

But also with past trauma,

It can have that imprinting that happens in our body until we readjust and dissolve that.

And with the more awareness we have of what's going on within us,

Then we have more opportunity for change.

But this imprinting cycle,

For example,

If we have a similar emotional response to a situation now in life,

Then we can have a more positive response.

If we have a similar emotional response to a situation now in life that mimics the emotional response from a past event in our body,

If we have trauma,

Then we can have that elevation of the emotion kind of like builds upon because our body remembers that even though it was from a totally different situation.

That's those somatic markers that can kind of get stuck in our energy body.

But again,

The more we're aware,

Then the more we can talk ourselves through it and recognize what's happening.

And then we work on those emotion regulation tools of bringing the body system down,

Calming it down,

Releasing that tension,

Connecting to the breath,

Using mindfulness tools to connect to our space.

And every time we do that,

We're reorganizing,

We're recalibrating,

And we're creating new neural network pathways in our brain system,

Which allows then for future imprinting in a more effective way.

So it's a practice,

But just think about it as that.

It's a practice.

If you're working on your physical body,

You're going to practice at the gym or in your workout at home,

For example.

You're not just going to,

You know,

If you're a runner,

You're not just going to sign up for a marathon and do no running before and expect a good result.

So everything I teach in these podcasts,

You know,

Take with you what you feel is helpful or non-helpful,

But they all build upon each other.

They all tend to integrate over time.

And you notice these elements of change,

And then you notice you have an abundance of tools to select from,

Which,

You know,

They vary of what is going to be effective in one time versus another.

So even if it's something related to past trauma and imprinting from the past,

Remembering and recognizing that improved awareness and connection,

Understanding and using tools will help dissolve that and create new neural network pathways for healthiness.

So some other things to keep in mind is that chronic cycle of anxiety can also wear us down and exhaust our system.

With anxiety symptoms,

They can even continue after and often continue after the stressful event,

For example,

Is resolved.

So that's another difference between this stress versus anxiety.

Remembering again stress,

The symptoms will often resolve or dissolve in our system when the stressful event has ended.

With anxiety,

The symptoms will often continue.

They don't stay there.

We fluctuate that reminder of impermanence.

We do not.

You have never got stuck in any emotion,

But we can get more looped in.

But we can get more looped in to this anxiety cycle,

And it can last much longer past the event or often as we just mentioned or I just mentioned and talked about,

It can even be based on illusionary thought or past events that are no longer.

So this anxiety and the symptoms can often continue for a bit of time.

With chronic anxiety,

Again,

It creates a lot of mental,

Emotional,

And physical illness in our body system.

We get into those worry thoughts or activate and keep alive that anxious body system.

We might get into that chronic chest breathing cycle,

High blood pressure,

Adrenals become fatigued,

Cortisol level gets all out of whack,

Our circadian rhythms are off,

The digestive system and what it does to our digestive track,

And even our ability to absorb minerals and vitamins.

That brain health that I talked about related to stress.

Well,

That's the same with anxiety cycles,

But oftentimes elevated because again,

The system doesn't resolve once the thing resolves or gets completed.

And then also I mentioned about the endocannabinoid system and how when we have chronic stress or chronic anxiety,

Our endocannabinoid system also gets depleted.

That's why medical marijuana has been effective for so many different ailments and treatments.

Going to another conference here in December about more of the science and research on our endocannabinoid system as well as the endocannabinoid system.

As well as the use of medical marijuana for physical,

Mental,

As well as addiction cycles.

So I'll be excited to talk with you guys more about that as well as a meeting I have coming up with some other people who are experts in the field.

But anyway,

The endocannabinoid system again is affected with chronic states of stress or anxiety.

So all of these different physical areas and then mentally we get more looped into judgmental thoughts towards ourself,

Our situation,

That lack of acceptance.

So when we resist accepting,

We also can get into cycles of disengagement from others when we're in this chronic cycle due to different fears or worry cycles.

And we might even start losing track of ourself,

Forgetting about what interests us,

What are our passions,

What helped to keep us settled or grounded.

So this stress anxiety cycle that we can get into,

The slight differences between them,

But how they feed into one another as well.

And then all of those different areas that it can affect us physically,

Mentally,

And emotionally,

Especially when we're in a chronic cycle.

So some ways to help with this or things to consider.

The first is about your environment.

So I've talked here and there about how environment affects us internally as well and our mind state.

But with what we're talking about today,

Think about your environment.

Look around you.

Is it cluttered?

Do you have some challenges with organization?

If you're working,

You know,

At a desk,

For example,

Look around you.

What's on your desk?

When you look around you,

Does it make you feel stressed out?

Are you wasting time because of lack of organization?

So now to find something you're wasting even a couple minutes here and there adds up over time.

And the stress response when we're searching and can't find something we're looking for.

So if organization creates a loss of time or increase stress,

Then you might want to look around you.

If organization creates a loss of time or increase stress,

Then you might want to schedule yourself some time,

For example,

To declutter that area to get your files or folders organized in a way.

So paying attention to your environment.

Is it organized or cluttered?

Is it comfortable?

Do you have a lot of distractions near you?

Things that are going to easily convince you to procrastinate.

So be aware of environmentally what you see and what is around you.

And then also the sounds.

So is music good or not good in the moment?

It varies per situation,

But also per person.

For example,

I love music.

It's one of my tattoos has to do with music.

It's such a part of me.

And dance is one of my favorite things to do.

I just had a awesome experience with some friends on Saturday dancing and it's a very connecting thing for me.

But also it's a huge emotional regulator.

It helps me to move my system,

Connect within and allow for some release.

I've been working through some personal things the last few weeks here and the experience with dancing and movement was just amazing Saturday.

It just kind of shifted me all over the place.

I mean as a side note,

There's a lot going on in the universal energies right now.

We just had an awesome full moon last night.

But we've been in this universal cycle energetically with unfolding,

Unearthing in our emotional selves and transformation over the past month or so.

And it's continuing through November.

So there's definitely that going on too with energy shifts.

But the dancing really just moves me and helps me in a lot of different ways.

At the same time,

Although I love music,

There are times when it is not a good time for me to have music going anywhere.

So for example,

If I'm really trying to concentrate or focus on something,

So I am developing some online courses,

For example.

And when I'm working on them,

I really need to be in a different kind of state of mind and connection.

And me having any kind of music or noise,

Even meditation music in the background is not effective for me.

I just need silence.

For some people when they study music,

Having light music in the background actually helps them and helps them to focus and concentrate better.

Or if,

You know,

We're doing exercise or something like that,

Music might be really helpful,

Gets us going,

Gets our adrenaline going.

But know you.

Know what is effective for you and when noise in the background is helpful and when it is not helpful.

And allow yourself to do what's going to be most effective for you personally.

So looking around you and hearing around you,

Knowing the time and place for when you need silence and maybe when some something in the background can be more helpful.

You also want to be considering prioritizing.

I talked here and there about list writing.

I think I might have even mentioned it the last episode.

I can't remember,

Honestly.

But list writing and how when we're going to be prioritizing for our day,

Trying to keep it at five things,

Write down your five things first and then prioritize.

Recognizing there's a chance you might not get all five things done.

And if you do get all five things done,

Maybe doing self-care instead of adding another thing on your to-do list.

So prioritizing so that we don't feel too overwhelmed.

Often with this overwhelm,

We're looking at way too many things at once.

You know,

We're looking at,

You know,

The 10 things we need to do instead of just one thing at a time.

Asking for help if you need some help to get things done,

Being honest in your communication.

If you're feeling overwhelmed,

Talk with somebody about it.

You know,

Is there maybe something they can do to help you get it completed?

Or can the deadline be extended a little?

Or,

You know,

You're stuck and can't figure this out and maybe someone else has the information that can help you to move on to the next step.

So asking for help.

Being aware if you are a yes person.

Boundaries are important.

And saying no if you cannot do something is okay.

So be aware.

Are you one who is just saying yes to everything asked of you,

Even though you know it's going to stress you out?

There's too much on your plate already.

Just be honest and talk about it.

As much as I would love to help you,

I am really overwhelmed right now and just have way too much going on.

So just be honest.

You do not have to say yes if yes is really no.

People will understand if we can just be honest in our communication.

And then maybe,

You know,

They have another resource or option that they can turn to instead of you feeling this extra pressure.

Remembering that mindful awareness.

Trying to do just one thing at a time the best that you can.

If you remember when we talked about mindfulness how I did that ABC123.

And so that showed us how multitasking slows our brain down and has us make more mistakes.

It causes stress and tension in our body and becomes really ineffective in the whole process when we're multitasking.

And there's a lot of different research out there that's now showing us that in terms of brain mapping and things like that.

But as a reminder those ABC123s,

That is where you will time yourself.

Say ABCs out loud as fast as you can.

And then time yourself again.

Count from 1 to 26 as fast as you can.

And then third time time yourself and multitask doing them both together.

So 1A,

2B,

3C.

And you go all the way to the end.

If you make a mistake you start over at the beginning and no one else is to track your mistakes for you.

You have to track them yourself.

So that's that reminder and a good kind of cognitive awareness that comes to surface if you try that of what's going on with my brain when I'm trying to multitask.

And remembering often when we are multitasking what ends up happening is we'll start like 10 things and then none of them get done.

And now we feel depleted and we didn't even get to check anything off our list because now we added five extra things.

And we have a little bit of each of them done.

So we're denying ourselves the satisfaction and motivation loop with completion.

So trying the best we can to do one thing at a time.

Being aware of how many hats you're wearing.

How many roles are you taking on in your life at any given moment?

We have lots of different roles and I get that and sometimes we have to play a few at a time.

So for example I'm a mother.

My daughter is 27 but I'll always be a mother even though she's an adult.

I'm a daughter,

A friend,

A colleague,

An advocate.

I own two businesses.

I'm a mental health and energy therapist,

Community builder,

A homeowner.

You know all these different things and all these different hats.

And with each hat there's often a ton of responsibilities of managing and organizing and all these different things we've been talking about.

But we have to know when to hang our hats and which ones to be wearing.

If I try to wear all those hats at once,

Forget it.

I mean it's just not going to be functioning.

So we have to know how many hats are we trying to wear?

How many hats are we trying to put on at once?

And how do we learn and know to hang up our hats?

To just choose what we really need to be choosing in that moment and then we'll wear the other hat when it's time.

So this is all about balance.

Which brings us to the most important thing.

And that is practicing self-care.

If we do not practice self-care,

We will get depleted.

Our tank will run dry.

It will increase emotions that are difficult.

Like frustration,

Stress and anxiety.

You know,

The fatigue system.

We have to take care of ourselves.

It's so important.

We are our biggest advocate for change.

The more we tap in to our awareness in all of this,

And in that awareness recognizing,

Self-care is so vital because it helps us to heal ourselves.

We truly have the ability to rework and rewire our system.

To cleanse and heal.

To dissolve somatic markers and generational threads.

But self-care is a vital,

Vital piece of that.

Understand what helps you unwind in a healthy way.

This doesn't involve alcohol or drugs.

Healthy way of unwinding and relaxing.

What brings you joy?

What are your passions and interests?

We can get so busy in life and this overwhelm that we even forget to think about that.

Or if we are in that yes cycle,

It's like,

Oh,

What are my needs?

What do I like to do?

I don't know.

So,

Paying attention.

Looking in.

If you forget,

It's still there.

Think back to,

You know,

10 years ago or however time frame when life was maybe a little less hectic.

Or you felt less of this overwhelm.

And remember what you were doing back then.

What are your passions and interests?

Write them as a scheduled appointment for yourself on your calendar if you need to,

To make it happen.

What makes you laugh?

Laughter is just an amazing regulator for our whole system and so important.

Make sure you're laughing.

Be around people who make you laugh.

Watch a funny movie.

You know,

Practice some jokes yourself.

You know,

Go to a comedy club.

You know,

What makes you laugh?

And incorporate laughter.

Be around people that bring joy and laughter into your life.

Bring balance into your life.

So,

Surrounding yourself too in this self-care with people who build you up,

Not break you down.

Remembering to feed your soul.

Do the things that feed your soul that make you feel good inside.

And don't forget to stimulate your mind.

Don't make it just be about the have-tos of what you have to read or what you have to do or what you have to learn.

Tap the stimulation of your mind into your passion and your interest.

Feed your full self.

And I assure you,

If you practice this,

You will find increased balance,

Increased joy within you,

But also an increased connection to being content.

We don't always have to be happy.

That's impossible.

But we can be content too.

And practicing self-care will help us with that as well.

And then again,

All the amazing,

Amazing things it does to our full body system when we take care of us.

When we give time for us and realize that's not selfish.

It's self-care.

I hope you found all this helpful and something to consider for your wellness toolbox.

As always,

I appreciate all of you.

We have some cool things coming up at Serenity,

So certainly check us out online on Facebook and Twitter.

Or on our website,

Serenitywellnesscenter.

Com.

And for those of you who have asked,

The Center County Spell.

.

.

Or Center C-E-N-T-R-E.

I know that's an option in some of the countries of people who are listening,

But here,

The reason I spelled it that way is because I live in Center County.

And that's how they spell it.

So,

A little twist in the business for local stuff.

Anyway,

Thank you everybody.

I appreciate all of you and I look forward to talking with you again soon.

Have a beautiful day.

Reviews

Very helpful. Thank you!

Confirms and supports much of what I’m practicing daily. Thanks

Thank you for the insights- you’ve clarified and summarized each point and given us a helpful plan🙏🏼

Wonderful! Thank you!