Strategy for Feeling Instantly Calmer

You can use this strategy when you’re feeling

– anxious,
– tense, and/or
– overly sped up, or like your thoughts and feelings are racing.

An emotion is essentially just a set of physiological responses.

When you are feeling a strong emotion, try asking yourself where you are feeling the emotion most prominently in your body?

It could be your temples, your chest, your jaw, your toes, or anywhere.

Once you have identified the spot in your body where you can feel the emotion most prominently, try slowly breathing into, and out from, that spot.

Keep slowly breathing into, and out from, the area of tension… and here’s the important bit… until you feel like you have given up struggling against feeling the emotion.

Whatever emotion you are feeling is ok, because your emotions are no threat to you.
There is really no choice but to feel whatever you are feeling in this moment, because whatever emotion it is has already arrived.

Aim for slow, smooth breaths.

Each time you breathe out, notice how your body NATURALLY relaxes on each OUT breathe.

Your body naturally relaxes on each out breath on its own. You don’t particularly need to do anything, but if you tune into this natural release of tension, you can use it to help feel calmer. (If you haven’t noticed this before, try lying on your bed, breathing, and noticing how your body sinks a little bit into the bed on each out breath. You don’t have to TRY to relax because your body does it on its own on each out breath.)

More here.