Lately, you’ve heard the term “overstimulated” tossed around more frequently. It can be applied when your surrounding environment becomes overwhelming. This might come from being in large crowds, at family get-togethers, surrounded by bright lights, or when loud music or sounds are going off. It’s especially prevalent when you’re in the middle of a city with heavy traffic, car horns, sirens, and people. Some people might be able to handle a lot going on around them, while others, especially those who are neurodivergent or sensitive, feel anxious, uncomfortable, and, of course, overstimulated.
Things that can lead to overstimulation
- Traffic
- Car horns
- Large crowds
- Dogs barking
- Bright or flashing lights
- Loud music
- Sirens
- Strong scents or perfumes
- Sporting events
Is it Possible to Never Become Overstimulated?
Probably not, since sometimes it’s necessary to enter spaces that you know will be a lot to handle. Life must go on, and situations and places will not always be a tranquil environment. It doesn’t mean that you should never engage with other people, events, and life experiences. Humans are also meant to be around other people and interact with their community.
However, it’s important to give yourself space and time to destimulate. Finding peace to empty your mind and reduce the noise can help to balance your nervous system. There will always be times when you need to attend a loud family dinner or event. Give yourself the space and time to decompress from these situations. Some people are more introverted than others and need lots of time to recharge. Extroverts might thrive in loud and chaotic atmospheres, so give yourself grace if you’re not one of those people.
What To Do When You’re Overstimulated?
Use these strategies, especially before or after overstimulating days or events, to calm and balance your nervous system to achieve homeostasis. Use one or a combination of these techniques to help your mind and body become de-stimulated for more peace and tranquility. While you might not be able to use these techniques during overstimulating times, you can use them before or after to return to a place of calm.
Techniques for When You’re Overstimulated:
Sleep-
Getting adequate sleep the night before and after becoming overstimulated is helpful for your body to heal and repair. Getting a good sleep helps to lessen your overall anxiety levels and can energize you to deal with overstimulating situations. If there’s an event you know you’ll be attending the next day, stop doomscrolling, don’t binge another Netflix episode, and focus on getting rest.
Meditate-
The goal of meditation is to clear your mind and let your thoughts float as they come and go. When you become overstimulated in a situation, it can feel like your mind is running at 100 miles per hour. Practicing regular meditation is a great tool for times when you need to regulate your nervous system. You can listen to a gentle guided meditation or 432hz frequency sounds if dead silence doesn’t help your brain to quiet down.
Journal-
When you feel overstimulated, it’s normal to experience racing thoughts and a cluttered mind. To quiet the noise when overstimulation takes over, grab a pen and journal to complete a brain dump. Write three pages of whatever comes to mind without editing. Release any thoughts from your mind onto the paper to soothe your nervous system.
Nature-
If you’ve ever gone from being in a busy city to being in a natural space, then surely you’ve felt an instant switch in your body and brain. Surrounding yourself with nature is one of the best de-stimulating tools, and you don’t even need to do anything; the trees and foliage do the work for you.
Suddenly, your mind is calmer, you can inhale easily, and take deeper breaths. If you live in a city, visiting a park or a natural garden can help you enter a more relaxed state. If you’re able, go for a hike, go camping, or if tent living isn’t for you, rent a cabin for the weekend where you can be surrounded by greenery. You’ll feel much better after spending time connecting with nature.
Blue Mind Theory-
Being in nature is great to de-stimulate yourself, and being in or near a body of water is even better. This phenomenon is called the “blue mind theory” and helps decrease stress and anxiety levels. With so many smartphones and electronic devices, our “red mind” has become super active. Putting down the electronics and heading to the beach or another body of water, like lakes, rivers, a pond, or the ocean, is a great hack to reduce overstimulation. If you don’t have access to a body of water or if it’s wintertime, a long epsom salt bath can do the trick.
Weighted Blanket-
A weighted blanket gives you an even distribution of weight to help activate your parasympathetic nervous system and put you in rest and digest mode. The heavy blanket helps your body to feel safe and grounded.
Taste-
When overstimulation hits, reach for a healthy snack like nuts, berries, or dark chocolate and focus on the act of chewing and tasting the food. Put your phone down and pay attention to the act of nourishing your body to get out of your head and back into your body.
Exercise-
When you’re overstimulated and your brain is going a bit crazy, it’s helpful to release some of that anxious energy. One of the best ways to do that is with exercise. If you’re not feeling a loud and crowded gym, try a gentle yoga class, a pilates workout, or a nature run.
Lights-
If you’re in a space where you can control the lighting, aim for gentle and soft lights instead of bright or fluorescent lights. If it’s safe to do so at night, opt for candles and tea lights instead of overhead lights.
Clean/Declutter-
It’s easy to become overwhelmed in your home environment if you have a lot of mess and clutter. Spend 10 minutes a day tidying up your space. Usually, once you get the ball rolling with tidying, you’ll be more likely to finish. The more time you spend cleaning up after yourself as you go, the less you’ll have to clean overall. Declutter every few months and donate or sell what you no longer use to keep clutter down to a minimum. Or use storage boxes that are compact and can fit the things that don’t have a proper home in your space.
Touch-
Bring a fidget spinner, reflexology ring, stress ball, or other gadget to have on hand for whenever you’re in overstimulating environments to keep yourself occupied. This can decrease negative habits like nail biting or picking.
Aromatherapy-
Keep aromatherapy roll-ons with you in calming scents like lavender, sweet orange, ylang ylang, clary sage, and roman chamomile. If you’re at home, light your favourite candle or plug in your essential oil diffuser for a grounding and calming atmosphere.
Frequency-
Have you ever put on an energetic song that you love, but quickly realized that you didn’t match the vibe of it in that moment? If you’re aiming to destimulate yourself, put on frequency music to attune your vibration and calm your heartbeat. 432hz is one of the most common frequencies and brings with it calm and clarity.
Slow Activities-
Practice slow activities that can relax your brain and calm your nervous system. Our short attention spans and constant chase of dopamine can leave us overstimulated by our phones and devices. Steer clear and pick up slow activities like reading, gardening, knitting, painting, or photography. Learn and practice these new skills and regain control of the present moment.
Breathe-
Sometimes when you’re out in public and can’t meditate or journal, intentional breathing will be your best bet. Try box breathing by breathing in for four counts, holding for four counts, and breathing out for four counts. Do this 10 or so times until you begin to feel better. Focus on expanding your lungs and ribcage when breathing in to get enough oxygen.
Energy Cleanse-
Depending on the situation, sometimes when leaving a social setting, you may feel like you have some lingering energy on you. Doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good or bad energy, but energy that doesn’t belong to you, regardless. Maybe you have a large family, and while you love them, when the group gets together, it can be loud and overstimulating. Or maybe you enjoy being around your co-workers, but at the end of the week, you need a little energy cleanse.
Read our post here on how to respectfully cleanse your energy so that you can get any overstimulating vibes from others off of you. Use a herb bundle, set an intention, and release any negative energy or anything that isn’t yours.
Final Thoughts-
The world can be a very stimulating place. People, sounds, and lights can all play a part in your system becoming overloaded and wanting to shut down. Use these techniques when you become overwhelmed. Get a good night’s sleep to recharge your body, and exercise or cleanse your energy to release unwanted energies.
Journaling, meditating, breathing exercises, and getting in nature or around water are fantastic ways to calm your mind and body. Keep a tidy home, play calm music, engage in slow activities, use aromatherapy, and use a weighted blanket for a relaxing home atmosphere. Have these tools in your back pocket and pull them out when you need to decompress, whenever you feel overstimulated.
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