3 Practices to Help You Find Calm in the Chaos
I’ve spent a lot of time trying to crack the code of ultra-performance. I’ve been looping back through everything I’ve learned as a scientist and physiologist and comparing it to everything I am learning from meeting and working with some of the highest-achieving people on the planet.
What I’ve observed is that elite performers can achieve a state of being where they can access their full potential especially when they are under pressure, tension and stress.
Simply put, they can find calm in the chaos.
Professor Baba Shiv from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University studies the role that neural structures in the brain play in the biological roots of innovation.
Dr. Shiv has suggested that creativity and problem solving (innovation) are achieved when there is a balance between the neurotransmitters serotonin (involved in regulating the sensations of calm and contentment versus anxiety and fear) and dopamine (which influences our shift from boredom and apathy to excitement and engagement).
The ideal conditions for performance under pressure might be high levels of both serotonin and dopamine, where we are calm but energized.
Getting into this state when we’re under pressure can be hard. It’s widely accepted that stress in the mind can lead to stress in the body, but the reverse is also true: Stress in the body can compromise the mind. That’s why tension is a problem for peak performance.
Tension consumes energy inefficiently and decreases circulation, leading to physical aches and pains. When you achieve a relaxed state, however, you can get relief from aches and pains and improve digestion, cardiovascular function, and sleep—all of which will improve your performance and enable you to access your potential in those moments when you most need it.
So how can we make the shift from tension to relaxation, especially in our fast, busy lives?
Calm in Chaos Tactic #1: Practice Conscious Relaxation
If you tense your muscles for long periods of time, you will begin to feel the effects of that tension in your body and your mind. Your muscles hurt. Your patience wears thin. You become mentally fatigued. Your creativity goes out the window. Experiment with this by clenching your fists and paying attention to the physical and mental effects. You will feel the muscle tension triggering stressful thoughts.
Remember, the mind–body link runs both ways, so releasing tension from the body frees the mind from strain and pressure and leads to a state of relaxation and improved ideation. This is a critical physical and mental skill you can learn and use.
Ask yourself the following questions:
1. Can I drop my shoulders?
2. Can I relax my hands? Stomach? Legs? Forehead?
3. Can I sit in a more comfortable position?
4. Can I relax my core and deepen my breathing?
When you find an area of tension, breathe in and out deeply and slowly to release the tension. Let go of tightness, pressure, and fatigue.
With practice this becomes almost automatic. You can do this quickly before meetings, presentations, tests and races.
Calm in Chaos Tactic #2: Practice Relaxation Breathing
Stress, agitation, negative emotion, and busyness are the biggest threats to accessing your potential. When tension creeps into your calm yet high-energy, high-output flow state, your effort increases but your performance drops. You get tight and you start to fight to stay in “the zone”.
Because the centres of your brain that control breathing are closely linked to the area that controls stress, breathing is an effective way to combat stress. If you can calm the electrical activity in the breathing centre, then you have a good chance of calming the stress, which is why yoga and meditation work.
The point is to realize you are stressed and then take slow, deep breaths. This will help you let go of stress no matter what you are preparing for—a presentation, a performance, a competition, an exam, anything.
Calm in Chaos Tactic #3: Practice Relaxed Movement
One of the most powerful ways to slow down a racing mind is—counterintuitively—to move. Specifically, to move in a rhythmic and repetitive activity like walking, running, swimming, biking, or paddling. Rhythmic movement helps us change our state from one in which we feel like we are hustling and racing around (the beta state) to one where our minds settle down (the theta state).
When we do this with intention, I call it “moving meditation.”
Moving meditation is any activity where your muscles are contracting in a consistent pattern, such as walking or cycling. This kind of activity helps you relax and let your mind wander. If you do this regularly, it can be a very powerful stress reducer and can decrease symptoms of depression and anxiety.
The idea is to be completely focused on an activity or exercise to the point where you seem to have no thoughts at all. You disappear into the motion.
Movement can be a form of meditation and can trigger creativity and ideation. It’s an incredible feeling. Sprinkle this strategy into your days and weeks to help balance your mind and body.
Final Thoughts
Finding calm within the chaos can be a challenge. However, when we practice stillness of mind, we can elevate our abilities to perform under pressure.
I hope these 3 practices are helpful for you!
That’s it for this week! Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Yours for health, wellbeing & peak performance - Dr. Greg
