28 Days of self-calming

1. Take the pretest to find out your level of stress before beginning the 28 Days of Self-Calming.

2. Follow the 28 Days of Self-Calming on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.  Or use the prompts below.

3. REMEMBER TO BELLY BREATHE EACH DAY!

4. When you complete your 28 Days of Self-Calming, you can pretest again to determine if your sense of calm increased.

5. You can learn more in the resource list below, or find more self-nesting tools on the Evolved Nest here. 

Introduction

Why is it important to be calm and learning self-calming away from fear, panic, anxiety or anger? Fear, panic, anxiety and anger are survival-oriented emotions that we are born with but can take over our personality, making it hard to get along with others or even feel well. They are distressing emotions and can put us in mindsets that leave us vulnerable to harmful attitudes and behaviors toward ourselves or others. They are also not good for physical health as they promote inflammation, an underlying cause of many diseases.

These daily practices are intended to give you ways to calm yourself down. You may find that some work better than others. These are ones that you should continue to do.

Instructions

1. Learning belly breathing is fundamental and should be continued throughout all the activities. Find Youtube videos to help you practice belly breathing further, if needed.

2. Take time to do each activity several times during the day. 

3. Before you start, give yourself a pretest (below). 

4. At the end of the 28 days of practice, take the test items again as a post-test (without looking at your pre-test ratings or total score). Compare your post-test score with the pre-test score. It is expected that your post-test stress score will be lower. If not, you may not have been belly breathing or you may need to spend more time each day de-stressing.

Pre-Test and Post-Test 

Select the answer for each question that best matched your feeling. 

1.  On average in the last week, how relaxed did you feel? (Select one answer.)

5 - Not relaxed at all    

4 - A little relaxed  

3 - Moderately relaxed  

2 - Very relaxed  

1 - Extremely relaxed

Score ____

2.  On average in the last week, how stressed did you feel? (Select one answer.)

1 - Not stressed at all  

2 - A little stressed  

3 - Moderately stressed  

4 - Very stressed  

5 - Extremely stressed

Score ____

3.  How relaxed are you feeling right now? (Select one answer.)

5 - Not relaxed at all  

4 - A little relaxed  

3 - Moderately relaxed  

2 - Very relaxed  

1 - Extremely relaxed

Score ____

4.  How stressed are you feeling right now? (Select one answer.)

1 - Not stressed at all  

2 - A little stressed  

3 - Moderately stressed  

4 - Very stressed  

5 - Extremely stressed

Score ____

To get your stress score: Add up the numbers of the ratings you gave across items. Scores will range from 4-20.

Total Score ____

For kids: Coping Skills Workbook for Kids, by Janine Halloran. This book as over 75 strategies for coping with stress, anxiety and anger

For adults: A Practical Guide to Breathwork: A Remedy for the Modern Human Condition by Jesse Coomer

See also the Eco-Attachment Dance for a 28 day nature connection guide.

Read Darcia's posts on self-healing:

10 Indigenous Holistic Healing Practices
Becoming More Peaceful, No Matter the Circumstances
Religion’s Roots: Self-Transform To Increase Compassion
Can Sheltering-In-Place Bring About More Mental Health?

Healing the Primal Wound Series:

1. The Primal Wound: Do You Have One?

2. What childhood experiences lead to primal wounding?

3. How to heal the primal wound

4. Fantasyland: A Nation of Primally-Wounded People

5. Tales of a Primally Wounded Society

6. Stories to Heal Primal Woundedness

7. Stories of Connection