Emotion Management: Calming-Down Strategies (pt 1)

Last week, we learned about:

The first 3 Steps for Staying in Control:

1) Notice - Recognize your physical and menal signs.

2) Pause - Use your signal.

3) Think Twice - Use your brain.

That it's important to tell yourself to calm down.

That taking a break can be the best idea, especially if you realize it is going to take some time to calm down.

Posititve and negative self-talk and how they can affect us and our confidence.

How self-talk plays a part in staying in control.

Last week, we talked about the first 3 Steps for Stayin in Control:

Notice. Recognize your physical and mental signs.

Pause. Use your signal.

Think twice. Use your brain.

When you do Step 3 and think twice, you may realize you're still not calm and can't think clearly.

So our fourth step is "Calm down if necessary. Use your calming-down strategies."

Today, we're going to focus on 5 effective ways to calm down.

1) Doing something physically active.

2) Doing something relaxing.

3) Thinking about something else.

4) Using centered breathing.

5) Using positive self-talk.

You are most likely familiar with the first 2:

1) Doing something physically active.

2) Doing someting relaxing.

The physical activity needs to be a real workout to make a difference.

The third strategy on our list is "Thinking about something else," which distracts your mind from your strong emotion.

It can be as simple as counting to ten or counting backward.

It can also be thinking about something positive, such as a happy memory or your favorite place to be.

The great thing about this strategy is that you can do it anywhere.

Now let's look at the other 2 strategies that also can be done anywhere.

The first one --deep, centered breathing-- is very effective.

On the next slide is a video, I want you to watch it and breathe along with the video so that you can practice centered breathing.

Here are the things you must remember to do when you use centered breathing.

Slowly breathe through your nose into the lower part of your lungs.

Feel your stomach moving out when you breathe in.

Slowly breathe out through your mouth.