“I don’t think that you can let the storms of life overwhelm you. When you do that, you are no better than the craziness that caused you to be under attack.” T. D. Jakes

I reckon you’ll know where I’m coming from when I talk about overwhelm. In her latest book, Atlas of the Heart, Brene Brown talks about the difference between stress (“a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation”) and overwhelm (to overpower in thought or feeling). ‘Atlas of the Heart’ is a fascinating book (as is all of Brene Brown’s work, in my opinion), giving descriptive definitions of 87 emotions.

On Dr Brown’s website, ‘Atlas of the Heart’ is described as “If we want to find the way back to ourselves and one another, we need language and the grounded confidence to both tell our stories and to be stewards of the stories that we hear. In Atlas of the Heart, we explore eighty-seven of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human and walk through a new framework for cultivating meaningful connection. This is for the mapmakers and travelers in all of us.”

And so strictly speaking, the vast majority of the time, what we label ‘overwhelm’ is actually ‘stress’. I love language, and trying to use it properly. For example, Dr Sue Dyson recently pointed out to me the word ‘manuduction’ on Wordsmith, meaning “the act of guiding or leading (as by the hand)”, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Anyway, my point is that I’m feeling under stress with a few ongoing projects (personal and private), and I wondered what techniques you use to get yourself through a stressful situation?

© Sue Palmer, The Horse Physio, 2021

Treating your horse with care, connection, curiosity, and compassion