How to keep calm, even when there’s chaos all around

Making sense of chaos isn’t necessarily the easiest and it doesn’t really matter whether the chaos is outside in the world or inside your own head. Sometimes there’s just so much that you can’t hear yourself think. You feel like you’re drowning in a sea and no one is there to throw you a life-jacket. There’s no space to breathe, you feel suffocated with so much ‘stuff’ going on that you can’t separate the important stuff from the noise to move forward with anything. You just feel stuck!  

Does anyone else ever feel like that? 

I’m not sure if it’s lockdown getting to me, or just me being unconsciously super-stressed, but recently that’s exactly how I’ve been feeling. There is so much noise in my head.  

It’s full of ideas, worries, thoughts and anxiety I actually feel like my brain is almost, if not completely full … 

… To the point that ‘a wafer thin mint’ could be very dangerous … (any Monty Python fans reading this will get that reference 👍)  

But whether it’s outside noise or ‘inside-your-head’ noise, how can we find our way back to a sense of calm, focus and more importantly, sanity? 

Ways of making sense of chaos

Switch off

Both the news and social media are very draining with the amount of negativity and sometimes nastiness they contain. And it’s constant! 

So, I don’t know about you, darlings, but I find having 24 hours away from any kind of news, social media and yes sometimes even people can be very refreshing. 

It gives you time to recharge and not carry the weight of the world’s problems on your shoulders. I mean, let’s face it, we’ve got enough of our own problems. 

As well as switching off from the online world, sometimes I find it’s also healthy to have what my friend used to call ‘a mental health day’. A day off work, a day off everything, where you can just relax and concentrate on you and your needs. 

[I have yet to manage a ‘mental health day’, every time I try I find more mundane stuff from my never-ending to-do list that I get sucked into doing!!] 

Exercise

Exercise is good for mind, body and soul and so a great way of making sense of chaos. But, you have to enjoy the exercise you’re doing, otherwise it won’t do any good at all. 

If you can find an exercise you enjoy that can be done outside, even better, seeing as getting out in the fresh air also helps blow the cobwebs away. 

We’ve been extremely lucky to have had such wonderful weather over the past couple of months, even though the downside is that we’ve only been allowed outside once a day to exercise and not meet up with friends. 

My exercise methods

Although I exercise every day, mixing it up from my workout DVD collection, I wanted to try and get a bit more fresh air, so my sister suggested I try the ’Couch to 5k’ challenge. 

I duly downloaded the app and went out first thing in the morning, and I mean first thing, usually 6am, and followed the dulcet tones of my chosen trainer telling me when to walk and when to jog. 

But do you know what? I realised after 3 morning I really HATE running. I do not see the point. It does nothing but leave me cold, and I ended up feeling hot and flustered. 

So, I knocked that challenge on the head, BUT I still go out three mornings a week on a very long walk, usually about 5 miles. 

I enjoy walking. It’s not going to injure my knees like running. I get just as much exercise, especially if I start pumping my arms. (I have occasionally been known to start throwing some arm toning exercises into the mix as well).  

But more importantly, the slower pace gives me time to relax, switch off, and try and work through some of the rubbish that has built up. 

Get creative

However you want to express yourself, be it through writing, painting or even interpretive dance, getting creative can help reduce the noise and chaos as it helps you work through and express your feelings. 

Obviously my chosen creative medium is writing! And this specific article is a small attempt to help me work through the noise, making sense of the chaos, by helping you. 

I’ve always found writing helps me work through … well, anything! 

In fact, it was through writing about my feelings in my very first personal development blog that made me realise how much I loved writing, so much, that I changed careers! 

Breathe

I have written previously on the powers of transformational breathing, which I found absolutely amazing and the powers of breathing consciously. 

It’s amazing how just simply taking time to focus on our breathing can calm us down and bring our focus back. 

Just the simple task of breathing in and breathing out, and becoming aware of our own breath can, temporarily, be all you need to calm the mind. 

Remember, all you have to do is breathe in and breathe out. 

Until next time darlings, let’s try and keep the noise to a minimum. 

Claire 

Xx