Cultivating Cinematic Calm
There is a quiet courage that comes with calmness. Calmness, unlike chaos, is a choice - not a reaction or ramification but a conscious decision for your nervous system, mind, energy and body. It takes immense courage to take control, and to have enough discipline to evoke an authentic calm.
Calm: A state of tranquility, serenity, or stillness, characterised by freedom from agitation, excitement or disturbance.
Calm is the rejection of collective cultural conventions tied to urgency, priority and repercussion. Society chases calm; in meditation, in yoga classes, in self help books. Calm for most, seems like an unattainable alien concept completely at odds with our modern world and perhaps only exists in temples on the foothills of Tibet.
Calm, however, isn't a performance or even a community. It isn't a class or a revelation from a well written book. It's a state of being achieved only by allowing social constructs to effectively become pebbles on the beach rather than an all encompassing omnibus of cortisol and dopamine spikes.
The realities of life are difficult to ignore. Between the unrelenting pressures of work, career and finance, the uncertainty of geo politics across the world, the desires, obligation and maintenance tied to relationships and family, the uncertainty of health and time - how can authentic calmness be achieved in an echo chamber of universal commitments and conflicts?
Buddhism preaches Impermanence (Anicca) for calm. Understanding that all things change is designed to stop us fighting reality, which brings the human spirit a natural sense of peace. In simple terms, letting go of control and realising that many aspects of life are unpredictable and instead focusing on stillness.
Contrastingly, Buddhism also teaches compassion, mindfulness and awareness for calm - which includes identifying when "this is stress" which creates a space between physicality and the emotion, reducing its impact whilst also refocusing on showing compassion to others.
What I find most interesting about both of these teachings is that they simultaneously preach conscious calm, and the rejection of control and power. (Which is much easier said than done for the vast majority of people). Particularly poignantly, is the refocusing of mind to show compassion - effectively, creating a distraction with positive implications. But, I would argue, to make a conscious decision to be a certain way - you must have an element of discipline, power and courage- not over circumstance, but of yourself.
Calmness doesn't only exude peace. Calmness offers benefits not immediately visible to the naked eye. Aside from a reduction in stress and anxiety, it improves cognitive function and decision making; having a domino effect on life trajectory as a whole (work, career, finance) . It enhances physical health, lowering blood pressure. Mentally, it boosts emotional regulation which feeds to strengthen relationships through better communication (relationships, family). Calmness increases resilience under pressure, creating a pathway to navigating crises efficiently rather than reactively (chaos management).
So, really - and ironically - calmness is actually the answer to most of realities challenges.
So, how is it possible to calm a "monkey brain".
We know the what, but how?
Outside of the usual, stereotypical zen gardens and steel tongue drums - what everyday, intentional tangible actions and decisions can be made to manifest a deep, cardinal, authentic inner calm?
Have you ever watched a film, or even something across social media that just evokes and exudes a "feeling" of calm? Something that instantly makes you feel light, at ease - thoughts settle, heart beats a little slower, nervous system starts to self regulate?
Or perhaps you're having a massage with softly infused nature sound music, and you drift into sensory emptiness....what do those things have in common?
Step 1: Nature
The easiest, and often most overlooked road to calm is right in front of us. Our earth offers us perspective and scale beyond all other manmade constructs. It diminishes and dilutes business, stress and self imposed tension. The sound of fresh running water from a stream or river, or ocean waves crashing against a coastline. The echoes of bird song and crickets. The smell of dew under a forest canopy, or burst of flower scent in a park. The feeling of salt and sand on your feet, the fresh drop of snow on your nose on a mountain top. The panorama of rolling hills and the drama of cliff edges. An orange sunset or pink sunrise creating a hypnotic feast for the eyes - or simply, watching the rain hit your windowsill. Nature has a way of shrinking the scale of stress to nothing more than a pebble in a world capable of so much sensory calmness.
Step 2: Compassion
I am of the firm belief that only you can be responsible for your own state of mind. However, few things in life are more rewarding than showing kindness and understanding in an environment so intensely geared toward elusiveness and self gain. Extending warmth to others isn't just calming for your mind, but a rewarding ripple effect from one person to another. This chain reaction doesn't just create calm and satisfaction within you, you then have a cascading flow of compassion from person to person - which just in its existence repairs and elevates the quality of human relationships and connection.
Compassion creates understanding, understanding invites warmth, warmth invites calm.
Step 3: Music
It goes without saying that music is a healer of many things; and also a catalyst for others.
The right kind of music can transport you inside of yourself, disconnect you - ironically - from the noise of the world. Offering peaceful solitude, perspective and recalibration with just a few notes on a piano, flute or drums transporting serotonin when you need it most. Some music is designed to make you think, some is designed to make you feel, some to make you act - some, is designed to make you succumb to yourself, take a deep breath and start fresh.
Step 4: Perspective
Big picture thinking. In moments of crisis, take a step back and assess how bad things really are - or do they just seem bad, right now. Is it worth being frantic? Do you really need to panic? Is it worth losing your temper? Is it worth the chaos you may be subconsciously building in your mind? Or is it simply something that you need to deal with right now and that's it. Can you control it? Do you need to control it? Perspective is a tool we all know exists but need to use more effectively. Think bigger, and the things that rob you of your peace everyday will probably become a lot smaller and easier to manage more effectively.
Step 5: Passions
Find pleasure in your own self care and passions. Passion can be a wide range of things. It's something that ultimately gives you joy. Self care is designed to heal. Some people find it in exercise, some in travel, some in art.
Or all of the above. Although the avenues can all be vastly different, they come to the same conclusion - a form of self care, self love, self exploration and self expression. When people are able to look after and express themselves in a healthy way without obstacles or judgement, calmness is a natural by product.
Step 6: Breathe
Take things a little slower. Take a moment to breathe, calm the urgency, feel the moments deeply and don't be afraid to simply be in that moment. Cancel the white noise and just breathe. Bring yourself back to the beginning. Close your eyes so that you can see, and when you open them - everything is clearer.
There is no one size fits all, but calmness can be captivating. We place so much importance on disarray, urgency, perceived priorities and disaster that we forget how rewarding embracing the calm can really be. It allows us to create healthier relationships with ourselves and the people around us. It helps us gain perspective and control over our work and day to day challenges, functioning as a nervous system reset so that our bodies and minds feel less overwhelmed. In an age where we are exhausted and overstimulated it has never been more important to embrace soft tranquility.
Calmness is a discipline whose reward leads us to seeing life in a soft warm focus, it's cinematic.
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