March 13, 2026
Do you notice yourself feeling sluggish, wanting to stay in bed, or having a hard time following through on work?
Perhaps you’re having a hard time feeling settled or maybe you’re glued to the news?
These are all natural responses to potential threat, even if the threat is not in our own backyard.
News of killings, bombings, jets being shot down, ships being hit—these are overwhelming even if we may not be directly impacted and especially if you are directly affected.
Vigilance. For some of us, if we have a family history of living through a war or have had our lives endangered (e.g., survived a flooding that took away ours or a neighbor’s home, or been in significant car accident), we may find ourselves glued to the news. We may feel the need to be vigilant, to constantly be on guard to make sure that we are ready to take action to remain safe if any danger develops closer to home.
Shutting down. Beyond vigilance, some of us who have had significant losses or more difficult challenges in our lives, we may actually find ourselves avoiding the news. That may actually be a healthy choice for a while, especially if we feel emotionally overwhelmed.
- If you have been repeatedly teased.
- If you have been in close relationships where you were repeatedly put down (or ignored as a child).
- If you have been consistently exposed to bomb threats or actually witnessed or have a loved one who has experienced horrific bodily harm.
- If your living environment has consistently been unstable.
Such cumulative lack of safety (even if you’ve just had one of these listed) could lead to having an emotional wall between us and others. Often this wall may be unconscious until someone points it out.
The problem with shutting down our emotions or bodily sensations in general, is we are then disconnected from important feedback for ourselves. We may not recognize the little gut reactions that tell us that a person is not so safe. We may not recognize a person is actually good.
Our brain and our mind only have so much capacity. Think of a computer that has too many tabs open and processes running in the background. The computer would slow down or freeze as well. All the bad news would be like heat for our computer. Our computer/brain/body would burn out.
Tips
Intentions. If you do find yourself shutting down all too much, or avoiding to the point that your work, relationship, or functioning is significantly and negatively impacted, then start to pay more attention to your intentions. Try practicing more conscious choices. Sometimes our emotional responses may hijack our intentions. Maybe your conscious choice is to not watch the news for a while. Maybe you are wanting to focus on immediate needs around you.
Decide where you want to focus your energy. When we are overwhelmed, it is often because we are attending to too much information or too many demands. First, consider ways to limit your attention.
- Identify what is a systemic problem and what is within your control. If something is a systemic problem (patriarchy, fascism, misogyny), consider joining community organizations or a local group to affect change, if you have the time and energy. Joining with others helps us feel a sense of belonging and support, a comradery that could help motivate us and give us more energy.
- Prioritize your time and energy. Identify one area where you want to prioritize instead of spreading your time into too many areas, which could be draining.
Mindful Grounding practice. In addition to being in a group, if you are emotionally overwhelmed, try some personal practices that could help. When you are having a hard time thinking clearly, you may try using your senses to bring you to what is immediately around you. For example, look around and identify 5 things around you. You could also identify 5 different colors. Then, see if you can feel 4 different objects or textures around you. Notice the felt sense of different things on your finger tips, their temperature, quality of smoothness or roughness, etc. Then, try to identify 2 or 3 different sounds you hear. Maybe there’s mostly silence? Maybe there’s a distant humming somewhere? And, notice if you smell anything in the air. Perhaps you’ll notice the temperature of the air as you breathe in. Using our various senses with what’s immediately around you will bring your focus to the present and away from fearful or anxious thoughts.
Recognize emotions. If you find yourself disconnected from emotions, not recognize until you’re actually shutdown already, or not able to feel your body much, recognize that your brain has made it a habit to shut down bodily reactions in the past to get through overwhelming circumstances. Think of getting a papercut—our body often do not register pain until minutes later. That’s our natural brain’s mechanism to suppress immediate pain until we’re out of danger. However, consistent challenges/pain/overwhelm may actually have trained your body to shut down more readily or in general.
It is important to start to reconnect with our body, our felt sense. Reconnect with our emotions. This is easier said than done, to undo pre-conditioning, and to reconnect with that sense of safety.
If you’re still reading this right now, you’re safe this moment. Do you recognize that? Let this register in your body. What does that mean to “let this register in your body,” to recognize that you’re safe right this minute?
How does your body feel this moment? Is there a place in your body that tells you that you’re stable or more strong/solid? This could be an obscure place in your body (e.g., tip of your toe, your thighs, your nose). Stay present with that one place in your body, and remind yourself, your body, that you’re safe! Take some time to breathe into and mentally stay with that one body part. Breathe a few times as you intentionally recognize that one body part. Thank that one body part of yours in reminding you of your safety! And, use this body part as your touch point to remind yourself that you are safe in future moments.
These are examples of brief mindfulness practices, to be present in the moment, to connect to your felt sense, to recognize your safety in your current moment.
If you can, expand that practice to longer period so that you allow that safety feeling to be more prevalent, meaning allow the sensation of that one stable body part to spread throughout your body. Maybe imagine a specific color associated with that one strong/solid body part. And, imagine that color spread from that location to the rest of your body. Notice if there are any shifts in the rest of your body as you practice this present-moment reminder and imagery of safety. Really notice the entirety of your body if you notice any shifts. Take a deep breathe into your entire body.
You’ve now taken one step toward reversing and replacing that shutdown, vigilant state. Don’t worry—you’ll still have that shutdown skill in your brain when you really need it. It’s just that we don’t need that or the vigilance to take over when we are actually safe.
It may be helpful to work with a professional who may help you recognize your patterns, who may impart more tools to guide you to healthier practices so that you’re more present, so that you can be more connected to those important people in your life.
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