Incorporating Calm Into Your Day

Quick tips to instill peace.

Deadlines, phone calls, meetings, family commitments. The list of reasons to feel stressed is virtually endless. It can feel like a heroic feat to make it through the day without simply melting down.

Apart from wanting to make you scream, stress takes its toll on you physically and mentally. Even short periods of stress can lead to trouble sleeping, irritability, headaches, fatigue, inability to concentrate and other, well, stressful side effects. Managing your stress level is key to managing your health and life.

Finding Calm Amid the Fray
The Dalai Lama said, "If your mind is scattered, it is quite powerless.” Fortunately, regaining control and power over your mind doesn’t require giving up your worldly goods for a Buddhist monk lifestyle (although some say that’s not a bad option).

Here are some simple things you can incorporate into your daily routine and interactions to bring more calm into your life:

When feeling overwhelmed:

• Choose one simple task from your to-do list that you’ve been putting off and do it immediately. Even small accomplishments can bring you a surprisingly large emotional reward.
• Take a break. Yes, it seems counterintuitive, but simply getting up and walking away from your desk to either get a drink of water (always a good idea) or to step outside (an even better idea) will help to restore your sense of perspective and bring you calm. As you walk away and return to your desk, make it a point to breathe slowly and in sync with your steps.

When faced with a stressful situation:

• Take three slow, deep breaths before responding. Try to mentally step back from the moment and put it in a bigger context.
• When responding to the situation, strive to speak more slowly than you usually might. This will allow you to be a bit more thoughtful with your response and perhaps prevent making an already stressful situation even more stressful.

While these small efforts won’t make all your work and responsibilities disappear, they can conjure up just enough calm to make it all more manageable.