No matter how confident or accomplished you are, we ALL have feelings of anxiety, fear or feeling provoked. The good news is that you can hack your brain for inner calm. All you need is a little bit of knowledge and some practice, and you can become a master of inner peace. Here are 3 ways to hack your brain for inner calm!

1. Understand “Fight or Flight”

 “Fight or flight” describes how the body’s natural reaction to stressful situations. Just as labeled, when faced with perceived danger your brain decides to flee the scene (flight) or take action (fight). On a fundamental level, this explains why you react a certain way in order to survive: in earlier times we had to be ready to quickly run from a saber tooth tiger or fight off invading tribes. In modern life, “fight or flight” is largely irrelevant.

The problem is, when our brain perceives or believes there is danger (even if those perceptions or beliefs are inaccurate – say, when someone is rude to us on social media – our brains programming still reacts as though we were being physically attacked: our body may tense up, our heart might start racing and we might begin sweating – all very appropriate responses if we had to fight or run… but dysfunctional and harmful if we are simply in an argument with a stranger on social media.

The hack is to monitor your body for “body signs” of stress such as shallow or faster breathing, a faster heartrate, a taste of metal our sourness in your mouth, tense shoulder or stomach muscles: all signs you are experiencing stress.  Next ask yourself, “Is this really life or death? Or should I calm down and realize it will be okay?” If someone has simply honked their car horn at you in anger, if a loved one snapped at you or if you made a simple mistake at work you can reassure your brain – and yourself – that there is no need to run or fight..

2. Identify and Call Out Your Emotions 

Detaching from your emotions is suggested by a great many psychologists and meditation teachers for mastering the art of staying calm. We’re humans, so we will inevitably experience difficult feelings in the future, including anxiety, fear or feeling provoked. That being said, we can choose to observe these feelings rather than giving in, obsessing or attaching to them. The hack is, when you feel a surge of anger, call it out! Say, in your mind our out loud to yourself “That’s anger I’m feeling. I’m angry because of [name the event or circumstance]. Okay, my feelings are valid. I have a right to feel this way. AND… this feeling will pass. I won’t feel like this forever.” Be sure to validate your feelings rather than dismiss them. Your emotions are real, and it is okay that you’re feeling them! 

3. Breathe

There is incredible power in how we breathe. In fact our breathing is often a body sign that shows stress, becoming shallower, quicker, tighter or occurring through clenched teeth or jaw.  The hack is: begin to focus on your breath. Sometimes, all you need to do is breathe. Connect to your breath. Count your breaths. Slow it and make it deeper.  Feel grateful for your awareness and, literally, for your breath. The important thing is simply taking longer, deeper and fuller breaths.

As we mentioned with “fight or flight,” the body reacts to stress and adverse events. We may choke up, forget to breathe, or breathe super heavily. All of those things for a vicious cycle increasing stress, which then decreases and quickens our breath and impacts our mind. This is a very powerful technique. Remember, the next time you feel anxiety, fear or feeling provoked calm down quickly by focusing on your breath.

Conclusion

These are our favorite 3 ways to hack your brain for inner calm. Add in what you notice about yourself when you’re stressed, how you realize you have entered into “fight or flight” mode and how YOU address your stress!

Then, if you’re ready to take it to even the next level, both watch this space OR reach out for life coaching: addressing stress is huge. PREVENTING or hacking your life so that stressful situations stop happening is the whole next level! We’ll address that in future articles AND can work directly with you when you reach out for coaching!

If you are ready to discover your life’s passion and develop it into the career you have always wanted, reach out now! I have led thousands of people in reaching dreams just like yours. I KNOW you’re capable of reaching any success you dream of with the help of my coaching. Reach out now and I’ll even offer you the first session for free!

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