I have already shared with you what helps me calm down in unusual new living conditions. The first part of my note is about bodily practices (grounding techniques). If you immediately came to this page, then I recommend starting reading from the first part. So, when the life scenario “everything is going according to plan” suddenly breaks down for reasons beyond our control, our psyche naturally reacts with increasing tension. “This is a turn ...”, - My brain froze in complete bewilderment when it dawned on me that he had been granted an extraordinary vacation. And no one needs his professional competencies in the near future. And no one knows when this crisis period will end. The uncertainty of the future is always perceived as a threat and increases anxiety! Therefore, in the second part we will talk about how to distract the brain from heavy thoughts and not allow internal anxiety to drag us into the anxious swamp of images of the impending apocalypse that appear in our heads. So, way to calm down number two is DISTRACT THE BRAIN - that’s what I call the first technique. And here, based on the mood and atmosphere, can be classified anything that is associated with repetitive actions. When I'm at home and time allows, I take colored pencils and a coloring book with mandalas. And that’s all: let the whole world wait! My hands are busy, and so is my brain. I also really like to crochet: for example, napkins are the same mandala, only made of yarn. I came to the conclusion that at such moments the main thing is not to start a big thing. A napkin, a cover for a stool, a small rug for your feet - something that can really be completed in one or three approaches. This is a strong argument for the psyche: a short “race” where the start line and the finishing red ribbon are visible at the same time. The art of small steps, have you heard? And if outside the house. For example, I’m stuck somewhere waiting in line for an appointment (bank, insurance, municipality), then I try with my eyes to find something that has a repeating pattern and transfer it to a notebook. It could be anything: tiles on the floor or bars on the window. In Portugal, these are ceramics on the walls, each with a unique pattern. I really love the colorful azulejo patterns and sometimes post photos with them on my Instagram* (click on the insta icon to the right of the article) When drawing is not an option, you can keep your brain busy with counting. It's as simple as that: add nine (or any other single-digit number) to zero for as long as you can until you lose count. Zero, nine, eighteen, twenty-seven. Simple and effective: the brain can’t count and think at the same time. And I just recently discovered the unloading effect of writing. Yes! Don’t be surprised: I alternately write the same phrase with my right and left hands in a column under each other on a notebook sheet. The task of writing words with your NOT dominant (for me, left) hand is not as simple as it seems. At first it seemed that this was completely unrealistic. However, the brain gets distracted by a non-routine task and loses sight of the disturbing thoughts. The mechanism is simple! Anxiety is always in the future: “How will it all work out?” This understanding of anxiety is very close to me: “Anxiety is interest paid on a problem before it occurs.” Anxiety is empty worries about something that may never happen. Therefore, it is extremely important, in moments when anxious thoughts overwhelm you, to return to the present as quickly as possible, to teleport to the “here and now.” What actually happens during writing. And if you also write some life-affirming phrases, such as life is wonderful, everything is passing and this will pass, better days ahead, then the letter works as self-hypnosis, especially when you turn on your left hand. These are my personal observations. I would be grateful if you share your experience in the comments to this post. And I’ll leave the third way to calm down, the most powerful one, “for dessert.” Read about breathing exercises that are guaranteed to return you to calmness here.* Instagram belongs to Meta, which is recognized as an extremist organization in Russia.