4 Ways to Process When You’re No Longer Overwhelmed

Overwhelm. Confusion. Fury. Tension. Tension.

When the world around you feels chaotic, you can go through all of these emotions in the thirty seconds it takes to check your phone, read a few headlines, and feel the return of that familiar pit in your stomach—the one that always asks, in desperate times, “What do I do with all this?”

Each of us experiences this kind of emotional whiplash at some point. Like you feel everything at once or maybe you’re just numb. There is no right or wrong way to feel.

In this way, your inner world tends to demand more of you during stressful times. While that may feel like, “I need to deal with my feelings on top of literally everything else?”, interpreting our personal tumult as a signal to pause might be the most reliable tool.

Breaks are important in yoga. Kumbaka is the word for the pause between your inhale and exhale, and it is a moment believed to hold great potential. Because pausing—the negative self-talk, the doom scrolling, even the episode on Netflix—helps us get back to what’s actually happening inside us. It won’t change your situation, but it will change the way you deal with it.

4 things to do when you’re no longer overwhelmed

These practices encourage that same spirit of pausing and breathing. Even if those are the only things you can do, they are not small things.

1. Take a deep breath

Your new strategy for grounding yourself while driving, working, in the middle of a conversation or literally in any situation? Breathe deeply and slowly, which helps calm your nervous system. As you will experience if you practice any of the techniques below.

2. Easily get moving

These practices, which keep you low to the ground and grounded, don’t require you to feel motivated or energized. They are low intensity, making you happy that you checked in with yourself.

3. Move your body

Sometimes one of the most effective ways to deal with overwhelm is to let your body express it outwardly – ​​as you can with the Downward Dogs, Warriors and Chaturangas in the exercises below.

4. Break

There are ways you can take a step back from stress (even just a little) during the day. And it doesn’t have to be meditation. Find a way that works for you, even if it’s just for a few seconds.