Look for the calm within yourself

Now this topic is a puzzling one. Especially when the world around us is in chaos. We are always go go go!!! You have toddlers/teenagers/pets/husbands/wives etc etc to deal with and then don't get me started about work demands!

I see so much of this in my practice and that people are really struggling to find a little calm in their day. I often say that it gets to a point where they have to prioritise it. Not negotiable. That it only has to start with five minutes and then to build on it from there.

I often use the 'Box' analogy. To leave an imaginary box at your front door and when you come home from work each day pop all your worries in it and refuse to let them cross the threshold into your sanctuary, your home. Then on the way to work in the morning or after the weekend pick them up out of the box and make a commitment to sort these concerns out during certain hours.

Journalling is excellent for writing down your worries. I sometimes 'journal' in my memo app on my iphone or in my 'notes' app. I talk and think too fast to write so speaking it out for me is a great relief. I talk to friends too. Having a good support system is so important.

Calm can look like being in nature, a cup of tea in the garden when the kids are at school, at work it could be sitting in a nearby park space, or a trip to the beach to smell the ozone for fifteen minutes before going home after work. Calm is also a state of mind. Find a way to organise your thoughts and emotions and breathe.

Breathwork is so important. In the book Breathe by James Nestor, he says that their are chemoreceptors in the lungs. When we breathe shallowly we use the shallow, top area of our lungs and the chemoreceptors there trigger the stress response. Fight or flight. And the when we deep breathe we use the whole lungs and including the lower parts as well. Here the chemoreceptors trigger the rest and digest response in our bodies and nervous systems.

This is why we counsellors and naturopaths talk about breathwork to calm you. It is meditative but also has a function. It balances the CO2 and Oxygen in our bodies. Calms the nervous system and allows us to think straight.

Meditation is so important to do too. To sit and do box breathing (in for 4 hold for 4 breathe out for 8 hold for 4 and repeat) helps us to focus on something other than our worries whilst doing the above. Some people repeat a prayer (if you are spiritual it could be the Lord's Prayer or Hail Mary). Some do guided meditations from apps or YouTube. I find after a bit of practice you can finally get the place where you just sit and just be. I listen to my breathing and sometimes the birds near my house. Just resting in my own energy almost as if nodding off to sleep.

Be careful to not do this before you drive. Do it early morning or later in the evening before bed. Yoga is also meditative. As can dance. Craft such as crochet, painting and knitting too. Gardening is wonderful as well.

Well, I hope I have left you with some good ideas. Please look after yourselves and I shall see you next time.

Lisa