Five Tried and Tested Techniques to Stay Cool in Tense Situations

There are stressful situations in all of our lives. Some of them come lightning fast and require a quick solution. Others drag on over time and allow tension to build up permanently in our lives.

It's important to realize that there are no cloudless skies. It is not possible to avoid every stressful situation or have control of everything. Accept that tension is an inevitable part of life, but find the best ways for you to control it. 

Today I offer you five tried-and-tested techniques that will help you stay cool even when the going gets rough.

Count to 10

This is an old and tried technique. It works great when you need to make a decision quickly or want to control your reaction to a stressful situation. Example. In such a situation, the chance that you will respond in the same hasty, unkind or unnerving way is huge. To avoid this, just shut up and count to 10. Surely the answer you will give will be different and many times better and more valuable. Another example is suitable for people who work a nerve-wracking job where quick and cool decisions have to be made. If you're one of them, you probably don't have the luxury of thinking through every decision for days. You can steal 10 seconds, though - they're more important than you think.

Concentrate on breathing

You're in the middle of a whirlwind of emotions and you feel like you're going to explode at any moment. This is the perfect moment to just stop for a moment and breathe. There are a variety of breathing techniques to calm you down. One of them, perhaps the easiest to remember, is breathing at regular intervals. You count to four on each inhale, hold the breath for 4 seconds, then exhale, again counting to four and holding your breath for another 4 seconds. Do four consecutive inhales and exhales and then return to the stressful situation.

Remind yourself of your goal

When we're under pressure, one of the hardest things to do is to become aware of the situation, to realize that it's just a stressful moment that needs to be overcome. Then overcoming it yourself becomes much easier with or adding some technique to calm the mind. Try to stay mindful and remind yourself of the goal, which is to keep your cool in a stressful situation. At the end of the day, you will feel very satisfied that you have coped.

Chew gum

A number of studies have proven that chewing gum is an effective approach for any kind of tension - it helps with fear, anxiety, nervousness or stress. To this we would add any other activity that takes your mind off the particular unpleasant situation. You could try a snack, a game, a favorite song, a short walk, a refreshing shower, or whatever else you can possibly accomplish at the time.

Go to your "happy place"

Many people choose beautiful, pastoral paintings as their "happy place" and "visit" it whenever they feel unhappy, stressed, or threatened in any way. We encourage you to try this technique, it might be a great fit for you. Choose a favourite natural view for this purpose - it could be of a quiet and lonely beach, a beautiful house in the woods, a green mountain path, a star-studded sky or any picture that calms you. You can use a photo of yourself or a place you've never visited. You can build up a picture of that calming place in your head, or use a photo to keep in your phone and look at whenever you feel tense. It's all a matter of personal choice and preference, the important thing is to associate the "happy place" with calm and quiet and to mentally visit it when things get tense.