Does a mountain of dishes trigger you?

Endless dishes can still be a source of overwhelm and frustration! It never stops and one day missed can make the task seem unbearable to handle!

Today, I want to walk you through how to use the Love Your Brain Formula for this moment.

Let’s start with step one.

 STEP 1. LOVE YOUR BRAIN

When that heavy feeling or nervousness starts to enter your body when you look at your dishes, take a minute and recognize that this is the brain. Those feelings are from the brain responding to your situation. You see a mess. Your brain picks up that this is trouble. Give yourself some love and grace to have these feelings. Don’t resist them but accept and allow them with love.

  STEP 2. OPTIMIZE YOUR BRAIN

The brain is a physical organ and responds to physical things! In a moment of overwhelmed, call upon your breath. This is a tool you will always have with you!

Take one slow breath in…

Then, exhale longer than you inhale.

 Try this a few times and see how your brain calms.

 💭 STEP 3. EMPOWER YOUR THOUGHTS

 For me, dishes are overwhelming if I'd rather be doing something else. While not always an obvious thought, this is the root of my struggles. I have lots to do, and i don’t have time for the dishes.

Let's change this way of thinking. When we want to be doing something else, we are not living in the present moment. The tool I want to introduce here is mindfulness. I like to think of mindfulness as practicing being present.

When you are struggling with overwhelming thoughts and frustrations, taking some time to be mindful and present can help those negative thoughts fade away, and your focus will come to the present moment. Every time you practice this, you train your brain to be present. When you are present, you are not sad about the past or anxious about the future. There is peace in the present moment.

Washing dishes is the perfect task to practice being present. Stop thinking of washing dishes as an inconvenient chore but take it as a moment to optimize your brain and practice being present.

Do this by bringing attention to your 5 senses. As you're wash your dishes, pay attention to what you see. Watch the water as it runs or the bubbles as they pop.

What do you hear? Do you hear the water flow? The plates slightly banging against each other? Do you hear the children playing?

What do you feel? Is your water warm or cold? How does it feel on your hands? What is the texture of the dishes or utensils?

What do you smell? Can you smell the soap or the leftover food on the plate? Try not to judge the smell, just notice that there is a smell.

 Do you have any tastes in your mouth?

Could washing dishes now be something to look forward to? Washing dishes is something we all have to do. Let's transform this task into a moment to train your brain to be present.

There is hope for the overwhelmed mom - you just have to get your brain right!