Creating a sense of calm
We live in chaotic times. From constant worry about ever-growing to-do lists, work pressures and relationship conflicts, to bigger concerns about issues like social disconnection, global politics and the future of our planet, it sure can be hard to feel at ease. When these issues take over our headspace, our wellbeing takes a hit. More of us than ever before consider ourselves to be experiencing anxiety, as well as its flip-side, depression. While it can absolutely be argued that anxiety and depression are in many cases a normal response to highly stressful and dysfunctional circumstances, it is important that we do our best to mediate how we respond to what is happening around us, especially when our circumstances are out of our control.
Why is it important to cultivate calm?
For many of us, we react to a stressful situation with feelings of panic, fear and overwhelm. This “stress response” involves the release of hormones and neurochemicals such as cortisol that increase inflammation throughout our body, negatively impact our sleep, downregulate our ability to fight infections and impair our ability to digest and absorb nutrients from food, just to name a few effects. There are also feedback loops that occur within our brain that ultimately cause shrinkage of the parts of our brain responsible for higher-order cognitive and emotional functions, while strengthening a more reactive and volatile way of being. And ultimately, the more we feel stressed, the more we strengthen the neural networks that trigger us to feel stressed; so we get habituated to staying in that state. As well as being damaging to our health, it is very unpleasant for us to live in this way.
Read on to discover a variety of tips to interrupt this negative programming, to help you cultivate calm so that you can maintain a more positive state of mind to better withstand the daily situations you experience. Spoiler alert: telling yourself to calm down does not make you calm down.
1. Stabilise your blood sugar
When we consume large amounts of sugars and refined carbohydrates, our blood sugar level spikes rapidly, and then plummets rapidly. Our body releases cortisol, one of our stress hormones, both when our blood sugar is too high and when it is too low – to mediate inflammation and to restore our energy, respectively. This cortisol in our bloodstream is in addition to the cortisol we release when we feel stressed. Keeping your blood sugar at a nice happy medium reduces this extra cortisol output and thus reduces your body’s overall exposure to this stress hormone.
So how can you keep your blood sugar stable? Minimise your intake of refined carbohydrates like white breads, pastas and sweet treats; ensure that each meal contains a good amount of protein, fat and fibre; and don’t let yourself feel famished between meals – a bit of hunger is good and healthy, but your body likes predictability, and going too long without sustenance is seen as stressful and will start you on that blood sugar rollercoaster.
2. Get out in nature
Most of us notice that we feel better after being outside. The fresh air, the sun on our skin… we feel refreshed and ready for the next chunk of our day. Research has shown that being in nature significantly reduces cortisol levels, and improves immune function and mood too. For best results, aim for at least 20 minutes outside.
Plus, if you exercise while you are outdoors, your body produces feel-good chemicals called endorphins which further improve mood and help keep stress levels down even after your stint of exercise is over.
3. Have a tea ritual
A ritual around preparing and drinking a cup of tea can be very therapeutic. Make this time all about nourishing you, not just physically but also at the level of your soul too. During the time it takes for the water to boil and for your teabag or loose herbs to steep: put on some music you enjoy; take some deeeep belly breaths; do some gentle stretching; write down some thoughts in a journal. Keep this newfound peaceful state of being while you curl up in a comfy chair and savour each sip of your tea.
Teas such as chamomile, lavender, holy basil, rose, passionflower and skullcap are great for helping to calm our nervous system, relax our muscles and ease tension throughout our body.
4. Prioritise sleep
Our bodies are essentially a big chemical soup. There are all kinds of chemicals, such as hormones and other messenger compounds, being produced all the time and communicating to cells all throughout our body. As well as affecting our cells, all of these hormones interplay with each other, like in an orchestra. Even one night of poor sleep proceeds to affect cortisol, leptin, ghrelin and insulin. These hormones influence our antioxidant status, inflammation, hunger cues, blood sugar and much more. And on it gradually goes, so that chronic poor sleep affects all of our body’s functions. Give yourself the best possible chance of feeling centred, strong and ready to take on the day by setting aside 9 hours to unwind, rest, sleep and slowly awake in the morning.
5. Remember to breathe!
Linda Stone, a former executive at Apple, coined the term “email apnea” which describes our tendency to stop breathing or to take very shallow breaths while reading emails or while completing other work on our devices. I find I do this all the time, either from intense concentration or from overwhelm, and was somewhat amused and concerned to find that it is “a thing”. Shallow breathing communicates to our nervous system that we are under threat, and regardless of whether we are in danger or not, our body starts to coordinate some level of a stress response. Considering how much time most of us spend in front of our computer screens, email apnea is important to address!
Anytime you find yourself feeling stressed, whether in front of a screen or not, check in with your breath – lengthen and deepen it if you need to. To lift my spirits, I really like to visualise sending my breath into my heart as I inhale; to enhance this, you can put your hand over your heart, and maybe close your eyes. After a few breaths like this, I always feel more at peace. It takes you out of your head, where all of the worries live, and into your body, which is steady and stable and always there for you.
6. Set boundaries
Minimise overwhelm and therefore stress by setting boundaries around the amount of work you take on, the people you spend your time with and the type of behaviour you are willing to accept from others. Say no to things that will make you feel stressed. Ask for help when you need it. In our society we have been conditioned to believe that we always need to be doing more and achieving more – when really, we need to ensure we carve out enough time to rest, relax and rejuvenate. Do not feel bad for saying no when you already feel overstretched.
7. Clean the clutter
Living in a cluttered environment has been identified as a source of stress, and is associated with higher cortisol levels. For some of us, the feeling is palpable: our mounds of belongings and stacks of papers cause us frustration, or remind us of unfinished projects and other things we need to do, yet may be avoiding because they are unpleasant or time-consuming. Do yourself a favour and prioritise getting things in order! Ensure your home and workspace are places that you enjoy spending time, and do not make you grimace when you lay eyes on them.
8. An acceptance mindset
The advice to “just be positive” is not helpful. What can be helpful, albeit difficult to take on board, is the advice to accept what you cannot change. We spend so much energy resisting situations in our life, trying to force them to be different, and then we feel stressed when they are not as we would like them to be. Instead, we should acknowledge what it is we are feeling, what we are scared of, what we are nervous about, and then focus on what we can control – our own beliefs and responses to situations. If we choose to look for the lessons within our challenges, they instantly become less scary, and actually provide us with a feeling of empowerment.
Everyone’s experience of life is different – stress affects us in different ways – and so different approaches to calm will help each of us. See if any of the above resonates with you, work on integrating one tip at a time to see how it feels, and know that there are many other options too. A nutritionist or naturopath can help uncover your body’s own specific needs and assist in recovering your wellbeing by using personalised dietary advice, nutritional supplementation, herbal medicine and lifestyle guidance to support the health of your nervous system and bolster your ability to respond to stress. Get in touch if this is something you would like assistance with.
This article is intended to provide information, not medical advice. Always speak to your professional healthcare provider before beginning a supplement program or attempting to treat a medical condition.