What To Do When You’re So Stressed You Can’t Think

Have you ever been under so much stress that you just couldn’t get your brain to focus on even the simplest task at hand?

I’m sure you have. Perhaps it’s even a daily occurrence, given the amount of stress many of us have endured for so long. It hasn’t really abated, has it?

Today, I needed to write my weekly article, and my brain just wasn’t working.

Normally I am full of ideas; knowing what to write about was never a problem. I texted my best friend, Louise: “Pray for me please. I can’t think of a thing to write about.”

Louise knew exactly why my brain wasn’t working. She is the only one, aside from my husband, who has been privy to all the twists and turns of this estate I need to settle as co-executor. Several lawyers have agreed our situation will go down in the annals of lawyer lore as The Most Complicated and Messy Situation EVER.

Twists and turns, delays and roadblocks, unpleasant shocks . . . Every. Step. Of. The. Way.

And now we were facing a deadline, and there was dead silence from all the people I needed to hear from.

Louise texted back, “How about writing about when you can’t think due to stress? Explore what it’s like and how it happens and why there are times when you need to give yourself an extra large dose of grace.”

So here goes. Here’s what it’s like, and what I did to get through it to a place of calm.

It was time to make supper anyway, so I tried to concentrate on cooking. Decided to be good to myself and make a super simple and fast meal: taco salad. (The extra dose of grace Louise mentioned.)

While the meat was cooking, I found myself ripping open a bag of tortilla  chips (GMO, gluten free of course), and wolfing down chips and salsa. (Tomato products don’t agree with me, and I would never normally do this.)

Then I remembered the chocolate chips I’d found at Costco (dairy free, sugar free, non-GMO of course), and I just had to grab a handful of those. (Another dose of grace?)

Mmmm. Maybe another few wouldn’t hurt. . . .

Now you have to understand: I don’t usually turn to food when stressed. I know many people do, but I don’t.

I remembered something my research taught me about stress: When you’re stressed, your “survival brain” goes into overdrive. I guess my SB was telling me I needed to eat. Or maybe my brain was so depleted it needed some quick carbs to get it going. Or maybe eating was a way to try to ground me. I certainly felt ungrounded.

[Pause here and ask yourself: What do I do when extremely stressed?]

To get a grip, I remembered what I’d been telling you dear folks.

First I named my emotions: anxiety, frustration, resentment, disgust. Ungrounded. I let myself feel them.

Then, I turned to the 5-4-3-2-1 technique: Name 5 things you can see, 4 things you feel, 3 things you hear, 2 things you smell, and 1 thing you taste.

For the “1 thing to taste”—back to the chips!

But I did feel more grounded.

Then I did my Release & Infuse Technique. Bingo! Three minutes later, I felt much better.

Then I remembered the Calm Boost on my c.Balance. I pressed the button.

Within seconds, I was back to feeling calm and grounded, with food cravings stilled.

I added a large dose of gratitude to the mix, to seal it.

The taco salad was delicious. I ate it slowly, savoring every bite, continuing to stay grounded in my senses and in gratitude. My husband and I had a lovely conversation.

And then I went up to my office and wrote this blog post.

The kind of stress I just related is situational stress, but it was also fueled and magnified by underlying stress from unhealed family issues. I plan to continue doing Healing Codes for the ongoing feelings that are triggered by my estate challenge. I’m actually grateful that this unpleasant situation has come up, because I feel that when it’s finally over, I will have healed issues that otherwise might have remained buried.

Next time you feel so stressed you can hardly think or focus, remember these simple techniques.

Try the 5-4-3-2-1 and the Release & Infuse techniques. Do Healing Codes for any ongoing negative feelings associated with your situation.

And if you think your overall health needs a boost, or if you feel your circadian rhythms are off, or you are always low on energy, I highly recommend checking into the c.Balance. It’s an amazingly easy to use device, yet very sophisticated. It scans your own body 24/7, and creates personalized programs to put your body into optimal balance all around, including the circadian rhythms of each organ. Learn more about the c.Balance here. (And if you decide to buy it, make sure you use coupon code EBLE100 to save $100 off your order!)

Make sure you add gratitude to everything you do to deal with your stress. That too does wonders.

A couple of weeks ago, I woke up feeling as if I’d been perseverating over the estate stuff all night in my sleep. As I awoke, exhausted, I prayed, “God, I don’t know how to stop this. Please show me what to do.”

Immediately the words came: “Thank me.” I started thinking of all the things I’m thankful for—maybe 30 things in the first 5 minutes. I felt much better and found myself able to focus on MY LIFE all that day.

Ground yourself in your senses, release and infuse energy, give gratitude, and maybe press a button on a unique device. Let me know what works for you!

And if you need a little extra help with any of the stresses of your life, check out my coaching at HealingCodesCoaching.com.