Black Mom's Guide to Calm is all about how moms/women -- like you! -- overcome their overwhelm and find calm, inner peace, joy, wholeness and relief.
Learning to find your calm:
- Boosts your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health.
- Can help reduce anxiety and depression.
- Improves your focus and concentration.
- Helps improve relationships (including with yourself).
- Stabilizes your mood.
Now here are 20 ways you can do so:
- Meditate. Taking a few minutes a day (5 or 10 minutes) to get still and breathe can work wonders for your calm.
- Practice yoga. Start your own home practice with the help of YouTube or check out a class at a local studio (Check out Yoga Green Book for black-owned studios).
- Be in the present moment. Ideas for this: do nothing; focus on one task at a time; practice conscious listening when having a conversation.
- Relax. Catch up on one of your shows, read a novel, take a nap.
- Practice self-care. Do something every day to make sure you’re taken care of physically, mentally, spiritually and/or emotionally.
- Protect your peace. Whenever possible, eliminate the things that cause you to feel stressed, overwhelmed and/or anxious.
- Be grateful. Do your best (especially in moments of stress) to focus on the good in your life.
- Embrace where you are. You’re right where you need to be.
- Be kind to yourself. Allow yourself to be human. Treat yourself like you would your child and/or best friend.
- Use affirmations. The words you say to and about yourself greatly impact you and your life, so speak on what you want to manifest and create.
- Journal. Writing down how you feel is a great way to relieve stress and anxiety. Also, keeping a gratitude journal helps increase your calm and positive energy.
- Trust your journey. Know that the Universe/Spirit/your Higher Power has your back. Always.
- Protect your energy. Some ideas: spend time with high-vibing individuals; speak your truth; surround yourself (energetically) in a protective bubble of white light; consume media/social media that’s uplifting.
- Focus on what you can control. Don’t stress yourself about things you can do nothing about. Instead, focus on what you can do and maintain your calm.
- Learn what your stressors are. When you know what’s actually stressing you, you’ll know whether you can do something about it (like get rid of it or make necessary changes) or if you need to be more intentional about creating calm practices.
- Try aromatherapy. A few scents that help bring inner peace are lavender, lemongrass and sandalwood.
- Use crystal healing. Great crystals for finding your calm include amethyst, smoky quartz, blue lace agate and howlite.
- Spend time with friends + loved ones. Do something fun with your girls, your kid(s) or your significant other.
- Slow down. All the things that you’re trying to do aren’t going anywhere, and you’re not in a race. Keep calm and take your time.
- Take deep breaths often. “Deep breaths are like little love notes to your body.” – Unknown