7 Days Of Movement For The State Of Overload

HOW TO CREATE SPACE IN THE BODY WHEN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM FEELS FLOODED

In the state of Overload, everything feels too loud, too fast, too much. Your nervous system is overwhelmed — caught between hyper-awareness and freeze. Decision-making, focus, even simple movement can feel disorienting.

This state calls for movement that simplifies, contains and grounds. Instead of stimulating the system further, the goal is to soothe, settle and offer safe pathways back into presence.

This 7 day guide offers minimal, sensory-friendly movement to help release internal pressure and rebuild trust with your body — gently and patiently.

WHY MOVE IN OVERLOAD?

When you are in the state of Overload, stillness can feel paralyzing — and intense movement can feel too intense. These practices focus on slow, grounding actions that give your nervous system something tangible to orient to.

Let each day’s movement be a signal: “You are safe. You don’t have to carry it all right now.”

DAY 1 — PALM PRESSING

• Practice: Sit or stand and press your palms together gently. Hold for 10 seconds, then release. Repeat 3–5 times.
  
• Intention: Containment. Let the pressure calm your internal chaos.

DAY 2 — SUPPORTED FORWARD FOLD

• Practice: Sit on the floor or a chair and fold forward with your arms resting on a cushion or your thighs.
  
• Intention: Surrender. Let gravity help you release what you're holding.

DAY 3 — WALL LEAN

• Practice: Stand with your back against the wall. Let your heels, hips, shoulders and head make contact. Breathe deeply.
  
• Intention: Support. Let the wall hold you — physically and energetically.

DAY 4 — SLOW NECK ROLLS

• Practice: Roll your head gently side to side. Pause at any point that feels tense or tight.
  
• Intention: Presence. Let the rhythm reorient your attention to now.

DAY 5 — HAND TO OBJECT

• Practice: Hold a grounding object (like a stone or textured item). Slowly rotate or rub it between your hands.
  
• Intention: Sensory focus. Give your system something predictable and physical to return to.

DAY 6 — KNEES-TO-CHEST ROCK

• Practice: Lie on your back and gently hug your knees in. Rock side to side.
  
• Intention: Soothing. Let the motion mimic being held.

DAY 7 — BODY SCAN WITH MICRO-MOVEMENT

• Practice: Slowly scan from head to toe, pausing at each part. At each pause, introduce one micro-movement — a finger wiggle, a jaw release, a shoulder roll.
  
• Intention: Reconnection. Let your awareness spread gently throughout the body.

MOVEMENT AS A WAY BACK — NOT A WAY OUT

In Overload, you don’t need to be fixed. You need to be met. These practices are invitations to return to yourself — not through effort, but through felt safety.

Let your body know: “We can slow down. We can stay. We can begin again.”

WHERE TO START

The statechanged Method Workbook includes overload-specific practices, regulation cues and movement tools to help create containment when the system feels flooded.

Take the Free Nervous System Assessment Quiz to see if Overload is your dominant state — and receive tools tailored to help you ground, orient and regulate.

Explore our Digital Downloads for guided somatic support, gentle movement rituals and sensory regulation tools — intentionally curated  to help you meet your system where it is and offer it a soft place to land.