Dissolving Overwhelm
Overwhelm is one of the most common and debilitating afflictions in a Western paradigm. But what is overwhelm, what can it set in motion and why does it present so often?
In modern psychology terms, stress is defined by the feeling of a problem feeling bigger than you are. This creates a sense of tightness in the chest and either a spinning of thoughts or stagnation in mental function - you go into either a hypo or hyper mental state: we can become anxious, depressed or both.
In the context of the broader world, there are a LOT of overwhelming things being constantly absorbed - enormous things polarising our thoughts, our relationships and challenging our conditioning: referendums, capitalism, racism, climate, interest rates, cost of living, homelessness, violence - how did you feel in your chest just reading that list?
With the onslaught of media, almost every person is being directly affected in some way by these conversations and by these realities. Every impression of these things causes a visceral bracing, millions of micro tensions that are taking our bodies and our minds to a compression state. OVERWHELM. A mental feeling of vertigo, where this giant monolith of suffering and worry, is rising up and up in front of you, seeming as if it is curling over you and threatening to eat you altogether.
Coupled with the squillions (official measurement) of daily life pressures - get the kids to school on time, get to work on time, pay your bills on time or get penalised, report this, email that, fill in this form, do the dishes, go shopping, transfer money, there isn't enough money, socialise, engage on social media, avoid social media, eat well, pay your rego, find the cheapest fuel, get a flat tyre, social injustice, political injustice, anger on the roads, on and on it goes.
That more people are not going mad, is truly miraculous but still there are far too many deeply impacted by grief and rage, this becoming the soil from which all actions are growing. The soil from which our societies are being built on.
So, what to do?
Without doubt, a complete refinement of the systems that were designed by others and imposed on all of us needs to change. The systems that prioritize work over family, possessions over people, human consumption over sustainability, individualism over community.
But this is a big task right? Utterly overwhelming just to think about right?
There is a way though. It's not quick but it is possible. It's the slow osmosis from the ground up - change the soil, change what grows, as the soil changes, plant what we want to be growing, taking up the space so the weeds can't grow.
By breaking down the magnitude of this process to our own communities, to our own backyards, to our own internal landscapes, we can begin to change the paradigms in which we live. It's not easy to be different - to be light in a very tight system, to be kind in an often unkind world - but the diligence to it does benefit you from the get go.
Do not underestimate the power of the small things! The small things are EVERYTHING. The small things build you bigger, bigger, bigger until the things that overwhelm you - even though they may still be the same size - seem smaller.
Eat fresh foods.
Have great sleep routines.
Smile at the sun on waking.
Say to yourself 'today is going to be a great day'
Smile at your neighbours
Let your neighbours know that you're there for them
Grow your own greens
Compliment strangers
Move consciously every single day
Form a wonderful relationship with your breath
Participate in things that make your heart sing
Send text messages of love - as soon as you finish reading this newsletter if you can!
Treat trees like your mates
Go underwater as often as you can
Do your share
Make friends wherever you go
Hold everything lightly
It's a tough world out there, people are hurting. Let's take care of ourselves so we can take care of others.