One way to instantly trigger a calming response in a chaotic situation is by taking deep breaths. It works more efficiently than you think.  An effective breathing exercise is box breathing: take a deep breath in through your nose to a count of 4, hold for a count of 4, release the breath through your mouth to a count of 4, hold for a count of 4.  Do your breathing while visualizing these 4 count cycles in the shape of a box.

Keep your eyes and heart focused on little things you can do to add value to the world each day.  It could be a kind word over Messenger, a quick phone call, or baking banana bread with the kids. Visualizing a positive outcome is an effective way to create calm and inner peace.

Take a quick four-minute break from your work to listen to your favorite song. You’ll probably find that it will calm you down, pump you up, or bring back great memories.

When you are seeing negative messages all around us in the news on social media and in our community and you begin to feel overwhelmed, take a step away from all the messages. When you do, you’ll regain the clarity you need to continue.

Take a minute to walk outside and breathe in the fresh air. This will help you reconnect briefly with nature and revitalize you!

Especially right now, when we are all practicing social distancing, it’s important that we connect with family and friends. There are so many ways to do this: telephone, video conferencing, facetime, messenger chat etc. We can physically distance ourselves without socially distancing ourselves from the people who support us.

Laughter is one of the best medicines. Taking time to laugh with others, or even by yourself, can help to alleviate physical and emotional stress.  Even during times of uncertainty and chaos around you, finding ways to bring laughter into your life will help you to create some joy.

Flexing those muscles and moving your body around is a great way to relieve some of the tension built up in your muscles. Whether it’s yoga, going for a walk, or just dancing to your favourite tunes, moving your body has an almost magical way to not only relieve physical tension, but melt your mental and emotional stress away.

Writing your thoughts and feelings down can be cathartic and help relieve tension.  Journaling what you are grateful for at the end of each day, not only helps you focus on the positives in your life, but will have you looking for and focusing on things to be grateful for during the day.

Train your subconscious brain to have a different default thinking than it does now ~ use I AM statements such as I AM HEALTHY, I AM SAFE to change the negative and fearful thoughts that are so easy to default to in times of chaos and crisis.