Overwhelm

Hello my beautiful friends!

​It's spring time in Texas! The wildflowers are blooming, the temperatures are warming up and all of our students are in full training mode as they prepare for competitions and work towards their goals. This time of year we are at a show or clinic nearly every weekend. We have several new horses that have recently moved in to start training which is always exciting to build new relationships with the horses and their people! It's breeding season as well and although our breeding program is very small, we are still running three mares to the vet an hour away to get two of them bred and one of them foaled out. We are also in full on business building mode and we have some really exciting new features at Concordia Dressage. (www.concordiadressage.com)

When we have so much on our plates, we can so easily feel overwhelmed. Have you ever had so much to do that you feel yourself completely freeze up? I think sometimes we look at our giant to do lists and feel that there is no way that we can complete everything on this list and so we just don't do anything. I know I am guilty of this. I often put too much on my plate and I'll chip away a little here and a little there but it feels like no progress is ever made because nothing gets completed! I think when we feel that feeling of overwhelm, the best plan of action is to stop and take a deep breath. Clear your mind and center yourself. Then, make a list of the things that need to be done. Prioritize them and break them down into smaller, bite sized chunks. For example, one of the things I find most difficult to get motivated to do is to clean my house. I'm constantly in that state of freezing because it just feels so overwhelming (and with a very active toddler in the house, it sometimes feels like I live with a small tornado rather than a little girl!). The goal is to say I'm going to clean one room today...or hell, maybe one corner of one room. Then when I can successfully do that, I have MOMENTUM and CONFIDENCE! I can do this!

This approach can work with any type of overwhelm. I think it really does help to physically write it down and then break it down. What must be done today? Schedule it in!

This can work work with your riding as well! If you are feeling overwhelmed about the first level test you're going to be riding at a show next month, break the whole test down movement by movement. How do you feel when you read the description of each movement. When you read K to X leg yield right, are you feeling like "Oh yeah I got this!" Or are you filled with anxiety and dread? If one particular movement is difficult, break it down into its smallest parts and analyze each of those. With this approach you can start to find the holes and create change! This is Riding and training...being able to analyze the experience you are having in the moment and problem solve to make a positive difference on your horses mind and body.

And very importantly, be flexible. This can be the hardest part when you have a ton of things to do and you feel it's imperative to not get behind. But then the Universe gives you a flat tire while you're out running errands or your horse ends up lame before your horse show. We can choose how we respond to these situations. We may not have control over anything else, but we can control our response.

You're doing the best that you can. Be kind to yourself. Remember that whatever it is that you are stressed about or feeling overwhelmed about now will likely be a distant memory in the not too distant future. Also, you've heard me say it before but show GRATITUDE! Showing gratitude is a great way to put things back into perspective. And don't be afraid to say no. (This is a tough one isn't it?) I think many of us are people pleasers and the idea of saying no to anybody is really challenging! We don't want to feel rejected to therefore we don't want other people to feel rejected by us but by saying no to others, you are saying YES to yourself!

You're doing great. You have all the light and beauty of the world in you.

Much love,

Jenna