When the Waves Threaten to Take You Down, Are YOU the Sovereign Captain of Your Ship?

In our STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT☕️🍵, we’re doing a deep-dive into our Book Club selection! This week is Chapter 4 of REWIRED: The Breakthrough Tapping Method to Stop Overthinking, Calm Your Body, and Finally Feel at Ease by Nick, Jessica, & Alex Ortner.

In Chapter 4, When It Feels Like Too Much: Finding Ground In Overwhelm, the Ortners describe the modern predicament that all of us humans face now that we are far removed from our hunter/gatherer ancestors:

Rather than basking in a state of technological bliss, many of us are consumed by a never-ending sense of stress because of the situational, social, and emotional vulnerabilities that our brains misperceive as true “threats” to our survival.

On a scale of 1 to 10 many of us are operating at a 9 Level of Overwhelm when we don’t have to be.

The 5 Styles of Overwhelm

The Ortners describe the 5 Overwhelm Styles we can adopt:

1. The Human Alarm System — Everything’s “urgent.” A crisis. A fire that only you can put out. Your nervous system can’t tell what’s an actual emergency or not.

2. The Plate Spinner — You’re spinning way too many plates at once, afraid for the crash that feels inevitable. Exhausted, but you still won’t stop.

3. The Yes Machine — You say “yes,” when you mean “no.” Over-loaded, but “sure, yes I can, happy to,” comes out of your mouth anyway.

4. The Future Borrower — You’re focused not only on today, but on tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that. Stuck in a mental loop that’s always focused on and responding to a future that hasn’t even happened yet.

5. The Absorber — Like a sponge, you soak up everyone’s stress, not just your own. You can’t tell where you end and someone else begins anymore. But, no matter, just keep feeling what’s not yours to begin with.

⭐️ Which one are you?

I see myself in # 1 and #2. A long time ago, I was stuck in #1 and now I’m closer to #2. This might sound odd, but somehow I feel like this is an improvement! 🤣

But, I really do!

#1 felt worse in my body. Like the fire was always ablaze.

#2 feels frantic and overwhelming, but I know how to aim the hose and trust in my ability to put out the fire, one room at a time.

Either way, I’d much rather live my life as far away as possible from all 5 Types, and I’m hopeful EFT can help me get there.

The Sovereignty Principle

We all have a “Choice Point” when we feel overwhelmed: to recognize that we have the choice to stop pushing through with unnecessary strain and struggle.

I love how this puts us back in our rightful place: A Position of Power, where we can “stop managing the world,” by “cultivating internal safety [inside our body, mind, and emotions,] regardless of external circumstances” (emphasis added).

How can we Stop Managing the World & Regulate Our Nervous System Instead?

As soon as we (1) Recognize we’re overwhelmed, we can (2) Interrupt the pattern our Sympathetic Nervous System is used to, by giving ourselves five minutes of EFT tapping to create space within and build the resilience to ask ourselves one simple question: What is the next right step that we can take?

When we do this, time after time, we (3) Rewire our nervous system to relax into the Parasympathetic, improving our mindset and body in the long-term.

So much so that our goal is not to get rid of all of the external circumstances surrounding us.

Instead, the goal is to widen our physiological, mental, and emotional bandwidth to handle our lives in a calm, centered, and focused way.

My MINDFUL Reflection:

I love this framework. It allows us to pull ourselves out of the turbulent waters — the external circumstances of our lives — and trains us to ride the waves instead.

And when it gets turbulent, our cortisol’s spiking, and we’re about to capsize, we can put on some goggles so the highest waves don’t bother us, even when they’re splashing in our face.

We can do something right away to help ourselves. To be the Captain of our own ship.

As soon as we see an impending storm, forming far off in the distance, we know what to do. Before things start to get really hot and humid, EFT tapping helps us to de-fog our foggy thinking and clean off our lenses, each & every time stress and overwhelm starts to fog them up.

So we can see clearly.

Then take action. One tiny step at a time.

Now, Take a Mindful Moment, to ask yourself:

⭐️ Of the 5 Types of Overwhelm Styles, which one are you?

⭐️ Were you always that way? Or, have you transformed from one style to another over time?

⭐️ Can you identify a “Choice Point,” a moment when you could use EFT to BREAK FREE instead?

⭐️ This week, pick something that overwhelms you multiple times a week to experiment with EFT. When you (1) Recognize yourself getting overwhelmed, use EFT to (2) Interrupt your typical Overwhelm Style before it takes over, and notice: the more you do this, time after time, do you sense it (3) Rewiring your nervous system? Are you able to enter a state of calm faster than usual?

⭐️ Imagine yourself, as the calm and collected Sovereign Captain of your ship.

You not only survived the storm, you’re dropping anchor, ready to spend your days relaxing in a private cove, full of pristine, soft sand, and crystal-clear turquoise water.

With EFT as my First Mate, I’m sailing there now…

Want to join me?

STAY TUNED!

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I strongly believe that we are stronger together. That’s why I’m encouraging us to “do the DO” as a community, in a safe & private space for members-only, where we can embrace Becoming in all of its messy glory. So, let’s BREAK FREE, together!

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