How To Master The Storm: Excercising Calm

It's been so long since my last confession, I don't even know what to write.
I sit here, fumbling with my words, folding the lines together in my head - am I alive?
Hours drip together with each passing day, another monotonous time line to mark my place on. I went for a walk into the piercing sunlight, and it took every ounce of willpower within not to objectively hiss at its contact, though my eyes still fixed straight ahead.
I scowered each aisle of the supermarket, and listened to people chat. I have not yet tried to leave, and my patience is running thin.
I didn't find what I entered for, so I grabbed the basic essentials and made my way home in haste.
It's winter, my favorite season, but I feel like something's bothering me. And I'm usually quite successful at keeping myself to myself, minding my business, and keeping unwelcome invasions out of my head.

So, steering away from creativity temporarily, I thought I'd change it up a bit and talk about an observation of mine. Today, I'm talking about your brain.

Since joining the platform 8 months ago, people come to me with tribulations, and not really knowing how to handle them, often wanting to know how I'm often calm in otherwise dramatic situations. The solution stems from simple organization.
If you can manage your time effectively, you're able to set aside an according length of time to address any vexing issue you may have in a patient manner, ultimately seeing results.
Now, imagine that your brain is a supermarket:

Things are displayed for consideration, different thoughts get priority over others, people are interested in your thoughts aiming to influence the direction, you've got a million strands of thought racing around your head at any time, sometimes you're empty. So, what do you do when your aisles are that crowded, that products are either falling off the shelf or going to waste? you organize your shelf, throwing out things you don't need, and soon enough you can't find what you're looking for, because you forgot to stockpile the product.
The same applies to your brain, and how you can maintain a healthy and happy lifestyle and demeanor.

So how do you do it?
First, you need a clear mind.

You can achieve this simply by reorganizing and decluttering the filing system in your head, like defragmenting a computer so it runs smoother.
These techniques are effective:

• Visualise a colour, green, blue, white, and focus on it.

• Focus on being calm, and allow yourself to acknowledge that every decision you consciously or unconsciously create, paves the direction of your day. This is called Mapping.

• Everyone "self talks", so tell yourself to succeed.

• Write down 3 affirmations you like about yourself on a yellow peice of paper, or any colour that makes you feel happy, and put the paper where you can look at it everyday.

• Learn to manage your time in blocks of 5:
  (5 seconds, 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 years) and apply it to the nature of your circumstances.
  Ask yourself "Will this matter in 5 years from now?" "Will this matter in 5 minutes from now?"
  Consider these questions realistically.
  If you're answering both questions with no, let the issue go.

• Next, consider solutions and work on them.

Too many people are going through the same cycle of problems with themselves and their lives, because they "stack": focusing on issues they have, supplying reasons why they can't fix it, asking for assistance, then having a problem with how they were assisted. Stacking creates unnecessary stress on your brain, and really not a good thing. Avoid stacking, and instead do the aforementioned points.

This is phase 1. Phase 2 is alot harder to master.
Phase 2 centres around the active methods you take in rewriting your brains dna pattern to both happiness, conflict consumption and resolution. Practicing this requires diligence, patience and a true understanding of limitations.
This is the easiest way to put phase 2 into effect:

• Identify the issue and how you felt about it. Write it down.
• Expand on the issue's ramification and what you thought about while in that situation.
• Using this information, start with dissecting the problem into 3 categories: problem, solution, action. Document those.

When assessing the cognitive functions of your brain, and how you can maintain a healthy and happy lifestyle, it's important to nurture your brain just as much as it is to nurture the rest of your body. You can do this by both acquiring positive information, and also by listening to meditative music, as music is the only thing that stimulates both hemispheres of your brain simultaneously.
Meditation music also assists in enhancing your dopamine levels, and making you feel happy.
Which's why when we eat chocolate, we're happy, because chocolate has dopamine present and is released by the components of the cocoa.

Stress:

Imagine that you're cooking a steak on barbecue, and turn up the element. While that's cooking, you step away to get some condiments and a drink.
You return to find your meat is burnt and the hot plate is smoking. Not a good look, is it?
The same process happens to your brain when put under stress: you get hot, overheat and can literally shut down, killing the neurotransmitters in both hemispheres of your brain, resulting in forgetfulness and absenteeism if not treated.

The solution? Stay confident, calm and composed. The ability to maintain a calm demeanour in an otherwise stressful and chaotic circumstance is testing for most of us. But it can be achieved!

• Prioritise your time, and map it out (refer to the definition of mapping as mentioned earlier in the article)
• Address and Document problems, methods and solutions when they occur.
• Constructively utilize your your feelings and thoughts in a situation, and accept them as they are. Avoid over analysis.
  Follow the 3 R's: Release, Rectify and Relax.
• Concentrate on things that make you feel good.
• Communicate openly, honestly and without judgment or accusations. Avoid using "you" statements, and instead apply "I feel that.." as this promotes calm and neutrality in the conversation, encouraging all parties involved to be conveyed as equal.
• Eliminate the things that don't serve you, don't feel bad about it. Trees don't grow tall and strong from keeping dead weight. Souls are the same.

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And there you have it: a recipe for a happier life!
Go forward with a splendid heart :)

Thank you so much for taking the time to view my work today. Embrace all your dreams!

@StellarBelle

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If I do anything incorrect it's because I am very new to Steemit. I'm here to make some friends and look forward to seeing your feedback in the comments below!