3 Minute Reset Strategies to Calm Your Overwhelmed Mind

One day a while back at a job I used to have I overwhelmed the shiz out of myself right into an anxiety attack. I was trying to do too many things at once. I had papers scattered all over my desk, chair, and floor. My phone was going off and people kept coming in needing me for something.

I could feel the tightness in my chest and my heart beating way too fast. I felt like I couldn't take full breaths. My brain was scattered and I couldn't seem to settle my eyes on anything for very long before they were bouncing to something else. I was almost in tears.

The sucky thing was I'd done it to myself, and I had ignored the warning signs until the overwhelm was too strong.

So today I'm going to share with you some quick reset strategies when you've reached this level of chaos, then at the end I'll give you some tips on how to prevent it from happening in the first place.

When you're in the weeds of overwhelm you need to take a step back, get out of your head, and get back into your body.

Yes, you have time for this. Everything else can wait. It will truly only take a few minutes and it'll help you be able to tackle whatever you're working on much better. Cuz be for real. While we may delay it for awhile, we don't tell our bladders we ain't got time to pee. We go pee whether on purpose or on accident. One is messy and one isn't. The same is true for overwhelm- you handle it now or you spend time recovering from an anxiety attack.

Here are some 3 minute reset strategies to calm your overwhelmed mind:

4,7,8 Breathing- Close your eyes and take a deep breath into your belly for the count of 4, hold for the count of 7, exhale for the count of 8. This way of breathing helps to activate your vagus nerve which helps calm your nervous system. Do this for 4 breaths or more depending on how it feels for you. If it makes you feel a little lightheaded then you can shorten the seconds or try something else. Learn more about this and other breathing techniques here.

Flailing encouraged!

Get up and move- One of the best ways you can get back into your body is to physically do something. You could do some squats or pushups off your desk. Take a quick walk outside or around the office. Find a favorite song and just dance it out for a few minutes. And it doesn't have to be pretty. You can just flail. I've done this and it does help.

Mini moments of mindfulness- Notice things going on around you. Appreciate the view of the trees outside your window. Watch birds (this is weirdly cathartic I've found). Feel your feet on the floor and wiggle your toes. Notice the air coming out of your nose. Try to differentiate the instruments in a song that's playing. I applied this when I was having a weird episode of anxiety a year or so ago. I was feeling sort of in and out of my body for seemingly no real reason. So I sat in my car and felt my seat beneath me. My shoes on my feet. How the steering wheel felt in my hands (no I wasn't driving). I touched different things and noticed how the textures felt. It did a lot to bring me back into my body.

Use your senses to notice things around you- This is similar to the last one, but it's a little more intentional. Notice 3 things you can see, 3 things you can hear, 3 things you can smell, 3 things you can feel, and 3 things you can taste. Some of these may be easier than others. This will help you to get back into your body and let go of all of the crazy for a few minutes. You're breaking up the thought stream of overwhelm by choosing to notice other things. This small action can be more impactful than you'd realize.

What you do NOT want to do is try to force yourself to power through whatever is going on. That's just asking for a dumpster fire.

For the love of all the puppies in the world stop doing this to yourself!

Let yourself take a step back to reset and regroup. It truly doesn't take a long time to do so, and you'll likely be surprised how much of an impact a few minutes can have on returning your sanity.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Once time has passed and you've fully recovered from the overwhelm make sure to reflect on what happened and what you can do to avoid it happening again.

Which leads us to ways to reduce overwhelm before it starts:

• Ask for help and stop assuming people just know that you need it

• Delegate tasks that don't actually have to be done by you

• Stop overfilling your plate- just because you have more space on your plate does NOT mean you have to fill it

• Take care of yourself- this one is SO IMPORTANT- because if your self-care is in the shitter then your capacity to handle things will also be in the shitter. Don't do that to yourself.

I help women with this inside my SNAP Method program. The whole goal of the program is to help YOU reduce anxiety and stress (cough cough overwhelm) through strategies that are simple and readily available to you that involve Sleep, Nutrition, Activity, and Personal self-care. To learn more about this and see if it's a fit for you email "SNAP Method" to janna@jl-wellness.com and I'll send you more info!