Has being stressed and overwhelmed become a habit for you? Is it situational? Meaning – are you dealing with a current situation that is causing anxiety and stress to overwhelm you? It’s important to take a few minutes to make an assessment and ask an important question – is your nervous system programmed to constantly feel worry, stress, and frustration or are you consciously managing a crisis.

There are ways you can take control of your nervous system.

Therapy for Anxiety Thrive Counseling Old Bridge Reduce Overwhelm and Stress Shift Energy

Shift your Energy

You do have the power to control the energy in your body with very simple activities. You can develop a practice where you pay attention to how things make you feel and use strategies like this to help.

  1. Reach to something outside of your self – the sun, a cool breeze, a windy bright day. Take a 5 minute walk outside and focus on what you see, hear, and smell in nature.
  2. Exercise – a 5 minute fast-paced walk can shift the focus of your thoughts. It releases adrenaline and cortisol and allows your body a positive way to release stress.
  3. Something soothing – petting your dog or cat IS therapeutic. Research has shown that simply petting a dog lowers the stress hormone cortisol , while the social interaction between people and their dogs actually increases levels of the feel-good hormone oxytocin (the same hormone that bonds mothers to babies).
  4. Drinking water – water has a natural calming property to it. Take a break and drink some cool water and just focus on the feelings in your body and pay attention to the shift.
Anxiety counseling Thrive Counseling in Old Bridge

Change your Structure and Set Boundaries

What is causing the stress and overwhelm? What problems can you solve? How can you shift the structure of your life? If you are used to always feeling anxious and stressed then you may not even realize that small changes can have a big impact on your life.

  1. Ask for help. What is it that you need help solving, fixing, changing?
  2. Say NO to new things – don’t voluntarily add anything to your life if you already have a difficult time managing what is going on now.
  3. Lean into your biggest stressor – what is it? Can you change it or solve it? Do you need to let go of expectations or outcomes?
  4. Let go of anything outside of your control. If you take an assessment of everything that is causing distress and anxiety, and you find things that you want changed, that are outside of your control… can you let them go?
Learn to regulate your emotions at Thrive Counseling in Old Bridge

Focus on Emotional Regulation

Living with anxiety and overwhelm doesn’t have to be your normal. You may have been wired from a young age, where your nervous system is always on edge, or you could have experienced prolonged events of stress and distress that created this programming. Either way, feeling in control of your body is possible. Here are some ways you can try to do it on your own.

  1. Deep breathing. This is an effective way to engage your parasympathetic nervous system to feel more calm. Take a look at this article for an exercise that is easy to use.
  2. Focus on how you communicate with others. Are you critical, judgemental, forceful, demeaning, harsh or aggressive? If so, take ownership over your actions. These ways of communicating keep you in a state of stress and frustration, and damage relationships. Try and only allow yourself to speak with kindness and compassion. Paying attention and learning how to calm the way you talk can make you feel better. Also pay attention to what you tell yourself. “It’s ok, I can do this. I trust that I can get through this situation.” These type of statements can shift how you feel.
  3. Listen to your favorite music. Have a go-to playlist for different ways you want to feel. Maybe a ‘feel happy’ playlist, a ‘feel calm’ playlist, and even a ‘feel angry’ playlist. This allows you to purposely change your feelings, leading to a practice of self-control.
  4. Self-care. Are you doing what you need to feel good? Eating for your body needs, exercise, sleep, connection with others, nature, hobbies, etc. Are you in control of your life?
When is it time to seek the help of a therapist

When is it time to seek Therapy?

When all of these things aren’t enough. When you realize that you don’t have control over how you feel. When you notice that your relationships aren’t working and you don’t like the way you are treating the ones you love. Or when THEY tell you that you are angry and hurtful.

It’s time to reach out to a therapist when you don’t have the life you desire. When you feel lonely, lost, and want life to be different. When you realize that you just keep doing the same thing over and over, and making the same bad choices over and over.

It’s time to reach out when you want the ghosts of your past to be released. When you want to heal your deep wounds and create healthier relationships.

It’s time to reach out when you want your kids to have a different experience growing up than you did. When you want them to feel at peace and you don’t want your anxiety and stress to be absorbed by them.

It’s time to reach out when you want to grow emotionally. When you realize that feelings drive everything you do and you are not in the drivers seat. When you want more out of life and you want to actualize the dreams and goals you have been putting on paper.

When you do decide to reach out, we are here. You can call us at 732.266.8994, email us at info@thrivecounselingnj.com, or go to our contact page to set up a 20 minute free consultation to talk about services.