One of the best things I have learned over the past few years is how to calm down anxiety and my nervous system. Starting in 2020 and beyond we started learning a lot about the nervous system, and the vagus nerve in particular. It has been eye opening for me.
Admittedly, prior to 2020 I had some good habits established, but they were no match for the amount of emotional stress and situational stress I was under- they kept me afloat, thankfully, but there was another level called thriving that I was drawn to as more space appeared in my life. Thriving, rather than just surviving.
What is true is that we can be doing a lot and we may need to do even more, depending upon the amount of stress we are under.
Keeping calm, though, is not just about how you feel emotionally, but not keeping calm can affect your physical body, too. Inflammation in your body is one of the outcomes of too much emotional/mental stress. Inflammation wreaks havoc on every part of your health.
As the world gets more and more stressful externally, we must learn to regulate it all internally, in order to continue to live a thriving life- which means feeling good, and yes, even happy despite conditions.
Some of the best things we can do help our nervous systems to stay healthy are free! Humming-who knew?, listening to meditations with binaural beats (I use the Insight Timer app), walking and somatic movement, intentional breathing, practicing gratitude, being out in nature, and learning to sit still without being on any screens. In fact taking a take off each week with no screens is very healing. laughing and humor, and smiling to name a few. Also, what you eat will play a big part in how you are doing with stress. Eating less, or no, sugar is a good start. Getting enough quality rest is another good idea. If you have a challenge with any of these things, talk to someone, get support. As I said last week about cutting down on input, If these things are challenging for you, it is a strong sign that it is going to be important for you to work on them.
You might be saying, I do all of these things and I am still not calm most of the time. Or I am still not where I want to be. This was me. And there is another level. You need to so more and making seek professional help. I thought I was doing what I considered enough of everything, but it wasn’t enough, and in some cases I doubled my efforts.
For me, sitting and reading without my phone nearby has been good. When I start to get antsy and want to check out by picking up my phone, I take a breath and go back to reading. Sometimes I need to stand up, shake around a little, and then sit back down. A situation I have dealt with (and continue to) is when having my phone consistently nearby, I know when someone is texting me and I look at the text, respond if necessary and then totally mindlessly start clicking on other things, until I come to and realize what I am doing.
Above all, be kind to yourself as you work through this. It takes time to unwind, so be patient with yourself.