8 simple techniques to cope with overwhelm

May marks Mental Health Awareness Month and as someone who consistently and frequently deals with anxiety and recently experienced a deep depressive episode that lasted months, I want to share some of the practices and techniques that help to ground me when I’m feeling overwhelmed AF with stress and anxiety.

1 / JOURNAL

For me, journaling is a therapeutic practice that serves to clarify the endless thoughts swirling in my chaotic monkey mind. As an empath who feels deeply, journaling provides an outlet to process and release emotions — and to make sense of what is going on in my interior world. Whenever I’m feeling especially anxious or stressed and I’m unsure what is triggering these states, I answer these questions on the page: What is causing anxiety? What is the source of my upset? What is causing excitement/anticipation?

2 / WRITE A LIST

Oftentimes, I feel overwhelmed by the seemingly infinite amount of things I need to do. Whether doctor appointments, job duties or business projects, the more mental space these tasks take up in my head, the worse I feel. I’ve found that writing everything down that’s on my mind and making a to-do list is helpful. But what’s even more effective is to go the extra step and schedule each item on my calendar or planner so I have a clear plan of action.

3 / EFT TAPPING

EFT is a form of counseling intervention that draws on various theories of alternative medicine including acupuncture, neuro-linguistic programming, energy medicine, and Thought Field Therapy. It sounds fancy but in practice, you simply tap on various points in your upper body as you speak to the thing that is bothering you. I discovered EFT last summer and it changed my life — it helped to unlock and release emotions that I’d been holding on to for years. I love tapping to Gala Darling’s YouTube videos.

4 / AROMATHERAPY

At the height of my depression, I used essential oils multiple times on a daily basis. In the morning I’d use peppermint to help me with the grogginess since I was dealing with insomnia. Then later in the day, I’d use the “head relief” blend when a stress headache was starting to creep in. If I was feeling crippling anxiety, the “breathe” blend was always very soothing and anchoring. Lastly, lavender always relaxes me at night time. This is how I use them: I put 3–5 drops in my palms, rub it and cup my hands over my face as I inhale deeply for 5 breaths. Then I rub the oil on my temples, neck and shoulders. I do this for all of them except lavender — I simply dab that the oil on my temples and my pillow.

5 / CBD OIL

CBD products are great for many ailments including anxiety relief. I’m a fan of CBD oil and used it consistently during the 5ish months I dealt with severe depression and anxiety but I’ve taken a break from it because the good quality, full-spectrum oil is expensive. I only ever tried tinctures but there are a myriad of CBD products that may work for you.

6 / BREATHWORK

Talk about a powerful practice to cope with anxiety and/or stress! I was introduced to breathwork by breathing alongside Wim Hof’s video but if you get the chance to join a workshop where a facilitator guides you through the breathing process for at least 30 minutes, prepare to feel like a new person! When anxious feelings arise, our breathing becomes irregular so breathwork does the trick because in a way, it resets our breathing patterns. Practicing pranayama — breath control in yoga — provides similar positive effects of breathwork, so happy breathing!

7 / HAVENING

Havening promotes self-soothing and self-nurturing during episodes of deep anxiety or stress. This type of self-therapy helped me a lot during mild anxiety attacks. Essentially, you cross your arms and hug yourself then rub your hands up and down your upper arms as you breathe intentionally and deeply. I usually did this for a few minutes until the level of overwhelm decreased to a manageable state.

8 / SENSES METHOD

Also called the 5–4–3–2–1 coping technique, this method focuses on using your 5 senses to help you ground in the present moment. When feeling groundless and shaky, pause and make time to notice 5 different things you can see with your eyes. Then you can focus on 4 things you can feel whether through touch or the sun/wind on your face. Next up, pay attention to 3 things you can hear then 2 things you can smell. Lastly, taste 1 thing. And boom, you’ve used your senses to come back to yourself!

I hope these techniques help you cope with anxiety and stress so that you can focus on living your life more presently and joyously.