2 - Stay Active in Challenging Times

Staying active during stressful times is important as the body releases endorphins during exercise. These react with the receptors in your brain to reduce the perception of pain¹ and also trigger a positive feeling in the body. Regular exercise has been shown to contribute in the reduction of stress¹. Calm people generally have a regular exercise routine, if only a daily walk.

3 - Stop and Listen

Many meditation techniques are built on the premise of being in the moment. Often, under stressful situations one negative thought leads to another, and the spiral effect can take place leading to increased stress. Calm people tend to stop and listen to their surrounds, keeping them firmly focussed and ready to deal with any situation.

4 - React to Events in Proportion

Calm people generally don’t overreact as they pause, take a breath and realise the scale of the situation. They tend not to lose control of their emotions.  

5 - Practice the Art of Letting Go

Calm people generally do not obsess over every single detail. They don’t catastrophise and anticipate what could go wrong. They try to prepare and then forget about it until it happens. Letting go frees up your mind to concentrate on the here and now. Imagine a computer that has lots of applications running in the background and the affect that has on task speed and memory; that’s similar to the affect obsessing on the wrong detail has on your mindset and energy levels.

1.Bement MKH & Sluka KA (2016). Exercise-induced analgesia: an evidence-based review. In Mechanisms and Management of Pain for the Physical Therapist, 2nd edn, ed. Sluka KA, Ch. 10. 77–201.Wolters Kuwer, IASP Press, Seattle