Self-Care Strategies for When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed
At one point or another, everyone goes through a tough time. Whether it’s financial woes, a messy break up, a tragic loss, or just the pressure of daily responsibilities, its hard to stay grounded and feel balanced. And when stress, anxiety and worry start to take over, life can become overwhelming and you may start to feel burned out. In these times, you may drift towards emotional eating for comfort. But there's a way to manage this!
How? Self-Care.
Below are 4 simple yet effective self-care strategies to try when you're feeling overwhelmed. If you start to practice these strategies when you're feeling run down, they can help you get back to feeling refreshed and rejuvenated!
1. Sleep
If you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, there’s a good chance your sleep has suffered. This may sound obvious, but if you’re exhausted, get more sleep! It is so important for your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. Studies have shown that poor or inadequate sleep can cause irritability and stress, and can have a significant affect on mood. (I think we’ve all been there!)
If you struggle with emotional eating or are feeling particularly emotional over something, ask yourself how you’re feeling physically. Are you tired? Try taking a short nap or going to bed early and see how you feel after. Chances are, you’ll feel much more positive and rejuvenated after a good night’s sleep!
If you have difficulties falling asleep or getting enough sleep, ensure that you are following proper “sleep hygiene”. To learn more about sleep hygiene, click here.
2. Breathing Meditation
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, the easiest thing to do is a breathing meditation. The purpose of this is to calm your mind and experience a sense of inner peace and relaxation. Often, stress and tension are actually racing thoughts in our minds. When we practice breathing meditation, instead of getting distracted by our thoughts, we focus on our breath. Through this practice, our minds relax and we will feel refreshed.
Meditation can also help you be more in touch with your inner self. And when you’re more in tune with your thoughts and your feelings, you can address your needs better! This makes self-care a lot easier – which is essential for feeling grounded and balanced.
3. Do Something Fun
Sometimes we need to get out of our heads and just enjoy ourselves. Not only does constant worry and stress trigger emotional eating, but its just exhausting! Stress is just something we need to accept is a part of our lives, but we can manage that stress a lot better when we ensure that there is some pleasure in our lives too. While emotional eaters may turn to food for their pleasure, there are healthier ways to incorporate pleasure into your life. Schedule in fun activities weekly, or daily, if you can. Whatever brings you joy and rejuvenates you – make time for it. If you do this routinely, it will help you feel more balanced and as a result, better able to handle the stress of your daily life.
If you can’t think of many things that bring you pleasure in your life, start to explore some new hobbies and activities to try. It could be a new craft like painting, photography, or writing. It could be as simple as playing with your kids or pet. Whatever it is, make sure it puts a smile on your face and brings you joy.
4. "Unplug"
We live in a society nowadays where our cellphones, iPads, and laptops are on us at all times. While technology can be great for keeping us connected, the constant emails, texts, calls, videos and social media can be over-stimulating - especially if you’re feeling burned out. “Unplugging” so to speak, simply means taking a break from the screen-time and re-focusing on you.
Consider spending time in the evenings or on the weekend where you disconnect. Turn off your phone and be screen-free for a couple hours. Go for a walk, take a nap, stretch, do whatever you want. It could be time you spend alone or time you spend with loved ones – whatever makes you feel refreshed!
Remember that while technology can keep you connected to others, building strong and meaningful relationships happen in real-life – not in front of a screen! So, take time for yourself and also prioritize spending time with others – to deepen your relationships which ultimately makes you feel connected, comforted, and fulfilled in your life.
Self-Care is Key to Manage Emotional Eating
If you’re looking for a healthier relationship with yourself, with food, your body and weight, you need to start with feeling your best – and you can’t feel your best if you’re constantly overwhelmed and feeling run down. Start to check in with yourself and recognize if you’re feeling out of balance and stressed. And if you can routinely do this and practice self-care when you need it, you can manage emotional eating and work towards a healthier, well-balanced you!
