4 Ways to Shift Out Of Stress

Recently I went through a period in my life where I felt the worst overwhelm. Not like the bragging “oh I’ve just been so busy” *hair flip* type of overwhelm. But like, painful, tearful, daily migraines, in the hospital, can’t eat or function like a human being type of overwhelm. When you think everyone else must have it together and you’re the only one who feels this way.

I was there… I just couldn’t shift out of the stress!

Now let’s define overwhelm. Most of us are busy. Too busy. Blame modern society and Joanna Gaines for making it look easy to have a career, happy marriage, raise children, and remain relatively sane (just kidding I friggin’ LOVE Chip & Jo).

But some of us cross over into “Mariah-Carey-entering-rehab-for-mental-exhaustion” type of overwhelm. The type that causes physical damage to your body, takes time to recover form, and requires extra care (and maybe doctors, and medication) to get through.

I’m not a doctor, but I’m on my own journey with anxiety and overwhelm, and I know how frustrating it can be to feel so weighed down from everything. So I want to share some insights from my own struggles so that you may find some hope and healing. And no…it’s not just you!

4 Ways to Shift Out Of Stress

SAfter moving from a house to an apartment, I learned that the less stuff you have, the less stuff you have to manage, and therefore worry about. This doesn’t mean you have to become an extreme minimalist (BTW go watch Minimalism on Netflix, it will change your life).

There are simple ways to clear out the clutter. You can see more on that in my recent post on this very topic. I’ve always found that a clutter free environment promotes a clutter free mind. Especially as an anxious person, I find myself cleaning as a way of dealing with anxiety (hey at least it’s productive).

In addition, I also simplified my wardrobe, which makes getting ready so much easier. When my husband and I moved into a smaller apartment we put 80% of out non essential belongings in storage, taking with us only the books we love, clothes we actually wear, and household items that we regularly use.

You know what’s interesting? I don’t miss anything. In fact I’ve already forgotten what I have in storage at the moment!

This can be hard because we think we have to do it all, but if you are really honest with yourself I’m sure there are things that you can either delegate to others (ask your hubby to empty the dishwasher each week), hire people to do (pay for a weekly cleaning service or meal delivery) or just not do all together (It’s OK to say no to some things that people ask of you).

*On a personal note, this was really powerful for me when I was coordinating my wedding plans, looking for a new job, moving out of my house, planning a honeymoon, blogging, teaching yoga, and coaching. YIKES I was trying to do so much, it’s no wonder I suffered from daily headaches. I stopped taking new coaching clients for a few months and just put a hold on all coaching (I stopped working with my own coach too). I also slowed down on producing new blog content. I usually like to post a new blog each week, but I slowed down, or just shared older posts that were really popular. The wedding, honeymoon, and move were all happening at the same time (literally all within a week of each other) so those had to be my focus. It was hard to let those other things go initially, but it was crucial for my own sanity, which I would prefer to keep, thankyouverymuch.*

This may not be a surprise, but I am a big fan of journaling through issues to find insights and healing. When we quiet our ego mind and write from the heart we can hear that voice of inner wisdom that lives deep within us. You can journal from two perspectives.

First you just gotta let it all out. Vent about how you are feeling, and all the madness that is going on around you. Then when you’ve gotten it all out, write from the place of your inner guidance.

This takes some time to get accustomed to, but I swear I get the best messages loud and clear. It might sound something like this: “Caroline, you know what you have to do, you just don’t want to see it. You have all the answers but you are ignoring them. Listen up, you have to slow down. You need to put down your phone more. You need to sit in stillness.”

Most of us already have the answers within us and inner guidance journaling is a great way to access that.

…what in the world does this mean? Well, when we’re in busy mode, that feeling like you just can’t stop, it can be really hard to relax, even if you want to. So I started putting more value on the time I spend that was not meant for doing anything productive.

We can get so addicted to checking things off the to do list, that we forget that getting our energy back can often occur in those moments when we are not doing anything with an outcome in mind.

This may look different for everyone. Check out a recent blog post I made on this vey topic for some ideas!

Do something that doesn’t produce an outcome, doesn’t check something off the to do list, isn’t something that NEEDED to get done, that nobody is counting on you to do. This is just for you. The key is FUN and/or relaxation. What would be fun right now? What would make you smile? Here are some things I like to do that are totally and blissfully purposeless.

So Remember…

Clear away clutter.
Take one thing off your plate by either delegating a job to someone else or just saying NO.
Journal on what’s bothering you, and ask your inner guidance to tell you what to do next.
Do things that bring you enjoyment with no results in mind.