Overwhelm
Overwhelm of sorrow
Overwhelm of contempt
Overwhelm of the emotions that consume you and deplete you

Overpowered
By the thoughts on your mind
And the emotions in your heart

The feeling washes over you
Like living in a sea that won’t stop crashing
The surge is strong
Fortified by the moon and the sun

It’s those waves
Flooding over you
That are subtle reminders
Of the highs and the lows

The moon will rise
And the waves will slow
The tide will turn

Allowing you to float to the surface
Catching that first gasp of salty air

It will linger on your breath
For quite some time
But you’ll be safe and aware

Even when it feels like everything around you is crashing and crumbling 
Goodness is actually coming toward you

Because overwhelm is the feeling
Of everything you’ve been asking for
Everything you’ve been longing for
Everything that you desire
Coming to fruition

Overwhelm
It takes over
When your heart isn’t prepared
And your body is unaware

The uncontrollable confusion
The uncomfortable illusion

The false pretense that you’re incapable 
Of making decisions

What can you remind yourself
What do you believe
When overwhelm is taking over
And you forget to breathe 

Your body is safe
You’re in control
Stop fighting these battles on your own,
You truly were never alone

You have a cruise of people that so desperately want to be your life raft
This feeling of overwhelm,
It really won’t last

Take a deep breath in
And let it all go

This feeling of overwhelm
Just let it flow

Let your mind feel the thoughts
Let your heart feel the emotions

Giving yourself a moment of thanks
Offering yourself an immense amount of grace

Letting your future self
Whisper to you through the silence 
All the beauty and the magic
That’s occurring in the conscience

Overwhelm
It’s a subtle nudge
A moment of panic
A moment of fear
A moment of disconnect
When nothing seems clear

Overwhelm
It’s not always bad

Stop paddling and kicking
Stop swimming away
The overwhelm will slow
And everything good will stay

You can feel it in your body
You turn to fight or flight
But isn’t that a beautiful reminder
That everything will come when the timing is right

We cannot take everything in
Not all at once

Sometimes it’s just too much
To process and handle

Give yourself some grace
It’ll come at the right time
When your nervous system isn’t so fragile
And you’re ready to bask in your prime

Overwhelm
Overwhelm of gratitude
Overwhelm of joy
Overwhelm of the emotions that consume you and excite you

Overpowered
By the thoughts on your mind
And the emotions in your heart

Let yourself be present
Knowing that this overwhelm
Is magic at its start

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The other night I went to a local yoga event. I had been to this event before with a small group of friends. This year, Jonathan and I had planned to go with another couple that we are close with. As I talked about the event more in my community, more friends started reaching out to make plans to meet up. I was so excited yet so overwhelmed. So many friends from different walks of life, trying to balance it all in just a short amount of time. I wasn’t responsible for them in any sense yet wanted to optimize my time with each individual as much as I could. I felt honored and overwhelmed by it all.

You see, I’ve spent years longing for deeper connections. I love my partner and have quite a few close friends, but there have always been pieces of me that felt suppressed. I grew up believing that we are meant to have a life partner to fulfill every need that we have and as I’ve grown and evolved, I’ve learned that this isn’t entirely true. Different people will fulfill different desires in our lives. At the end of the day, we can come back to our partner, to ourselves, and to our home however, we still need external perspectives to spark thought and interest in us. It’s innate human nature to desire human connection with various personalities. I didn’t even realize this was what I craved for so long. I’ve spent quite a few years now working on my inner connection and though I have made tremendous strides in my growth, there have still been pieces that haven’t fit together.

I like to call myself an “introverted extrovert” as I have a big personality and loads of energy while also craving time at home and not necessarily being in intense social situations. Over the past year or so, I’ve been coming out of my shell more to initiate conversation and connection. I don’t really do resolutions for the New Year but I did know that this year would be a year of connecting beyond myself.

Overwhelm is the feeling of everything you’ve been longing for, coming to fruition.

With connection being my intention, I went into this yoga event feeling full of friendship and overwhelmed by the balance of it all. It hit me in the middle of my flow that though I was overwhelmed, it was only because everything that I’ve been cultivating and working towards was becoming my reality. How beautiful that is, that our minds and bodies give us the signals needed to keep us safe and keep us calm. This feeling of overwhelm was a subtle reminder that everything is a process and we simply cannot get everything we desire at one time. Our nervous system wouldn’t be able to handle it all at once. We would go into overdrive and turn into fight or flight.

So, though you may want to run and hide when overwhelm takes over, how can you turn inward? How can you step into gratitude for what’s occurring so you can remain open to receiving? Here are a few tips to help you get started when feeling overwhelmed…

How to Feel Grateful for the Internal to Accept the External:

• Take 5 deep breaths to allow you to refocus and recenter when you feel overwhelmed. This will help regulate your nervous system to allow you to rationalize what’s occurring around you to better digest it emotionally and physically.
• Think back to what you’ve been craving and think about how what’s occurring now is a limb of what you’ve been desiring. I was overwhelmed at the event from balancing different groups of friends and I leaned into what I’ve been working toward, which is greater connection. This can also occur when you are overwhelmed by loss. How could the loss bring you closer to something new?
• Create statements of gratitude when you feel overwhelmed by the goodness that is occurring. Simple statements will help your subconscious recognize that things are safe and okay.
• Voice your overwhelm to loved ones. So often, overwhelm brings us out of reality and can feel exacerbated when we sit in our heads. Sharing your concerns and emotions can help bring you back to reality to understand what’s truly going on in the external world.