It often happens when you are so angry or anxious you either feel like turning into Hulk mode & go ‘Smash-smash,’ or you often feel like crying & yelling like a lunatic to vent yourself out. It is natural to feel angry, sad, worried, or anxious in this highly stressful world. No matter how hard you try, sometimes those negative emotions start bubbling up, but no matter what, you can’t let those get the best of you. In such cases, you must follow some Ways to Calm Yourself Down.
Anger is possibly the hardest emotion to conquer, as it feels the most justified. Our anger is frequently a reaction to an infringement of our values, norms, or boundaries. But anger is, in fact, a secondary emotion. It is the default emotion we convey when trying to express another primary feeling, such as fear or sadness.
Ways to Calm Yourself Down
1. Keep Breathing
Breathing is the primary & one of the most effective Ways to Calm Yourself Down. When you are worried or heated, you are likely to take quick, shallow breaths. This sends a message to your brain, creating a positive feedback loop triggering your fight-or-flight reaction. That’s why taking long, deep, relaxed breaths interrupts that loop & helps you to calm down.
There are different breathing methods to allow you to calm down. One is the process of three-part breathing. Three-part breathing needs you to take one deep breath in & then exhale it entirely while being aware of your body.
Once you get relaxed with deep breathing, you can modify the percentage of inhalation & exhalation to 1:2. In that process; you slow down your exhalation so that it’s almost twice long as your inhalation.
2. Close Your Eyes For A While
Almost 80 % of sensory stimulus enters through the eyes, so shutting them for a while when you feel those negative emotions offers your brain a much-needed break.
It is evident that extremely sensitive persons do better if they can relax in bed with their eyes closed for at least nine hours. We don’t need to be sleeping. Just lying down with our eyes closed helps us get some quiet time that we need when surrounded by various hardships & stimulations.
3. Meditate
Meditation is one of the great answers to the question of How to calm yourself down. It is an excellent way to learn to control your thoughts & disconnect from the initial angry or anxious trigger.
Mindfulness helps us to observe the thoughts without attachment & learn what they are trying to communicate. You can recognize the primary feeling in that way.
4. Try Five-Second Wall Push
The wall push is particularly helpful for people with sensory incorporation problems. You push against the wall with flat palms & feet placed on the floor for 5 to 10 seconds.
If you have ever had an experience of earthquake, you can understand why this stance is beneficial & calming — putting the weight of our body against a firm, static surface & feeling the pull of gravity is steadying, even on an intuitive level.
5. Try To Change The Scenario
Try to change the setting that makes you nervous, sad, angry, or worried. When you are watching your bodily reactions telling you, you may burst out at any moment, excuse yourself & resort to another room. Or go out to a park & walk for some time.
Changing the scene will not only help you to calm yourself down, but it will also help to prevent any undesired or negative actions or words from your side.
6. Try To Laugh
Ever had that moment when something ridiculous made you laugh, even when you were in a bad mood? It can be proved to be a turning point in your mood. Keep a list of TV shows, cartoon shows, comedy specials, or other resources when you need a laugh to get out of the bad mood.
When you feel like yelling at or abusing someone, go to a streaming app & start an episode of your favorite Tom & Jerry or Donald Duck. It may seem a little forced or silly initially but keep watching. After some time, you will find your mood is becoming lighter.
7. Do Something Not Connected To Work
The most challenging task is calming yourself down in the workplace. If you find yourself triggered or upset during some meeting or another situation where you can’t leave, try to do something else.
In virtual meetings, you can go off-camera, browse the internet, draw, or squeeze a stress ball. For real conference room meetings, massage the palm of your hands or flex your toes individually. You can also try mindful, deep breathing without anyone noticing. Try to divert your mind from the issue.
8. Do Something You Like
Doing something you like is one of the excellent Ways to Calm Yourself Down. When anger or sadness is brewing inside, you can try to turn to your gaming console & try to finish that level you have been trying to win for the last five days. Or you can pick up a book & start reading.
Some people stream their favorite videos, while some pick up their headphones & start to listen to music. These things you like to do can miraculously affect your mood.
Resorting to your hobbies is like medicine for a bad mood. If you find yourself in such a situation next time, never hesitate to pick up the spatula to cook the new dish you saw on the internet or a trowel to tend the plants in your tub. Your mood, your call.
9. Seek For Help
If you have been diagnosed with stress, depression, or any other type of mood disorder & you are feeling off, you can try to reach out to someone you trust. Maybe some friend or family member. Talk to them & communicate your issues. Sometimes, venting off can produce excellent results. But be careful not to be rude to them. With their help & insights, you may benefit a lot.
If that is not working, try to get some professional help. Luckily, mental health is getting attention & people are getting more concerned about the issue. An expert psychologist or counselor can teach you how to maintain & care for your emotional health.
Is It Normal To Feel Overwhelmed?
Let’s admit none of us has achieved the Zen like Buddha & there is nothing to be ashamed of. You live in a highly competitive & fast-paced world where a simple miscalculation can bring disaster.
Challenges & hardships are everywhere in your personal life & professional life. You need to meet the deadlines, achieve the target, finish the presentation & need to take care of some ailing family member, pay taxes or shop for groceries. There are many things on your to-do list & at the end of the day, you find some of them are unchecked.
Feeling angry, sad, or worried is entirely normal in such situations. All these are part of human feelings, you can’t separate them from yourself. In such a situation, you must follow some Ways to Calm Yourself Down to ensure negative emotions get the better of you or make you act in some way you regret later.
FAQs
Q: How to calm down if everything is going south?
A: There are several Ways to Calm Yourself Down in such a situation. Just remember, setbacks are temporary & with determination, you can overcome them.
Q: I find myself getting irritated often; what should I do?
A: You must try to find the triggers that make you feel in such ways. Treat them accordingly.
Q: Some of my colleagues in the workplace are getting on my nerves; what do I do?
A: Try to find out the reasons for conflicts & disagreements with them over a cup of coffee. Then try to find some solution.
