Last week I had an epic meltdown. You know the ones you get when you are in total OVERWHELM MODE and you ball your eyes out, you get absolutely nothing done, then you beat yourself up even more for not getting anything done, then you cry again! Anybody had one of those lately?

You see, I totally know that my overwhelm issue is because I am a Multi-Passionate Yogi and I would not have it any other way. That means that I don’t just love Yoga- I love a lot of things, a lot of people and I love life. It also means that aside from the fact that I am a woman, a wife, a mom, a daughter, a sister, a yogi, a health coach, an entrepreneur AND have Superwoman Powers…

I have like a gazillion passions-things that I love to do, idea, things I want to create, knowledge that I want to share with the world and often times (ok, a lot of times) I take on way too much and then I am totally overwhelmed and then I have a melt down!!  Anybody relate????

Thank God, most of the time when I am in this state I can call my amazing Mom, who has the ability to help me put things in perspective (You can’t do it all, Sharon) but in the last year, I’ve also had the blessing of being able to call upon my Life Coach, Helen Macmillan, who helps to bring me back to a place of calm and reality, and who also reminded me to keep my focus on my goals (and says Yes, you can do it all, Sharon and this is how) and not get lost in the small stuff and fear based negative self talk.

After just a few minutes of talking to Helen, I was able to see clearly how I got myself into overwhelm in the first place and then made a plan for what to do about it. Today, I thought I would share my 5 key strategies for handling overwhelm when it next comes your way!

1: Scream and Shout and Let it All Out!

Yes, allow yourself to feel your emotions, cry if you need to, but whatever you do, don’t try to cover up your feelings, or worse yet, drown them in food, alcohol or any of your favorite addictions.  You have to feel in order to heal. So take a few moments to be in the state of overwhelm and truly embrace it!

2: Don’t go it alone!

Call someone! You may not have a Life Coach or mentor, or even be blessed to have your Mom in your life, but I know you have someone that you trust that you can share your feelings with.  Make sure that person is non-judgmental and has your best interests at heart and make sure to ask them if they have time to listen to you. Everyone needs some they can trust when life gets rough.  Who is your go-to person? Have you thanked them lately for always being there for you?

3: Get Moving!

My mentor Tony Robbins always talks about ways to change your emotional state!  He famously says that the word EMOTION has the word MOTION in it! Feeling overwhelmed, Stressed, Depressed? Move your body. Movement, particularly Yoga that combines movement with the power of breath helps us to change our mental/emotional state.  Every time I get on my Yoga mat, I come to the place of complete calm and acceptance of all that is in my life. So get moving. Do it every day.

4: Let Go

You have to learn to let go.  When you are in overwhelm, you have taken on more than you can handle, right?  You have to learn to let go. What helps me most is to write down all the things that I am doing, and note the ones that are really things you think you “should do” and don’t “have to” do right now, and put them at the bottom of the list or simply, Let them Go. It does not mean you can’t get back to them. Prioritise your life, and try to change the things you can and accept the ones you can’t.

5: Practice Self Care

Stop beating up on yourself; in fact it is in times like these when we really have to love ourselves even more. Take some time out to simply stop, asses the situation and ask yourself how could it be different for you right now. Take a walk, soak in an Epsom salts bath, make a delicious cup of Turmeric Ginger Tea and take 5. The pause always helps to calm and ground you.

So my friends, I would LOVE to hear how you deal with stress and overwhelm in the comments below.

Remember, Live Fit, Live Life and Live LOVE!