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Something's Burning! When Life Feels Too Much
Picture this: You're juggling work, family, personal responsibilities, and what feels like a thousand unfinished tasks. Your mind races, anxiety builds, and you wonder, "How did life become so complicated?"
We're living in an era of unprecedented anxiety and pressure. Technology promised to simplify our lives, yet we've never been more overwhelmed. Emails flood our inboxes 24/7, social media constantly compares us to impossible standards, and the expectation to be perpetually productive has become our new normal.
How do we deal with anxiety and overwhelm, so that it doesn't hold us back from what we truly want to achieve?
It's important to let go of judgement with our emotions (emotions aren't bad, they're just signals from our subconscious to our body and brain indicating that something needs our attention). We can also let go of identification with our emotions - they're just emotions - we aren't our emotions, we have them and can safely allow them to pass through.
Now we have this understanding, we'll dive in at a spiritual level, to gain some insight about where our emotion of overwhelm comes from.
Then, we'll look at some practical tools to help us through.
Conducting the Spirit and Flow of Life
The astral sign for this month is Aquarius: a woman is lifting water from the river with a pail.
On a spiritual level, water represents life, the river is the flow of abundance, the pail is how we control and direct the flow.
Without a pail to contain the flow of life, the water can flood and overwhelm us. If we can create a healthy vessel, we can receive all the abundance the Universe has to offer, because we can trust ourselves to receive abundant blessings like money, relationships, goals, in a safe and embodied way.
On a practical level, a study by McKinsey shows that humans are between five and six times more productive when in a flow state. That's why in my coaching sessions, we always do some meditation, Qi Gong movements and calming breathwork right at the start. By grounding and using our bodies, calming ourselves down and getting into 'theta' state, we are actually so much more productive and creative. Everything begins to fall into place naturally and easily.
The Illusion of Control
"When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change" - Wayne Dyer
We've been conditioned to believe that success means constant action. We try to control our situation, control others. We think we've failed when things don't go according to plan. We get nervous when we see sad news, a worldview which the media loves to perpetuate; we anticipate more bad things and freak out about how we will survive.
This anxious mindset is trauma for our spirit soul, who always knows we are not in control, and that paradoxically when we let go of control and allow flow into our lives, we will be supported. all is well. We can't control anything, nor do we need to. In fact the whole concept of free will is actually remarkably limited because of our past experience, neural wiring and social patterning, epigenetics; spiritual wisdom teaches us that free will is essentially limited to the present moment.
But that's powerful! We get to choose a new perspective, every new minute! We get to choose again.
"Render Unto Caesar that which is Caesar's!"
When I feel overwhelmed, I ask myself: Whose business am I in? Am I trying to do too much? Am I expecting myself to be superhuman? Am I trying to control others? Am I trying to control circumstances beyond my control?
We are only human, and we can only do so much. But what we can do, right now, is to take one small practical step in the direction of our goal. Even if that step is just to breathe, call a friend, smile at someone, make a list, have a cup of coffee - or all of the above!
Believing is Receiving
A cynic will say, 'Seeing is believing' and that is the accepted way of thinking. But we are starting to understand that's a very limiting view. If you understand the mentality of top business people and athletes, they will tell you that visualisation is one of their most powerful tools. A better mantra to live by would be: 'Believing is Receiving' - because when we are confident of a good outcome, the good outcome statistically becomes much more likely.
Remember, it takes the same energy to believe in a good outcome as in worrying about a bad one, and either way you're right! 'Think good and it will be good' isn't just a mantra. It's a game changer.
The Art of Surrender - Radical Acceptance
The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or a hostile universe” - Albert Einstein
Our anxious minds trick us into believing we must micromanage every aspect of our lives. We worry about the past, project fears into the future, and forget that true freedom exists only in the present.
What if we could change our mindset to consider that whatever happens to us is not happening to us but FOR us?
Look back at your past failures. Can you be sure they were failures? Did you learn from them? Did you gather data? Did you grow as a person? Is there some valuable wisdom you've gained? Perhaps in that case they weren't failures at all - just steps on the road to success!
Everything will be ok in the end. If it's not ok, it's not the end.
Are we Human, or are we Dancer?
"All the world's a stage and we are but players on't" -William Shakespeare
If you were auditioning for a play and you got the part of a sheep, you wouldn't be very excited. Because that's neither challenging nor noteworthy. You'd be in the play, but you wouldn't have carved a name for yourself. You'd not receive the flowers or the limelight, nor would you have the chance to develop your character.
We all want a peaceful, easy life. But is that what we really came here for?
Perhaps the overwhelm itself is a test: not to control things, but to accept and surrender to our human need to be interdependent, to seek, find and invest in the support we need. We are social creatures and we weren't built to grow in isolation.
I'm here for that, and recognize that even coaches need coaches, there is no shame in seeking help. In fact paradoxically, in admitting our vulnerability and finding the right support, we call ourselves forward to become the light for others.
And maybe that's the greatest gift of all.
Practical Steps to Release Overwhelm
Reframe your Perspective
Instead of 'Why me? ask 'What now?' A very good mindset tool is Byron Katie's Four Questions: Is it true? Can I be sure that it's true? Who would I be without that thought?
Radical Acceptance
Accept that you cannot control everything, nor are you supposed to! Like the hidden sap rising beneath winter's surface, trust that growth is happening, even when it's not immediately visible.
Relax your mind:
Implement daily meditation or prayer
Keep a gratitude list - find 3 small things daily you are grateful for. This shifts us out of scarcity and fear into love, abundance and joy.
Find somewhere quiet (the bathroom is fine! My coach calls it her 'toilet temple!') Take 5 gentle, slow breaths, deep into your belly, as you're doing that send love to every part of you. Slowly feel your body calm, relax and ground.
Journal to process emotions. Get curious, be compassionate, and drop any judgement! Then see what happens.
Break things down: When faced with a huge to-do list, allocate each task into the 'Eisenhower Matrix' (attached) to decide what is Urgent, Important, Neither, Both. Then respectively: Do, Diarise, Delegate, Delete!
Remember: Your current challenges are not obstacles—they are the very ground from which your most profound transformation can emerge.
You are not alone. You are powerful. And you are precisely where you need to be.
Meet the expert:
Jewish grandmother, and artist by day, Transformation Ninja by night - I'm your go-to professional coach for breaking through blocks and old patterns. A former City lawyer armed with powerful mindset tools, cutting edge somatic techniques, ancient wisdom and a dash of humor, I help ambitious souls like you turn their 'stuck' into 'unstoppable.' Think of me as your personal breakthrough expert and Soul Sherpa who can instinctively guide you where you want to go, whether it's business goals, family issues, relationships, letting go of anxiety and overwhelm, or just finding your inner voice and finally setting yourself free.
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