Give Up and Lie Down Ovewlehm Recipe (2-4 minutes)

This recipe helps you interrupt overwhelm in the moment—when you’re triggered, harsh, or about to yell—so you can ground your body quickly and come back to connection.

Disclaimer:
This recipe is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not medical advice, mental health treatment, diagnosis, therapy, or a substitute for professional care. Emotional embodiment practices may bring up strong feelings, memories, sensations, and/or physical reactions. You are voluntarily participating and are solely responsible for your own emotional, physical, and medical safety, decisions, and actions. Go at your own pace. Stop at any time. Take breaks when needed. If you feel overwhelmed, pause and ground yourself: feel your feet on the floor, place a hand on your heart, and breathe slowly. These practices are intended to help you move emotion through your body—not to reenact harm and not to discharge emotions onto others. Always listen to your body first. If you are in crisis or at risk of harming yourself or others, stop and seek immediate help in your area. READ FULL DISCLAIMER BEFORE YOU START IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY  

Use this when

When you feel that surge—tight chest, clenched jaw, spiraling thoughts, sharp tone—and you can tell you’re about to go into control, yelling, or shutdown.

Ingredients

• 2–5 minutes (even 60 seconds helps)

• A safe place to lie down (floor, rug, couch)

• Optional: a timer, a pillow under your knees, water

Safety

If it’s not safe to lie down (you need eyes on toddlers, a child might bolt, or the moment feels physically unsafe), modify: sit with your back against a wall or door, put one hand on your heart and one on your belly, and take 3 slow exhales. If you feel flooded, shorten this to 30 seconds, orient to the room (name colors/shapes/sounds), and stop if it becomes too much.

Opening: Self-awareness

As soon as you can remember do this recipe. 

The 3-Step Experiment

Step 1: Stop (10 seconds)

Put your hands up like a pause button.

Say out loud (or inside):
“Stop. I’m overwhelmed.”

Let that be enough. No explaining. No teaching. Just stop the escalation.

Step 2: Give up and lie down (1–4 minutes)

Step a few feet away from your child(ren) if you can while staying safe.

Now lie down on the ground.

Let the floor hold you. Focus on one thing: slow exhales (longer out-breath). If your kids come close, you can say gently: “I’m resting my body.” If it turns into laughter or curiosity, let that soften the moment—this is you choosing to give up the fight instead of powering through.

Stay until you feel even 10–20% more space inside.

Step 3: Stand up and come back (30–60 seconds)

When you feel ready, stand up slowly.

Shake out your hands and arms for a few seconds. Roll your shoulders once. Take one breath.

Return to what you were doing, now from a more grounded place.

Closing: Put it in a container

Imagine placing what just happened (the trigger, the urgency, the control energy, the shame) into a container for now.

Say: “This is not the whole story. I can come back to connection.”

Place a hand on your heart and take one slow exhale.

Nurture and Integrate

If you can, drink water, look out a window, or step outside for 30 seconds.

Over the next day or week, notice: did the spiral shorten, did you recover faster, did you repair more easily? If you fall back into old patterns again, it’s not your fault—you’re learning, and practice counts.

Affirmation (Optional)

Choose one:

• “I can stop. I can reset. I can return to connection.”

• “When I’m overwhelmed, I’m allowed to come back to my body.”

• “Repair is always available to me.”

Want to go deeper?

If there was a rupture, choose a Repair Recipe next (repair with yourself first, then reconnect with your child).

If you have time and space, follow this with an Emotional Release Waves recipe to help the emotion move through your body.

Peace & Love, Julie

Emotional Release - The Missing Peace  ​