Stop Overthinking: 3 Simple Ways to Release Stress & Mental Overload

Rachelle Barron Knight
19 hours ago
4 min read

Most people think they’re overthinking. They’re not. They’re overloaded.

It’s that you’re still holding onto things your mind never finished processing. Conversations that didn’t land right. Stress that never got released. Emotions you didn’t have time to feel.

So your mind keeps looping…

Not because you're broken but because nothing ever got let go. You’re still carrying the energy.

Let Me Show You What I Mean

Close your eyes for a second.

Think of something that’s been sitting in your mind lately. That one thing that keeps coming back.

Now notice…It doesn’t just live in your thoughts. It lives in your body.

Your chest. Your stomach. Your jaw. Your shoulders.

The tension you feel is unprocessed energy. It’s often emotion and emotion is just another form of energy. And thinking your way out of it won’t work. You have to feel it and move it.

The following are some exercises you can try to help you relax, process and let go of any unwanted negative energy. Do not be alarmed should you feel the urge to cry or shout or move your body. Those are just other forms of energy release. Let it happen.

Feel free to modify the visualizations to suit your individual tastes, just be sure that you feel a shift when you visualize. It’s the end result that matters so whatever your imagination comes up with is fine as long as you are achieving the sense of letting go.

Try This Simple Stress Release

When the stress is mounting, instead of analyzing it…give it somewhere to go.

The Balloon

This is for general relaxation. Imagine that you are breathing out all negativity into a balloon. With each breath, you release your tension, anxiety and stress as it goes into the balloon. When you feel the balloon has taken all that it can from you, imagine tying off the end of it and releasing it into the air. It floats off into the atmosphere where the divine energy of the cosmos will recycle it. Repeat as necessary.

When It’s More Than One Thing

Some days it’s not just one thought. It’s everything. Deadlines. Money. Relationships. Life. That’s when you don’t need a balloon. You need a fire.

The Bonfire

This is for when you have multiple concerns occupying your mind. Imagine that you are sitting next to a warm bonfire. Next to you is a small pile of firewood. Take up a piece and mentally write your worry or concerns about it, such as “bank account” or “problems with spouse”. Then toss it onto the bonfire. Imagine the fire consuming the worry as it consumes the wood and releasing your concerns as you watch it burn. Do this for each concern you have. You can let the fire burn slowly or quickly, depending on how you feel.

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And Then There Are the Things That Stick

The ones that aren’t just stressful…they’re emotional.

You got triggered. Someone said something. Did something. Or maybe just… left something unresolved. Those don’t burn as easily.

So you don’t burn those.

You blow them up!

The Rose

Imagine a white rose in bloom floating before you. This rose will absorb negativity for and from you. Imagine the person or issue you are dealing with (create a symbol for it if you like) superimposed over the white rose and let the rose absorb the image. As it does so, watch as the rose takes on the negativity, turning dark to show you the amount of negativity there is in your aura.

When you feel the rose has taken all that it can from your aura, imagine pushing it up and out beyond your aura and let it dissolve into nothingness. Conjure up a new rose and drop the image into it again. Observe the rose. If any negativity remains, it will turn dark and shrivel up again. Repeat as many times as necessary until the rose is clean. When the rose is clean, you have cleared your aura of negativity on that subject. You can do this as quickly or as slowly as you feel comfortable. When I’m really angry, I can blow up a thousand roses in a minute!

Here’s What You Just Did

This works because you finally did what your mind has been trying to do all along: You processed it.

Not by thinking harder, but by releasing the energy from your system.

Most people never learn this. They try to think their way to peace but sometimes, it’s energy that needs to shift first. That only comes from release. And your mind is your greatest tool to help you with that.