
Most people lose their calm every once in a while. Emotions can be powerful and overwhelming. The great thing is that you can actually learn to control them and feel lighter and happier throughout the day, and throughout your life.
Here are 14 keys how to stay calm when you’re angry, annoyed or nervous, how to stay calm under pressure or in stressful situations, or just when things seem to fall apart and you’re on the edge of a breakdown. In other words, How to Stay Calm No Matter What.
Let’s take a look.
Take 8 Deep and Slow Breaths
Focus entirely on your breathing while you slowly breath in and out. Behold the transformation.
Take a Step Back
Take a moment to observe the situation as if you were looking from a distant. Don’t be the person or victim that’s caught up in the middle of the situation but look at it from a bystander’s perspective and see how your frame of reference will change.
Slow down, Pause and Delay your Response
Force yourself to not react or respond immediately. If possible wait one or two minutes or at the least 10 to 20 seconds. Watch your initial response fade away and realize it’s ill-advised, then think, contemplate with calmness, keep an open mind, and see how smart and effective your response after the pause will be.
Get out!
Get out of the house, the car, the building, wherever you are. Get outside. Your mind works differently in outside environments. Fresh air and nature has a profound impact on your system and makes you feel calmer and see things clearer almost immediately.
Repeat a Mantra
Repeat a peaceful mantra to yourself. Say quietly to yourself “I am calm, focused and at ease in every situation.” Visualize yourself being calm. Be kind to yourself.
Focus
Focus and act on things you can control, and stop focusing and worrying about things you can’t control.
You Have a Choice
Realize you always have a choice in what you think. YOU are not your thoughts, so you can decide to think destructively, panic and get all stressed out (not recommended), or think harmonious thoughts, release the tension in your muscles, realize that truth is relative, and focus on constructing and problem solving thoughts.
Anticipate
Take a moment to sit down with your eyes closed, analyze and identify the triggers that make you stressed out and lose your calm. How can you anticipate on these triggers when they occur. How can you change the situation. Take some time to really think about your stress sources, symptoms, and solutions.
Exercise
Exercise on a regular basis. Exercise releases endorphins, serotonin, adrenaline and dopamine. These are all neurochemicals that help you improve your mood. When you exercise, your body and mind feel more relaxed, calm and balanced.
Sleep Enough
Get ENOUGH sleep, but not TOO MUCH. When you deprive yourself of sleep you get faster agitated and increase your risk of anxiety, depression, weakening your immune system, impaired memory, and likelihood of accidents. On the other hand the same problems can occur when you sleep too much. So an average of 7 to 8 hours of sleep is the best.
Let it Go
Get out of your fixed and rigid mindset. Be humorous about things. Laugh and joke more. It releases the tension and does miracles to your mind and body. There is great power in letting go.
Ask for Help
You don’t have to do everything alone. Other people have done this before you. The answer is often only a few steps away. Look for people you can trust. Asking people is the key to the solution.
Meditate Daily. No B.S.
Meditate daily to build your foundation of calmness. This is where you create your building blocks of awareness, focus and peace for the rest of the day. Learn about yourself. Meditation is a life changer.
Conscious Practice
Practice daily mindfulness. Be aware of your thoughts, your behaviour, your emotions, your senses, your surroundings, and the way you communicate. Practice to be conscious and calm throughout the day, at home, at work, in school, in traffic, in relationships, in every little detail. Learn to be involved without being affected. This is the most important practice.
Final note: It’s nice to have read this article, but today reading is all people do. If you just read it and don’t apply it, it has no use. Reading will be just a waste of your precious time on this beautiful earth. Don’t just think about it, but apply the keys and reap the benefits. Put these principles into practice.
Have a great day!
Share your comments below. I really appreciate it. I read them all.
Excellent post. Came in just at the right time.
Number 6 is a great rule to live by
Thanks,
Jerry
Hi Karin,
Happy I could help at the right moment.
Best,
Klaus
Hi Jerry,
Absolutely.
Don’t let you happiness be controlled, by something you can’t control.
Best,
Klaus
You always have a choice in what you think.
A good reminder for everyday.
Sandra
Hi Sandra,
Absolutely. Being aware that you are able to choose your actions every second of the day is an amazing treasure.
Best,
Klaus Crow
This a great article. The steps are clearly written and easy to apply. Affirming our Wholeness sounds great.
Thanks Klaus. This is a nice synopsis of what probably know intuitively, but do we really practice them all? In business we use that old fashioned balcony theory, which means when you have a tough negotiation activity, you go to the balcony to find some peacefulness, and meditate before going back to that session again — pretty much what you said in much more detail. Thanks for sharing — Deepay
Well put article… Thank you