10 tricks to switch off stress and regain calm in 60 seconds

At first glance, it may seem impossible to maintain emotional balance in today’s reality. It feels like you would need to escape to a remote Carpathian monastery, meditate alone for years, or spend a fortune on a long retreat on a faraway tropical island. In reality, it is much simpler.

“People often look for special external circumstances to calm down. But deep, compassionate awareness already exists within each of us. It is like an underground reservoir of clean water — we need to learn how to access it in time,” says well-known psychotherapist Ashley Davis Bush.

10 ways to restore inner silence and control

Remember the diver effect

On the ocean surface, there is constant drama: storms, tides, giant waves crashing against rocks. But just a few meters deeper, you enter a completely calm, silent world where life moves at its own peaceful pace, indifferent to the chaos above.

Most of us are used to living on the “surface” of emotions. To find calm, you do not need to turn off external chaos — you need to mentally descend into your own depth. Even in a crowded bus or noisy office, it is enough to close your eyes for a minute and imagine yourself as that diver.

Activate the parasympathetic system through breathing

Your breathing is something no external stress factor can take away. Psychologists recommend the yoga-based “4-7-8” technique:

• close your mouth and inhale calmly through the nose for 4 seconds
• hold your breath for 7 seconds
• exhale slowly and completely through the mouth for 8 seconds

A long, deep exhale activates the parasympathetic nervous system (the rest-and-digest mode), which instantly lowers heart rate and reduces trembling in the hands.

Remind your body that you are safe

During a panic attack, the brain believes we are one step away from death. Bring yourself back to reality physically. Feel the floor under your feet, touch a chair.

Think about people who love you and are waiting for you. Focusing on a warm image of a loved one can quickly suppress the initial hormonal surge of anxiety.

Visualize your secret garden

Create a detailed mental image of a place where you felt most at peace. It could be your grandmother’s room, a riverbank from childhood, or your favorite blanket. Try to recreate it in the smallest details: feel imaginary smells, hear sounds of leaves or footsteps, remember textures. The brain will treat these vivid images as real and instruct the body to relax.

Rewrite your internal narrative

When panic hits, try breaking down your state step by step:

Reality check: Is everything really as catastrophic as your brain is currently portraying?

Emotional acknowledgment: name your state out loud — “I am very angry right now” or “I am scared.” Simply naming the emotion reduces activation in the brain’s limbic system.

Self-support: speak to yourself in the second person, as if to your best friend: “(Your name), this is very hard right now, but you’ve handled worse. You will get through this.” Studies show that addressing yourself in the second person activates caregiving neural networks and reduces feelings of isolation.

Create a personal joy list

Under stress, hormonal overload makes it hard to remember what pleases us. Write this list in advance in your phone notes: cooking, caring for plants, a few pages of a book, and a hot shower.

When you notice something pleasant, hold your attention on it for at least 20 seconds. Savor the first sip of coffee without checking your phone — this physically helps retrain the brain toward resilience.

Practice reverse gratitude

If everything around feels chaotic and it is hard to feel gratitude, start by being thankful for what has NOT happened. For example, stuck in traffic, think: “Good thing the air conditioner works,” “Good thing I didn’t get into an accident,” “Good thing I have enough fuel.” One such thought naturally triggers another positive neural response.

Help someone else

Psychologists distinguish between hedonic happiness (quick personal pleasure) and eudaimonic happiness (deeper satisfaction from helping others). Volunteering, helping neighbors, or donating to the armed forces provides a long-term sense of stability and meaning that protects the psyche during crises.

Maintain everyday hygiene in small things

Bring attention back to routine processes. Even when brushing your teeth, do not mentally scroll through plans or news. Focus on the taste of toothpaste, the sensation of the brush on your gums, and the sound of water. A fully conscious routine is one of the simplest and freest forms of meditation.

Master the art of acceptance

Resisting things we cannot change (weather, train delays, power outage schedules) creates an additional layer of suffering.

“When you fight circumstances, you exhaust yourself. As soon as you say to yourself: ‘Yes, it is difficult right now, I am stuck here, and I am angry, but it has already happened,’ you stop wasting energy on fighting windmills and start looking for a constructive way out,” experts emphasize.