In Case of Catastrophe—Calm
When the news bombards us with calamity after calamity, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, our minds caught in a never-ending spin cycle.
Our brains scream : danger, danger, and our bodies—like those of most animals—react with some version of the three F’s: fight, flight, or freeze.
Fortunately, many animals instinctively shake off fear once the terror has passed and move on. (Watch this cool video of an impala coming out of a near-death encounter with a leopard.)
Humans, however, aren’t as good at shaking off fear. Instead, we tend to go mental—spinning narratives that justify our emotions, often fueled by the media’s catastrophic conclusions. We cling to our state of vigilance, and that ever-present danger, danger never fully fades.
Things would go a lot better if we knew how to calm down.
Unfortunately, we are fed a daily diet of crises, tragedies, and emergencies designed by the media to keep us on a state of high alert. We become accustomed to living on the edge—even as it exhausts us. In addition to fight, flight, and freeze, I’ve experienced two other F’s: frenzy and funk. Frenzy feels like running in circles, driven by anxious urgency—We have to do something! We have to do something! Funk is where life loses its zest and I stop feeling like doing much of anything. Why bother taking out the recycling when the earth is burning and the goons are in charge?
We need to calm down. I need to calm down.
Calm Saves Lives But Doesn’t Make Headlines.
Imagine seeing this: “World Leaders Gather at Global Summit for Two Days of Calm and Civil Conversations.” Are you yawning yet? Our overstimulated systems crave drama, which is why we get: “World Teeters at Edge of Collapse as Leaders Convene.” We have become addicted to crisis.
We forget that calm saves lives—and rescues us from a nervous system hijacked by the news.
The Vietnamese monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh often spoke of the importance of calm. He told the story of the boat people escaping Vietnam across the Gulf of Siam:
“In Vietnam, there are many people, called boat people, who leave the country in small boats. Often the boats are caught in rough seas or storms, the people may panic, and boats may sink. But if even one person aboard can remain calm and lucid, knowing what to do and what not to do, they can help the boat survive. Their face, their voice—communicating clarity and calm—gives people trust. They will listen. One calm person can save many lives.”
In an emergency—like the LA fires—wouldn’t you rather have your firefighters and first responders working with calm dispatch?
From Fight, Flight, and Freeze (Frenzy and Funk) to Calm, Create, and Connect
Yogic practices and mindfulness meditation offer advanced tools for calming and centering, but in a crisis, I like to keep it simple: breathe deeply and whisper the word calm to yourself.
I’ve been saying it a lot. Turns out, the word itself is therapeutic. Try it:
- Inhale deeply and let your mouth open with a soft Ca, like you’re sighing, ahhhh.
- Exhale and finish the word with a soothing, humming mmmm.
- Say the word five times, and I bet you’ll begin to shift.
I could usefully do it 30 times a day—and that’s without reading the news.
Calm. Create. Connect.
For those of us with a sympathetic nervous system stuck on “on”—always alert to crisis—learning to calm activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps us relax.
We can reinforce calm through creativity, and connection.
Calming practices include the breathing exercise above, as well as others I’ve described in this blog. Even in the midst of a busy day, I look for ways to create stillness and sanctuary. Knowing that I have twenty minutes set aside in my schedule to paint or draw becomes an oasis that keeps me piloting through stressful work. Then, when I arrive at my happy time, my creative practices also serve to calm me down.
Creative expression offers us a way to activate the right side of the brain—our seat of curiosity, play, and wonder—while giving our overtaxed, analytical left brain a break. (Yes, I know left-brain/right-brain is a simplification, but you get the idea.) In Meeting the Muse After Midlife, I describe how the path of creative expression opened doors to new parts of myself and helped me balance out years of overworking my mind.
Connection reminds us that we are not alone. The fear brain worries about survival and isolation, but by remembering our connections, we tap into collective strength. Whatever happens, together, we will figure it out.
Calming and action are not opposites. In fact, they are a superb pair—allowing us to make what John Lewis called Good Trouble, the right trouble.
We may still experience fear, despair, and anxiety in the times ahead. But as we calm, create, and connect, we stabilize ourselves for the real work on the long road ahead.
