Overwhelm is something we all struggle with on one level or another. Our modern lives are so much busier than that of previous generations. We seem to have to juggle more and more things, keeping the plates spinning. If this is your constant challenge then this video will show you how to use Qigong for overwhelm and how to minimise this stress inducing state.
Please don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button so you don’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. These videos will help you to benefit your health and prevent illness from arising in the first place. Also please give this video a “Like” if you found it informative.
What Is Overwhelm?
Overwhelm is a FEAR of not being able to get everything done. The result is that you feel stressed, paralysed and like you have no time. You may feel stuck, not sure which thing to tackle next. A lack of direction or feeling you’re not moving forwards is common. You may feel you are not achieving everything you want to achieve. There are many other ripple effects resulting from overwhelm. Suffice to say, it’s not the best feeling!
3 Methods To Tackle Overwhelm
1. Get Present
Overwhelm often creates anxiety because of the fear of not being able to get future tasks done. Bring yourself into the present as much as possible. Do this by using Qigong for overwhelm, or a daily meditation practice. A regular routine will make a huge difference to how you feel about overwhelm.
Doing activities requiring absolute focus in the present moment are also excellent for tackling overwhelm. I go surfing which keeps me in the present as otherwise I’m in danger of falling off my board at a critical moment! Other physical activities such as mountain biking or anything that requires focus in the present moment help to diminish feelings of overwhelm. For those of you less physically active, creative activities such as painting, drawing, pottery enable you to be in the present more often. Adopt more activities like these and make them a habit. Then your feelings of overwhelm will diminish.
2. Start saying “No”
Develop the practice of not committing to people immediately. You don’t have to say yes to everything! Instead tell people that you will get back to them when you’ve had chance to check your plans or that you will check your diary and let them know. This will help you to avoid taking on too much. Also be sure to delegate as much as possible at work and at home. This will take the pressure of overwhelm off you. We are all responsible for creating our own reality. We have a choice as to whether to take on too much. If you want to tackle overwhelm something will have to change and that starts with making different choices.
3. List 3 Things To Achieve The Next Day
Do this the night before. Don’t give yourself too much to do. A huge list can be daunting when you are feeling overwhelmed. We can often feel paralysed, stuck and as though we are not moving forward. Over time this leads to a lack of confidence that we’ll ever be able to progress. You may feel like life is passing you by and you are missing out. Setting yourself the goal of only 3 things to do the next day breaks through the stagnation. It gives you a sense of progress and achievement. This leads to increased confidence that you can tackle overwhelm and you will start to feel better.
What Do I Do Next?
For more information on how to use Qigong for overwhelm head over to a previous video on my website called “Qigong for Motivation“. Here I share with you how to deal with the paralysis and stagnation that can accompany overwhelm.
To learn even more Qigong for overwhelm mimimisation go to the Space To Relax homepage. There you can sign up to receive three free video lessons which will be delivered to you by e-mail over the course of a few days. Also, for a free audio meditation “Calm Your Busy Mind In 8 Minutes” scroll to the bottom of the Space To Relax homepage.
Please don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. Then you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. Also please give this video a “Like” if you learned more about Qigong for mind chatter and how to control it.
If you are on Facebook head over to my free group, “Space To Relax Free Group” and leave any comments or questions for me there. I’ll be happy to answer them. Also, by joining this group, you will receive regular posts of Qigong articles and videos with really useful tips about how to use Qigong to improve your state of health.
If you’re anything like me you’ll go thorough times when you just can’t switch off the endless mind chatter and over thinking. If this sounds like you then you’ll find this video invaluable. Below I share with you my 3 tips on how to use Qigong for mind chatter control!
Janice Tucker is a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Medical Qigong. She is also the founder of the Space To Relax online programme of Qigong video lessons.
Please don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button above. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. These videos will help you to benefit your health and prevent illness from arising in the first place. Also please give this video a “Like” if you found it informative.
It can be exhausting when you just can’t seem to turn your brain off. What can often happen is that all of this chaotic brain activity ends up stagnating us. We end up feeling paralysed by the overwhelm in our brains. We might then crucify ourselves, beating ourselves up for procrastinating and not moving forward. Does any of this sound familiar?
3 Methods To Minimise Mind Chatter
1. Breathe into your lower belly. Inhaling into the lower abdomen (Dan Tian) area calms your mind. It also brings the chaotic Qi (energy) in your head down into your belly so that you feel more grounded. This will result in your mind being clearer and more focused. When you are clear and focused in your mind you become more efficient at carrying out everyday activities. This has the knock on effect of saving you time so that you get more done resulting in less stress!
2. Give yourself something else to think about. If you are distracted by busy thoughts and can’t concentrate on your breathing the giving yourself something else to think about can help. As you breathe in say the mantra to yourself, “I’m breathing in”. As you breathe out say to yourself, “Relax”. It is very difficult for the mind chatter to creep in if you are saying these words to yourself. This method is a perfect example of how to use Qigong for mind chatter and its control.
3. Dump the mind chatter. Write down any worries, things to do, emotions or distractions on a piece of paper. Once they are out of your brain and on paper you will notice a huge difference. This is because you are clearing brain space and no longer have to hold busy thoughts in your mind as they are safely on paper.
What Do I Do Next?
For more information on how to use Qigong for mind chatter head over to a previous video on my website called “How to Calm Down With Qigong” where you can learn a even more detail about the breathing methods I describe here.
To learn even more about how you can use Qigong for mind chatter minimisation go to the Space To Relax homepage. There you can sign up to receive three free video lessons which will be delivered to you by e-mail over the course of a few days. Also, for a free audio meditation “Calm Your Busy Mind In 8 Minutes” scroll to the bottom of the Space To Relax homepage.
Please don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. Then you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. Also please give this video a “Like” if you learned more about Qigong for mind chatter and how to control it.
If you are on Facebook head over to my free group, “Space To Relax Free Group” and leave any comments or questions for me there. I’ll be happy to answer them. Also, by joining this group, you will receive regular posts of Qigong articles and videos with really useful tips about how to use Qigong to improve your state of health.
Please don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. These videos will help you to benefit your health and prevent illness from arising in the first place. Also please give this video a “Like” if you found it informative.
A couple of months ago I received and e-mail from Sally Perkins who is a content manager for a senior advice site called Senior Advisor. She had watched a previous video on my Space To Relax website called “Qigong for Stress Relief” and was interested in how Qigong could help the elderly. She very helpfully suggested that I cover the use of Qigong for seniors and how it can help them with stress relief.
Sally kindly provided me with an introduction to this post, highlighting the importance of regulating our stress levels as we age. The introduction from Sally is below followed by my top 3 tips using Qigong for seniors in order to minimise stress levels.
Sally’s Introduction – Don’t Let Stress Get You Down!
Let’s face it: we are all busy bees. As we get older, it is important to our overall mental and physical health to keep our stress levels in check, or else there are many negative health issues that will arise. There are both short and long term effects of leading a high-stress lifestyle, including:
1. Weakening the immune system
2. Insomnia and sleep issues
3. High blood pressure and high blood sugar levels
4. Skin rashes and acne breakouts
5. Digestive issues
6. Headaches and trouble focusing
By trying to avoid things that bring you stress, whether it be managing your time better at work or trying to steer clear of situations or people who might add to your frustrations, you can better maintain a healthy lifestyle. This guide will show you how to focus on ways to relax and make a true difference in your energy levels which will help you to avoid the negative impact of stress that is increasingly damaging to your health as you age.
Qigong For Seniors – My Top 3 Tips
As Sally rightly points out, if you can avoid stressful situations in the first place that will go a long way towards maintaining a healthy, balanced life. However that is not always possible due to lifestyle, family and work situations. If you do find yourself becoming stressed here are my top three Qigong for seniors tips which you can use to help yourself. This advice applies to senior members of our population and also carers of the elderly as they can also suffer from stress.
1. Breathe Into Your Belly. This Qigong exercise will instantly ground and calm your mind. You can learn how to do this by signing up for my free 3 part video series which I mention at the end of this post. Belly or abdominal breathing is Lesson 1.
2. Relax as soon as possible after experiencing stress to allow your body and mind to recover. After doing this, if you still feel stressed, refer to Lesson 3 in the free video series showing you how to get rid of “waste Qi” or energy/feelings from your body. Also take a look at one of my previous videos on the Space To Relax website called “Qigong for Cleansing“.
3. Develop a Daily Qigong Routine. A daily routine of Qigong or meditation will allow you to better cope with future stressful situations. Bit by bit you will notice that you become better at taking stressful events in your stride.
To learn the Qigong methods I mention above go to the Space To Relax homepage. There you can sign up to receive three free video lessons. They will be delivered to you by e-mail over the course of a few days so check your spam/promotions folder. Also, for a free audio meditation “Calm Your Busy Mind In 8 Minutes” scroll to the bottom of the Space To Relax homepage.
Please don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. Then you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. Also please give this video a “Like” if you learned much more about how stress affects us as we get older and what to do about it.
If you are on Facebook head over to my free group, “Space To Relax Free Group” . You can leave any comments or questions for me there. I’ll be happy to answer them. Also, by joining this group, you will receive regular posts of Qigong articles and videos with really useful Qigong tips.
If you’d like some tips on how to make changes to your home in order to continue to move around with confidence then read this guide on “Aging in Place“.
This week’s video has a topical theme coming up to Christmas and the holiday season. Of course many people love Christmas but I also meet those who don’t. The reason for this is that they get together with the family and very quickly start to feel a sensation of claustrophobia and stress. People start niggling at each other which makes them want to get out of the situation. They need a bit of space. Myself and my best friend describe this feeling as a feeling of being “peopled out”. When you are “peopled out” you feel like you have had too many people around you for too long! In the video above I talk to you about how to use Qigong for stress relief so that you can cope with the “peopled out” feeling and attain peace of mind over the holiday period.
Please don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button above so you don’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. These videos will help you to benefit your health and prevent illness from arising in the first place. Also please give this video a “Like” if you found it informative.
The “Peopled Out” Feeling
When I asked my best friend to describe the “peopled out” feeling she sent me an e-mail with the following superb description of what it is like for her. Is there any trigger, feeling or thought you can identify below?
Triggers
1. Multiple people are demanding things of me simultaneously, without consideration for my priorities.
2. People trying to help me do something that I am perfectly capable of doing.
3. Feeling that I need to engage in small-talk conversations.
4. I have not been able to go outside / have not seen the sky (at least once a day).
5. I am physically uncomfortable (e.g. sore back, stomach ache).
Feelings
• Irritated
• Anxious
• Snappy
• Crowded
• As though I am a pressure cooker on simmer, aware that I need to release the pressure valve or an explosion may occur!!
• Mortified if I do ‘explode’
• Self conscious (exposed), everyone can see how inept and unpleasant I am.
Thoughts
• Rapid re-planning of the “to do list” that I carry around in my head in order to “fit in” others’ priorities, so lots of playing out of scenarios in my head.
• Lots of “I have to…” thoughts (when I really don’t have to!)
• Resentful thoughts about why these people have to be in my space when all I want to do is…..
• Guilty thoughts about having resentful thoughts
• Resentful thought about how “these people” make me feel guilty
• I don’t fit in, I’m not normal
• I’m odd
From the above description you can see how these feelings and thoughts can trigger each other. Before you know it you end up in a vicious spiral connected to having people around you the whole time when you are not comfortable.
Top Tactics To Deal With Feeling “Peopled Out”
1. Get up early (before everyone else) so as to have some alone time, outside – do some tai chi or Qigong (avoid an audience!). Stay up later than everyone else
2. Make excuse that dog needs a walk or I just have to run over to the neighbour to return something.
3. Reiterate my preferences about doing my own ‘chores’ (as they are actually fun for me). Politely reject offers of ‘help’ explaining that this is what I do for relaxation and please don’t take it away from me.
4. Avoid large social gatherings. Certainly avoid hosting large social gatherings.
5. Qigong for Stress Relief: Abdominal Breathing (Lesson 1 in the free Space To Relax Video Series).
6. Qigong for Stress Relief: Discharge Waste Qi With Vibration (Lesson 3 in the free Space To Relax Video Series).
What Do I Do Next?
If you would like to learn more about how to use Qigong for stress relief and the feeling of being “peopled out” you can sign up on the Space To Relax homepage to receive three free video lessons which will be delivered to you by e-mail. Also for a free audio meditation “Calm Your Busy Mind In 8 Minutes” scroll to the bottom of the Space To Relax homepage to sign up for that.
Please don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button above so you don’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. Also please give this video a “Like” if you learned much more about utilising Qigong for stress relief.
You can head over to my free group on Facebook, “Space To Relax Free Group” and leave any questions for me there. I’ll be happy to answer them. Also, by joining this group, you will receive regular postings of Qigong articles and videos with really useful tips about how to use Qigong to improve your state of health.
Please leave a comment in the comments box next to this video if you now have a clearer direction in which to go to use Qigong for stress and too many people around you!. I’d love to hear your tips as to what you do to minimise the “peopled out” feeling and how you use Qigong for stress relief. If we all share our ideas then we can all help each other to find peace of mind and enjoy the holiday season which is what it’s all about! 🙂
Stress is a word that’s so bandied about the place. It’s such a common word because it’s such a common problem. Watch this short video to learn some shocking statistics from a study on stress and how to relieve stress with Qigong.
Something I came across when I was looking into stress was a very interesting study by the British Acupuncture Council. This study was carried out in 2015. They interviewed five thousand people and found that:
• half admitted that they had stress and that they resorted to junk food and alcohol in order to make themselves feel better
• a third admitted to comfort eating
• a quarter of them admitted to drinking alcohol
• one in five said that they had put on weight as a result of stress
• 70% said that they were aware that prolonged stress affected their lives. Half of these said that they just put up with it and two-thirds of stated that stress was an unavoidable part of their life
So stress is obviously a real problem. The problem with living in our modern society is that people find that they get very stressed. They then resort to unhealthy actions (drinking or eating unhealthily) in order to deal with that stress, or to avoid it. Consequently, we can become very unhealthy as a result.
A much better way to deal with stress would be to do something more preventive. I teach you how to relieve stress with Qigong methods to “head it off at the pass”. These simple methods can be easily integrated on a daily basis into your life. Qigong helps to reduce stress levels, relaxing both the physical body, the mind and the emotions.
If you’d like to learn more about how to relieve stress with Qigong and how to approach it in a much healthier way (other than eating junk food or drinking alcohol and putting on weight) then please head over to the Space to Relax homepage where you can download a free meditation and also a free three-part Qigong video course. These methods are very straightforward to follow and they take around five minutes to practice. I deliberately made them very easy to integrate into your day because often when we’re stressed it is because we’re really busy and feeling overwhelmed. I don’t want to give you more things to do!
If you’ve got any ideas or anything that you do to relieve your stress then please share them by leaving a comment below this video or leave a comment in the Space To Relax Free Group which you can join on Facebook. I’d love to hear what you all do to relieve stress because when we share with each other than we all learn something.
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