Ep-6-From Overwhelm to Oasis
===
Erica: [00:00:00] Welcome to Inner Sanctuary RAW—your daily 5-minute reset for the moments when holding it all together feels like too much. Today, we’re breathing into the chaos and making space for peace.
Welcome back to your sanctuary. If you've been holding it all together while quietly falling apart, this one's for you.
Let's breathe some space into the chaos.
Your brain is already solving problems that haven't happened yet. Your chest is tight, but you tell people you're fine. You don't remember what it feels like to just exist without needing to earn it. You check off tasks like your life depends on it, but inside you're drowning. Here's the truth no one told you. You're not overwhelmed because you're broken.
You're overwhelmed because you were never taught how to feel safe doing less.[00:01:00]
You learn to associate rest with laziness, stillness with failure, asking for help with weakness. You've been surviving in overdrive, pretending burnout is just being a responsible adult, but that tight chest, that constant urgency, that shame when you rest, that's not you being dramatic. That's your nervous system, screaming for relief.
It. Inhale slowly through your nose, exhale longer through the mouth. Let that truth land. Let it shake loose the story that you have to do. More to matter. Let's move from your mind to your body because both deserve a break.
Let's get honest. Sit tall, relax your shoulders, unc unclench your jaw, and feel the support beneath you. Ask yourself what [00:02:00] feels urgent but isn't actually important? What am I catastrophizing today? Where am I confusing productivity with proof that I'm enough, where am I performing instead of feeling? Now, ask, what is one thing I can let go of today?
Just one without the world falling apart. Maybe it's a task. Maybe it's a toxic thought. Maybe it's the pressure to hold everything together when you're barely holding yourself. Now breathe into that release. Inhale through the nose, exhale slowly through the mouth.
Feel your body soften, even just 5% more. Your nervous system just wants to feel safe, and safety doesn't come from doing more. [00:03:00] It comes from being with yourself even in the mess. Ready to give your body a little reset. Let's do it together.
If you can close your eyes, drop your shoulders, unc unclench your jaw. Feel your belly rise as you inhale and fall as you exhale. Inhale,
exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
One more time. Inhale.
Exhale.
Now picture this, you're standing beneath a warm [00:04:00] waterfall. Every drop is rinsing away. The panic, the pressure, the pretending, it flows down. Your scalp, your chest, your shoulders, your arms down your legs, and into the earth. You don't have to hold it. All the water knows what to do. Now, whisper with me. I choose peace, not pressure.
I choose presence, not panic.
I choose peace, not pressure.
I choose presence, not panic.
Let that soak in. Let your breath become your anchor [00:05:00] again.
Hmm. There is an oasis inside you. You touch it every time you choose. Breath over breakdown. Every time you say, I can let go now. So let go even just a little. And if this spoke to you today, I'd love to hear what you're letting go of. DM me email, or just whisper it to yourself. Every release counts. I know firsthand how hard it is to let go, but every time you do, you make more space for peace.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Thanks for being here. If this episode helped you exhale even a little, share it with someone who needs a breath too. I’ll meet you back here tomorrow.
