¶ Finding Ease in Overwhelm
Welcome to the Gentle Rebellion , where overwhelm is optional . Hello , hello , hello . Welcome to this week's episode . The fastest way I know to get out of overwhelm is this Move your attention from where the overwhelm lives , ie your head . Move your attention to your feet . Why ? Because your feet are the furthest part of you from where the overwhelm lives .
It's particularly helpful if your feet are on the ground . Why ? Because then you can literally feel the ground beneath your feet . Feel the ground beneath your feet and feel strong and stable and held . Overwhelm is a trickster . It's going to convince you of all sorts of nonsense . You can't see the wood for the trees . Your mind feels like a shaken snow globe .
Move your attention away from all of that into your feet and feel the ground beneath your feet . Allow the snow globe to start to settle . Don't try to make it settle , though . That makes it too hard . Just allow everything to settle . Feel your feet on the ground . Maybe wiggle your toes to help draw your attention down to your feet . Feel held by the ground .
Maybe allow your belly to soften if it wants to . It might not want to , that's okay , just notice . Notice your belly softening or not . Maybe allow your shoulders to move away from your ears if they want to , maybe allow some space between your teeth , tongue resting lightly on the roof of your mouth . Let the overwhelm be .
It is not you , it's just passing through . You can choose to push through it like normal or you can choose to allow it to move away . Feel your feet on the ground . Allow your belly to soften if it wants to , allow your shoulders to move away from your ears or not . Just notice , notice how you feel in this moment . Notice the overwhelm and the ease .
The overwhelm and the ease coexist . The overwhelm draws your attention . It tricks you into thinking that if you just get this impossible list of things done , then you will feel ease . But the truth is the ease is always here and it's easier to get out of the overwhelm first .
Then all of the things that you need to do will be easier , because you will be able to prioritise and think clearly , just scanning your body for anywhere that now feels even the slightest bit of ease . Sometimes you have to search harder for the ease and sometimes it's easy . It gets easier with practice .
Feel your feet on the ground , know that you are safe , grounded , loved , welcome , loved , welcome . Allow your belly to soften if it wants to , and if it doesn't , that's okay , just let it be . Maybe allow your shoulders to move away from your ears if they want to . Maybe allow space shoulders to move away from your ears if they want to .
Maybe allow space between the teeth and the tongue to rest slightly on the roof of your mouth . Scanning your body for any ease at all . Keep drawing your attention back to the ease , keep inviting it in . Allow it to spread throughout your body just for a moment longer , and then just notice how you feel . And then notice how you feel neutrally .
Drop the judgment . Drop any shoulds , oughts , musts . Let the pressure go before you start to move through your day . So , either whether you're starting your day or you're restarting your day , allow the pressure to go for a moment and see how that feels .
Notice any ease , because it's ease that you want Ease and joy , safety , appreciation , love , appreciation , love . And when you're ready with that feeling of ease , however small , I invite you to become aware of your surroundings again and then to start . Whatever it is you wanted to do with a little bit more ease .
This is the fastest way I know to get out of overwhelm . If you want this as a one minute audio to use any time you want . Then please click the link below this podcast episode or go to my website . You're looking for the one minute mark free audio . Save it on your phone , your desktop .
Use it between meetings , use it before you start looking at your to-do list . Use it before you switch on your laptop , before you grab your phone and disappear . Use it throughout your day until you gain the skill of being able to move out of overwhelm into ease at will .
¶ Training Attention for Inner Ease
And then notice . Notice how it makes you feel having this skill . It makes you feel having this skill . Notice how nice it is to know that you can let things settle before trying to focus or before trying to listen to someone , or before trying to do any of the things that you want to do , feel you ought to do or feel you have to do .
Notice the choices it gives you , the clarity it gives you , but , most of all , notice how good it makes you feel and that you can have that before doing the things . The overwhelm and the ease coexist , but your mind is drawn to the overwhelm and the ease coexist , but your mind is drawn to the overwhelm all the time .
If you want more ease , you're going to have to deliberately train your attention onto the ease that's always there and is often hidden by a blank of pressure and overwhelm . Blank of pressure and overwhelm . I hope that helps . It's a very short one this week , but a very powerful one . Have a great week For more resources to help you gently rebel .