To access calm speedily, you need to activate your parasympathetic nervous system. ‘This tells our brains and body that we’re not in immediate danger and can come out of survival mode, which lowers heart rate and blood pressure, and relaxes the muscles,’ says Gabrielle Treanor. Try these simple techniques when you want to switch off the stress response in an instant…
PERFECT YOUR POSTURE
Simply changing your posture and body language can directly impact how you feel. If you want to feel calm and confident, practise looking like you are –open chested, head up, back straight.
When we’re stressed or worried, we tend to hunch and make ourselves smaller, which constricts our breathing, making us feel more panicked.
WRITE IT DOWN
A journal is one of the easiest ways to improve self-awareness, because you can look back at what you were feeling at acertain time, in your own words, and notice the things you’ve worried about, and reflect on how they turned out. The simple act of writing it down also helps to stop rumination, leaving you feeling calmer.
FEEL ALL THE FEELS
Try making aplaylist of songs that make you feel a whole range of emotions – from happiness and excitement to sadness and longing.
‘Use these different songs to help you become more comfortable with the array of emotions that you feel, so that when they come up at other times, you’re less uncomfortable with them,’ says Dr Meg Arroll.
EXHALE YOUR WORRIES
This easy breathing exercise will make you feel calmer after just a few breaths. First, notice where you can feel your breath most clearly enter and leave your body – it could be your nose, your chest, or your stomach. Focus on that place and try to breathe alittle more deeply into that spot, and to slow it down. ‘When we’re tense, we breathe using only the top of our lungs, and when we’re scared, we can gulp in air, so make sure you’re fully exhaling as well as inhaling,’ says Treanor. If it helps you to focus, you can breathe in for acount of four and breathe out to acount of six. As you breathe, try visualising that you’re inhaling calm and exhaling worry.
LET NOSTALGIA SOOTHE YOU
The things that remind you of times when you’ve felt safe and happy can help bring you back to acalmer place again. Dr Arroll recommends playing music, looking at photos, seeking out smells, or reading an old diary. You can also practise making amemory in the moment by noticing as many details, emotions and sensations as you can while you’re experiencing something.
Go to your happy place
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