Tips for Staying Calm

1. Walk more slowly. Whenever you catch yourself rushing around, slow down. Relax your jaw, drop your shoulders and breathe. If you have to move more quickly, try to do it in this more relaxed way.

2.Talk more slowly.  Allow yourself to pause and take a breath between sentences or thoughts. When listening, breathe, let yourself take in all of your experience of the other person.

3. When the phone rings, take a deep breath before answering.

4.Take time each day to be still, take three deep breaths: inhale for 4 counts through your nose,  hold  it for 7 counts,  then exhale through your mouth with sound for 7 counts. Notice how your body feels afterward.

5. Use transitions, like travel time to and from work, to notice how your body is feeling. Observe if there is tension and use your breath to release those areas.

6. Go outside at least once during the day.  Pay attention to the weather and how your body reacts to it.  Look up at the sky, feel the temperature and notice the sensation of the air on your skin.

7. Add something beautiful to your life, a flower or photo, in the space you occupy the most during the day.  Take a picture of one of your favorite places, such as your garden, the ocean, a landscape.

8. Read a line or a paragraph from a favorite uplifting book in the morning or evening.

9. At days’ end, think of one thing you learned or are grateful for.

10. My favorite breathing CD’s are by Jon Kabat-Zinn. It’s a set of 3 CD’s-one is  called : Body scan- he guides you through your body by using your breath .