How to keep your composure when you’re agitated

Staying calm before an important meeting or after learning unpleasant news can be difficult. But it’s not always possible to release steam or give in to feelings. Here are some ways to keep your composure when the situation you find yourself in makes you worry.

7 tips to keep your composure

1. Identify your triggers to predict excitement

Although anxiety is quite common, the types of situations that cause anxiety can vary significantly from person to person. By taking some time to identify your triggers, you can easily anticipate when anxiety may occur and prepare for how to deal with it. Some common factors that can cause anxiety include meeting new people and starting conversations, achieving good results at work, being alone, managing your finances, thinking about illnesses or accidents, and confronting other people, including friends and family members. Also, attempts to do something new and mistakes in crowded places, confined spaces, or at a height can cause excitement.

2. Use your feelings to stay in the present

When you’re faced with anxiety, it can feel like you can’t escape your thoughts. Your thoughts spiral and become fixed on the negative, whether it’s the uncertainty of the future or the mistakes of the past. Instead of thinking for a long time about the unpredictability of the coming days or aspects beyond your control, try to ground yourself in the certainty of the present moment. This practice can interrupt disturbing thoughts and help you focus on what is before you again.

Use your senses to anchor yourself in the present and ease stress and anxiety. Look around you: What do you see? Please pay attention to nearby light sources and the shadows they cast. You might notice two people sitting together on a bench and thinking about who they are to each other and how they feel. Listen carefully: Visit. A F R I N I K .C O M .For the full article. What sounds are coming from nearby? Perhaps a song is playing on the radio, which is a great reason to try to identify the instruments involved. Enjoy the melody or the singing accompanying the music. All this will help to reduce the intensity of excitement and approach the situation in which you find yourself more rationally and judiciously.

3. Approach the excitement consciously

When you feel that the excitement is increasing, your immediate reaction may be to fight this feeling or try to suppress it. The best action is avoiding triggers, whether they be heights, social events, or public speaking. However, it is not always possible to distance yourself from what causes excitement, so you need to know the right approach. It involves adjusting your relationship with your thoughts, emotions, and experiences. Instead of fighting or running away from excitement, develop an unbiased awareness of your feelings.

This lets you gradually replace the unpleasant feeling with a more constructive state of mind—curiosity. Unlike excitement, curiosity will enable you to feel open and present, and it can help you overcome obsessive thoughts and get rid of anxiety cycles. The next time you get excited, try to find something that will arouse your curiosity and make your brain work differently: not to make negative assumptions but to look for a new experience at the moment based on the language of facts and evidence.

4. Control your breathing to relieve tension

Various breathing exercises can be practical in dealing with anxiety. Regulating breathing triggers a biological reaction that leads to calmness. When exhalations are more extended than inhales, the heart rate slows, and the nervous system activates, initiating a “rest and digest” reaction instead of a “fight or flight” reaction. One simple and quick breathing exercise involves inhaling for four counts and then exhaling, during which you need to count to eight.

This pattern should be repeated for several minutes. You will notice how the physical tension decreases and the mind calms. The 4-4-8 breathing technique is no less compelling. It consists of the following steps: exhale, count to four, directing the air into the stomach. Hold your breath and count to four again. Then, exhale, count to eight, and repeat these steps several times.

5. Be smart by using distractions

Sometimes, taking your mind off a situation that makes you worry for a while is helpful. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your emotions or trapped in a cycle of reflection that only makes unpleasant feelings worse, it’s important to find something to switch to. But still, you need to remain reasonable when choosing what to distract yourself with so that it doesn’t turn into a suppression of emotions.

The main difference between engaging in a healthy distraction and trying to hide the excitement in your soul is how you feel after you’ve given yourself a break. Therefore, if you are hesitant to return to the real world or notice that your emotions are getting worse rather than better, it’s time to stop being distracted and start actively working on the problem.

6. Challenge negative thoughts

Sometimes, by taking time to confront thoughts that cause your anxiety to grow at an incredible rate, you can look at the situation from a different perspective, thereby alleviating anxiety and fear. Rethinking negative thoughts can involve several steps: first, recognize when they arise. You may have unpleasant thoughts during the workday, saying to yourself, “If I don’t finish this project by tonight, my boss will fire me.”

Then, find evidence to support your thought. Ask yourself: Is that for sure? Think about it: are there any prerequisites that make your fear justified? Has your supervisor ever threatened to fire you for similar problems? Have any of your colleagues been fired for similar reasons? Then, look for evidence that says your fears are unfounded.

For example, your supervisor might have recently praised your work ethic or indicated that the deadline for completing a project could be extended. Replace negative thoughts with more positive or neutral ones. Tell yourself, “My boss won’t fire me for being late. He will understand the reasons for the delay, and he also appreciates me as an employee.” Also, take a proactive approach. If you think your concerns are justified, take steps to eliminate them.

7. Accept the uncertainty

As individuals, we often find ourselves in intriguing but difficult situations. Although our minds are attuned to resisting uncertainty, we also exist in a reality where, at a fundamental level, everything in our lives is inherently uncertain. We can never be entirely sure what the future holds for us, and even our most carefully thought-out plans can quickly come crashing down. Resisting this uncertainty often prolongs our suffering by reinforcing complex emotions.

However, if you learn to navigate life with uncertainty and ambiguity, you can gain a sense of peace and experience less excitement. This does not imply a life devoid of disappointment, sadness, or anger but rather the acceptance of the full range of emotions and experiences as integral parts of your existence. Instead of expecting something specific from the future, you can focus on how you will create the desired experience. This will not only take away the excitement but also turn it into motivation and hope, which are necessary to achieve more.