Techniques to help with Overwhelm

Life often throws unexpected challenges, stirring intense and unpredictable emotions – be it work pressure, strained relationships, or unforeseen obstacles. Mastering the art of managing these emotions is crucial for our well-being and the pursuit of a fulfilling life. While I've delved into emotions and overwhelm in previous blog posts, this post aims to provide additional insights and techniques to help you weather emotional storms and emerge stronger through self-normalisation and self-validation, visualisation of containing your emotions, making way for positive emotions, practising self-care, breaking state with movement, and exploring action tendencies.

Self-normalising and self-validating emotions

In emotional well-being, self-normalisation and self-validation serve as powerful pillars. Self-normalisation is about recognising that emotions, even intense ones, are natural and transient facets of the human experience. Feeling overwhelmed or upset doesn't make us abnormal; it's an intrinsic part of being alive. Simultaneously, self-validation involves acknowledging and accepting our emotions without judgment. Each emotion, whether positive or negative, carries its validity and significance. By practising self-normalisation and self-validation, we cultivate emotional resilience, navigating our feelings with compassion and understanding.

Hand containment of feeling

Feeling overwhelmed often stems from emotions not feeling contained. This exercise offers a tangible technique to regain a sense of control. Pause for a moment and pinpoint where in your body you feel the overwhelming emotion. It might manifest as a tightness in the chest, a knot in the stomach, or tension in your shoulders. Once you've identified the emotional epicenter, place one of your hands over that area. Let the touch be gentle and comforting, allowing yourself to feel the warmth and pressure of your hand. As you rest your hand, visualise the act of containment. Envision your hand acting as a protective barrier, preventing the emotion from expanding and taking over. Picture the emotion becoming confined to the space beneath your hand. Take slow, deep breaths as you maintain this hand placement. Inhale positivity and calmness, exhale tension and negativity. Feel the connection between your breath, your hand, and the contained emotion. After a few minutes, release your hand. Pay attention to any changes in how you perceive the emotion. This exercise is not about suppressing the emotion but creating a brief pause for reflection and self-soothing. This hand containment exercise serves as a grounding technique, providing a physical and mental anchor during overwhelming moments. It helps you reconnect with your body, fostering a mindful awareness of your emotional state. Incorporating this practice into your routine can enhance your ability to navigate overwhelming emotions with a greater sense of self-control and resilience.

Make way for positive emotions 

It's essential to not only manage negative emotions but also make space for positive ones. While we tend to focus on minimising or handling negative emotions, actively cultivating positive emotions can enhance our overall well-being. Reflect on activities or experiences that genuinely bring you joy, such as hobbies, spending time with loved ones, or simply being in nature. Clarify your values and what truly matters to you in life. Aligning your actions with your values can give you a sense of purpose and fulfilment. Surround yourself with positive influences. Connect with friends and family who lift you up and support you in tough times. Regularly take time to acknowledge and appreciate the positive aspects of your life. Keeping a gratitude journal can help shift your focus towards the good and cultivate a positive mindset. Finally, explore what genuinely makes you happy and fulfilled. This could involve trying new activities, setting personal goals, or deepening your understanding of yourself.

Self-care 

Self-care is a well-touted concept, but its importance cannot be overstated. Reflect on your self-care routine. Are you prioritising it? Increasing your self-care can enhance your ability to manage daily stressors effectively and keep your emotions in check. Self-care goes beyond clichés like bubble baths and scented candles. It's about intentional practices that nurture your well-being. Consider these less common examples: Set designated times to disconnect from electronic devices. Engage in activities that ground you, such as reading a physical book, going for a walk without your phone, or enjoying a meal without distractions. Explore sensory experiences to ground yourself in the present moment. This could involve aromatherapy, listening to calming sounds, or incorporating textures through activities like gardening or crafting. Practice saying no when necessary. Establishing healthy boundaries is a form of self-care that prevents burnout and preserves your mental and emotional energy. Engage your mind with intellectually stimulating activities. This could include attending a lecture, learning a new skill, or participating in a thought-provoking discussion group. Inject spontaneity into your routine with small, manageable adventures. This might be exploring a new neighbourhood, trying new cuisine, or taking a day trip to a nearby nature spot.

Breaking State through Movement

Movement can help disrupt the intensity of emotions. Go for a stroll and try to focus on each step and your surroundings, allowing the rhythmic motion to divert your mind from overwhelming thoughts. Practise a few yoga poses or simple stretching exercises to help release tension stored in your body and promote a sense of calm. Put on your favourite music and dance freely, a powerful way to release pent-up emotions and elevate your mood. Deep breathing combined with physical activity can enhance relaxation and focus as you raise your arms, inhale deeply and exhale as you bring them down. These are a few movement ideas you could try to help shift your emotional state.

Exploring Action Tendencies 

In the intricate dance of emotions, our inner responses are often accompanied by urges to act, known as action tendencies. This exploration aims to heighten your awareness of these tendencies, shedding light on the ways you instinctively respond to both positive and negative emotions. Action tendencies associated with positive emotions offer a unique opportunity for creative expression and expanded choice. By delving into the realm of positive emotions, you embark on a journey to broaden your range of action tendencies, consequently influencing how you navigate and react to negative emotions. This process is inherently exploratory, encouraging you to reflect on and compare your responses to various emotional states. For those prone to impulsive reactions in the face of challenging emotions, this technique serves as a valuable tool to introduce a crucial pause between the experience and your reaction. As you bring to mind a situation evoking negative emotions, the objective is to focus on the most potent emotion, identifying its location within your body and, if possible, naming it. Subsequently, you delve into your automatic response by contemplating the question: 'What do you feel like doing in response to that emotion?' This inquiry aims to reveal the urges and impulses that arise in the moment of emotional intensity. Moving through a similar process with a positive emotion provides a balanced perspective. By revisiting a positive emotional experience and examining your automatic response, you gain insights into the contrasting dynamics of your emotional landscape. The comparison between these two experiences becomes a compass, guiding you to discern patterns, differences, and similarities. What emerges is a nuanced understanding of your emotional reactions and the potential for growth. By consciously engaging in this comparison, you empower yourself to cultivate emotional intelligence. It becomes a tool for self-reflection and self-awareness, offering valuable lessons about your unique responses to diverse emotional stimuli. Ultimately, the goal is to foster a sense of agency in choosing how to respond to emotions, moving beyond automatic reactions towards intentional and mindful actions. Through this process, you gain a deeper understanding of your emotional tendencies, paving the way for personal growth, resilience, and a more harmonious relationship with your emotional landscape.

Managing our emotions is crucial for our well-being. This post provides tools to navigate our emotions, from self-normalisation to the hand containment exercise. By making room for positive emotions, practising self-care, breaking state through movement, and exploring action tendencies, we may cultivate resilience. This fosters a harmonious relationship with our feelings, paving the way for personal growth.