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How to Break Free from Overwhelm and Reclaim Your Life

overwhelm reclaim your life Dec 15, 2024
blog How to Break Free from Overwhelm and Reclaim Your Life

In the years before I embraced the Gentle Rebellion, I believed that overwhelm was simply the price I had to pay to have a full, successful life. I wanted a lot and I thought there had to be a cost for that. So, I made it my mission to "solve the problem" by getting better at everything.

I threw myself into improving every aspect of my life: managing my time, being more productive, and staying relentlessly focused. I read all the books on sleep hygiene and crafted a serious routine to hack my sleep. It worked for a while—until it didn’t.

Then I turned my focus to exercise and diet, attempting to perfect them as if they were the missing pieces of the puzzle. I incorporated meditation, mindfulness, and yoga. I had a power tune to psych me up during my commute and worked hard to compartmentalise my life by never bringing work home.

But, of course, work was coming home with me—it was stuck in my body, going round and round in my mind. My well-meaning efforts led to an over-scheduled life, burdened by so many rules that I felt like there was no space for me.

Everything I tried worked for a while, but nothing solved the underlying problem. I was unknowingly adding to my overwhelm and creating my own pressure.

It took time - along with a lot of reflection, self-acceptance, and forgiveness - but eventually, I learned that there was nothing wrong with me or my life. The real issue wasn’t me; it was overwhelm.

Overwhelm had been blocking me from seeing the easier, more joyful ways to move through my day. And treating myself as a problem to be solved was only adding to my (very long) Get Better At List and feelings of inadequacy. Once I recognised this, everything began to change.

Now, I prioritise dealing with the overwhelm first. How? By moving my attention out of my head and into my body, feeling my feet on the ground, allowing my belly to soften if it wishes to and noticing, completely neutrally, how I feel. Yes, if you use The One Minute Marke, you’ll notice these are the same words, words that came to me during my year of recovery and words that stay with me - because they work for me.

This is the heart of the Gentle Rebellion: understanding that there is nothing wrong with you or your situation. Overwhelm is a sneaky trickster, hiding your path to ease and joy.

When you address the overwhelm, the fog begins to clear, and the simpler, more fulfilling way to move through your day reveals itself.

✨ Want to go deeper? Here’s this week’s offerings to support your Gentle rebellion:


🎧 Podcast: How to Break Free from Overwhelm and Reclaim Your Life

📺 Video: How to Break Free from Overwhelm and Reclaim Your Life

📅 Join Me for a Free Live Workshop: Start 2025 with clarity and ease on 5th January

With love and gently rebellious energy


Heidi

 

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