Overwhelm

Overwhelm is a lonely business
It can make us sick
And not see the beauty of our regular days
Wedging itself between relationships
Making our memory fade

This poetic meditation offers another way to see and respond to overwhelm.

Transcript

There are moments in life when it all feels too much.

Holding your breath,

Not thinking straight,

Thoughts buzzing in your ear tangled around one another.

The weight of life's demands and the pressure of your expectations,

It's all too much.

It seems the only way to fix this is to get everything done.

To hold up every heavy weight,

To cling onto every string,

Not letting any one slip.

So you do.

You grip and you push.

The rushed blur of your days is blinding.

The heaviness makes you numb.

It is all too much.

But you do it anyway,

For your family,

Your employer,

Your future.

You must.

This is all valid.

However,

I ask that you listen for just a moment.

Hear what I have to say.

I can't make everything that you need to do disappear,

But I can offer another way.

In times of overwhelm,

We think that we must do to resolve.

We speed ourselves up,

Multitask,

Skip a meal or a walk.

Once we get everything done,

It'll all be fine.

But when is it ever truly all done?

I don't say this to add stress,

But rather help you see.

See the big picture here.

When will all the obligations stop?

Sure,

They might lighten and slow down over seasons of our life,

But there will always be things to do.

So please listen.

When we feel like a boiling pot of water ready to blow its lid off,

Or a flower whipping around in a thunderstorm,

Or a young child holding onto too many balloons in high wind.

These are the moments when it feels instinctual to sprint.

But I ask you instead to stop,

To pause,

To go grab a glass of water,

To step outside just for a minute,

To breathe in the fresh air,

To close your eyes,

To send a long inhale into your lower belly just a couple of times,

To lock yourself in the bathroom and just sit down for a minute,

To go to your car and put on a slow gentle song,

To sit underneath a tree or on your couch and let the tears roll.

Crumble if you must.

It is good to fall to the ground sometimes.

Overwhelm is a lonely business.

It can make us sick and not see the beauty of our regular days wedging itself between relationships making our memory fade.

If we do not take a moment,

Even just a minute,

To stop and collect ourselves,

To give ourselves a moment of grace,

We will look at our cup one day,

Flip it upside down and see that it is bone dry,

That our life feels bone dry,

Depleted and malnourished,

Ready to snap like the limbs of a dying houseplant.

Instead,

See overwhelm as an old friend knocking on your front door,

Warning you that it is time,

Time to step back for a few seconds,

Telling you it is all too much to handle in this moment,

Begging you to pause.

So when you hear the knock,

Do what you can to step away and after remember to thank overwhelm for it is here to help.

Reviews

Wow, this short meditation was the best! Wise words and advice. Doing and stress gain momentum. Popping outside with some water if only for a moment. 🪷🪷

This feels more like a talk than a meditation but nevertheless was very helpful for me today, thank you 🙏

Thank you.
I really needed to reiterate this. I've got so far behind due to my ill health and an unwell relative that
I just had to stop until I could cope again. Winter and the cold doesn't help. You are so right...it will never be "all done" No motivation even to attempt things at the moment....just need to get off the 'mouse wheel'

Needed that. Saw old traits returning whilst working so paused to find a short meditation to help. This was perfect. Thank you. Must remember this.

This was such a good moment to realize what being constantly overwhelmed does to yourself. It is true it all never ends an amount of stress you put on yourself doesn’t make it easier.

Touching 💗 Knowing it's here to help does help 💗 Thank you for creating and sharing 🙏💖✨

Exactly what I needed to hear after typing the word Overwhelm in the search bar. Thank you for these beautiful, wise words of encouragement and support.
Namaste 🙏 😊 🌺

I typed in the feeling and this was the first meditation to come up, and it allowed me to pause during my angry walk and sit and let the tears flow. Thank you Overwhelm, for your message of self-care and self-awareness. Perhaps I AM doing too much, expecting too much, from myself and others. After all, we are just human. And to make space for human-kindness instead. Thank you for this loving message that came just when I needed it!

Thank you Torey. 🙏🏼 That was a beautiful reminder to not sacrifice your own self care in times of overwhelm. It is something I'm doing currently and I think it's why I'm in such despair 🌻 I need to centre and ground myself.

This resonated deeply with me…lately life has been “lifey”
A thousand thanks for that reminder to pause. 💜 Many blessings from PA.

It’s like a little pep talk :) I love her voice and the session is calming

I will return to this often. A beautiful reminder to slow down and enjoy each day 💕

A wonderful and soothing reminder that all of our inner parts matter and have a role in our lives. Yes, they can be clumsy at times because they don’t know any better - and we want to push them away because they’re ‘inconvenient’ or difficult to deal with - but they matter and have something important to say. This short meditation reminds us to pause and listen. Reconnect with the parts that want to take care of you but are so often ignored. Beautiful.

Thank you for this quick meditation to remind me in my moment of overwhelm that there is a choice.

Very helpful and beautiful! Bookmarked! Thank you so much.🙏🏽💚✨💚

What a great little meditation. Saved it immediately

I really, REALLY needed to hear this today. 🙏🏻 Thank you! 💜

Such a great invitation to switch perspectives & slow down. Thank you.

Thank you so much for this gift of pausing, Connection, and the permission to let things crumble. Should they need to. Our presence in the moment is such a gift, and this meditation guided me back to that. Thank you❤️🌅

Beautiful meditation! Thanks so much for sharing this way out thinking about overwhelm.