Ways to calm our body in election season
The first step to making a difference in bringing focus to our own body and mind
Hello, dear friends,
If you are in the U.S. (and I am too), it feels like a tense time. Less than 10 days away is a major election, and a lot is at stake. So many of us are worried. I listened to a radio broadcast the other day in which the journalists were sharing how many people didn’t want to talk to them about their thoughts and feelings around the election, because they were scared about how family, friends, or other people would react. One of the journalists remarked that she had never seen this before in an election.
How do we calm our bodies when we feel fearful or worried?
How do we prevent ourselves from being in a state of chronic stress?
Here are a couple of techniques I use often — not just for election season, but anytime I feel my body getting riled up in a way that’s not useful right then.
As always, I’m not a doctor or a nurse or a medical professional of any kind. I’m sharing my own experiences, which may differ from yours; none of this is medical advice. Please talk to a healthcare professional if you have questions about your specific and wonderful body.
Use breathing to help your body switch gears
Breathing sounds like such a simple thing, and perhaps you’ve already heard this a hundred times, but I’m human and need reminders, and maybe you do, too: Deliberate breathing exercises can be effective and fast at calming our body down.
When we are stressed, our sympathetic nervous sytem is activated, increasing our heart rate and readying our bodies for potential action. Slower breathing can help activate the parasympathetic nervous system — the “rest and digest” system, as some call it — which calms our heart rate down.
Box Breathing is one technique. Here’s how Navy SEAL Mark Divine describes it:
To begin the practice, expel all of the air from your chest. Keep your lungs empty for a four-count hold. Then, perform your inhalation through the nose for four counts. Hold the air in your lungs for a four-count hold. When you hold your breath, do not clamp down and create back pressure. Rather, maintailn an expansive, open feeling even though you are not inhaling. When ready, release the hold and exhale smoothly through your nose for four counts. This is one circuit of the box-breathing practice.
Another common breathing exercise focuses on an exhale that is longer than the inhale. I like this one a lot and use it often.
Empty your lungs by exhaling fully.
Breath in slowly for 4 counts through your nostrils (if you can).
Hold for 4 counts.
Breath out slowly for 6 to 8 counts, getting every last bit of breath out.
Repeat.
Watch videos of 3 different kinds of breathing exercises and do a 1-minute test of your own breathing in this feature by The New York Times. (gift link, scroll down for the videos.)
Getting stuck in the stress cycle
I learned about this first from Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski, sisters who wrote Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. They were interviewed by Brené Brown on her podcast in 2020, when we all were constantly stressed by the pandemic. Their conversation was astonishing and eye-opening: Listen to How to Complete the Stress Cycle.
Basically (and I wrote about once this before here): All emotions live in our bodies. They are neurological and physiological reactions to stimuli. Emotions send a flood of chemicals through our bodies.
Every one of our emotions has a beginning, middle, and an end.
When we don’t reach the end, we can get stuck in an emotion — our bodies are still in the state of stress even though intellectually, we’ve moved on.
We can know we are safely sitting still, no longer speeding down a crowded freeway. We can know that the house is quiet, and we can finally sleep.
But no matter what we tell ourselves, our bodies can still be buzzing with stress. Emily and Amelia describe this as being stuck in a tunnel of emotion. How do we get out?
How do we finish a stress cycle, and let our body return to a more peaceful state?
We have to DO something to finish the stress cycle.
We have to do something to inform our bodies that they are safe and can stop flooding us with chemicals.
Completing the stress cycle isn’t an intellectual exercise. You can tell yourself over and over and over again that you are fine, that you aren’t in danger, even that the thing that was stressing you out is over, and your body won’t know it.
You have to, as they say, speak your body’s language.
Amelia and Emily offer seven options, and they say there are many more.
7 ways to complete the stress cycle
Physical activity
Breathing slowly, and exhaling long and full
Crying
Positive social connection
Genuine, full-out laughter
Affection, like 20-second real hugs
Creative expression, like writing, painting, dancing
Think of how much better you have felt after doing one of these.
I find this such a helpful list. Even though I can recall easily the calming feeling of a big hug, or a long healing conversation, or biking at the gym, I don’t always remember to address stress by deliberating looking at this list and seeking one of these actions out — Doing something to end the stress cycle.
Moving ahead, calm and focused
None of these actions will fix what we are actually worried about, but they can allow us to think more clearly and act with focus, rather than get caught up in a frenzed state of worry, anxiety, and fear that doesn’t help our body or the world. By staying calm, we feel better, healthier, able to take a thoughtful step ahead.
After all, if we are going to make a difference — vote, march, tackle big problems — it helps if we are calm and focused.
I wish all of us peace in the coming days and years. Let’s hope we can get out of the state of stress our country is in and work together for a better future.
To our journeys,
Brianne
p.s. You might have noticed “creative expression” was on Emily and Amelia’s list of ways to complete the stress cycle! If you have been longing to get back into art, writing, or any creative practice that lights you up, join us at Winter Art Camp, Jan. 1-31. (Register now as a gift to your future self!)
This January virtual gathering brings together people who are excited to be more creative in 2025. I provide prompts, a private virtual community to connect, and weekly Zooms — interactive, not webinars! — where we get deeper into our creative sides and find fun and contagious momentum together. The first 30 people to register will get a special gift in the mail — yes, real mail! Use the code WINTER60 for $60 off. Learn more and sign up.