How to Calm Nerves

culled  from:wikihow.com

Method 1 of 3: Calming Your Mind

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   Make a list of things that are causing you to feel stressed. Identifying what it is that is causing your nerves to fray can help you better manage your stress by developing strategies. Some of these stressors will be external (such as dealing with a looming deadline at work), while other will originate from within (like feelings of inadequacy).
   • It is important to realize that while stress cannot be eliminated from our lives entirely, it ‘’’can’’’ be managed. Some management techniques may be asking for help from co-workers or practicing assertiveness. Other techniques may include meditation or exercise, and it is important to find what techniques work best for you
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      Practice mindfulness. Mindfulness can be practiced anywhere, at any time. It involves slowing down to notice your surroundings, engaging your senses, and avoiding judgments. It is about truly experiencing the current moment, no matter how ordinary. Here are a few examples of simple mindfulness exercises:
      • Pick a flower and examine it. Look at the shapes and colors of the petals. Smell the fragrance of the flower. Feel the ground under you feet and the wind around your face.
      • Eat a meal mindfully. Smell the aroma of your meal. Look at the steam rising and swirling. Feel the textures of your food and taste the depths of flavor.
      • Shower mindfully. Feel the temperature of the water. Listen to the sounds the water makes as it hits the floor. Inhale the steam and feel the water trickle off your back.^[2]
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      Try some meditation. Meditation helps to focus your thoughts on the present moment without any worry about the past or the future. Awareness of your breath and body posture centers you in the moment. There is no “right” way to meditate, but there are some basic practices you can try.
      • Locate a quiet, private place to meditate. Be sure that you can mediate uninterrupted for a minimum of ten minutes. Absolute silence is not necessary as ambient noises (traffic, people outside, barking dogs) are part of the present moment.
      • Find a comfortable position to rest. This may be sitting or lying down on the floor. Close your eyes or allow your eyes to gaze towards the floor.
      • Pay attention to your breath. Feel it fill your lungs as you slowly inhale, and notice it push out of your diaphragm as you exhale. Try counting your breaths backwards from ten to one. When you’ve reached one, begin at ten again.
      • As thoughts or feelings enter into your mind as you meditate, let them pass through without judgment. Focusing on your breath will help keep you from getting caught up on any one thought. If your mind wanders, or if you become distracted, just return to focusing on your breath.^[3]
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      Try out a guided visualization exercise. Visualizing yourself in a comfortable and relaxing place, like on a tropical beach, can help calm nerves and improve your mood. A simple technique, it can be done anywhere and requires only your imagination. Here are some steps to guided visualization:
      • Find a comfortable position in a quiet, private place. Closing your eyes helps you block out your surroundings and focus on creating another space.
      • Take a few deep breaths. Begin to imagine yourself in a relaxing setting. This may be a warm beach, a lush tropical rainforest, or a gently rolling meadow.
      • Begin adding details to your scene. Visualize a path through the meadow or forest. What do the trees look like? Are there clouds in the sky? Can you feel the breeze on your skin?
      • Maintain slow breathing. When you are ready to come out of your visualization, slowly begin to listen to the sounds of the room and street. Open your eyes slowly.^[4]

   Method 2 of 3: Calming Your Body

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      Listen to some music. Calming classical music or jazz has been shown to lower heart rate and blood pressure and decrease stress hormones. There is evidence to suggest that, in therapeutic situations, music can be more effective at prompting relaxation than verbal stimuli (which is distracting) because music is processed primarily in the non-verbal sections of our brains. .^[5]
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      Get some exercise! Going for a run, doing some jumping-jacks, and lifting weights all help relive stress by releasing endorphins—brain chemicals that elevate mood, beef up our body’s immune systems, and ease feelings of physical pain.^[6]Exercise also allows us to feel like we are in control of our situation, even though we may not be in control of things that cause us stress.
      • Restorative yoga poses, such as the child’s pose or the corpse pose, may ease stress by helping to focus on the breath and promoting total physical relaxation. Power poses such as the eagle pose help ease stress by focusing the practitioner on balance while stretching tight shoulders and backs.^[7]
      • Dancing is another great way to release those endorphins and calm your nerves. Dance has many health benefits, including better physical fitness and increased memory (think about all those ballet positions!), but is also valuable as a social activity. Whether you are learning in a class or dancing with a partner, you are interacting socially, and endorphins and good mood tend to be shared among social dancers.^[8]
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      Smell your way to relaxation. Aromatherapy utilizes essential oil derived from various herbs, fruits, bark, and flowers to affect mood. Aromatherapy works through your smell receptors to affect the brain’s limbic system (which support a variety of functions including emotion, behavior, and motivation). Lavender and lemon are two of the most popular oils used for relaxation and stress relief. Conduct some research, or talk to an aromatherapy specialist to determine which additional scents or blends might work for you.
      • In an aromatherapeutic massage, the essential oil is placed in “carrier oil”—an unscented or lightly scented oil—that is safe for skin application. As the massage oil is heated through the friction of the massage, the aroma of the essential oil fills the air.
      • Aromatherapy burners can be purchased and placed in any room in the house. Some are plugged into outlets, while others fit around the tops of lamp light bulbs. The heat from the bulb releases the calming essential oil scent into the room.^[9]
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      Have a (healthy) snack. Eating the right foods can not only make us feel good and satisfied, but can also help elevate our moods. When we are stressed our bodies secrete hormones that affect mood. Foods that contain vitamin B and folic acid help fight stress as those minerals are needed for the production of serotonin—our brain’s happy chemical. Try eating some of the following superfoods for a little mood boost:
      • Blueberries are high in vitamin C—a major stress-fighter. Try them in a smoothie, on top of some granola, or even on their own.
      • Gnawing on some raw almonds may help get some aggression out. They are also a rich source of vitamin B2 and E, which, like vitamin C has been shown to fight free radicals associated both with stress and disease.
      • Asparagus is high in both vitamin B and folic acid. This high-fiber green is great in salads and pastas, and makes a great side dish simply steamed with a squeeze of lemon and dash of salt.^[10]

   Method 3 of 3: Calming Through Connection

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   Call a friend. Talking about what is bothering you or causing you stress can help put the problem in perspective. Getting feedback from a friend or loved one can also normalize the issue, making you feel less alone. Be sure to choose the right person to talk to: if your stress comes from a family issue, perhaps talk to a close, trusted friend.^[11]
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   Hug a pet. Simply playing with you dog or cat can elevate levels of serotonin and dopamine—nerve chemicals that elevate mood and create feelings of euphoria. Just a few minutes petting your animal can lower your blood pressure and heart rate.^[12]
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   Laugh with others. Whether it’s a short 2-minute video of a cat wearing pants or a feature length comedy, laughing by yourself, or (preferably) with others. Laughing, surprisingly, has a good many health benefits:
   • Laughter stimulates many organs. When we laugh we take in more oxygen than usual, and that stimulates the heart, lungs, and muscles.
   • A hearty laugh both fires up and cools down the body’s stress responses. Increased heart rate and blood pressure lead to a state of relaxation in much the same way as rest after exercise.
   • Laughing increases positive thoughts, leading to the release of stress and disease-fighting neuropeptides.
   • Laughter itself increases mood and leads to feelings of enhanced interpersonal connection when shared with others