psychology
Yoga and Journaling? Nope.
6 things that relaxed people really do differently
© Olena Yakobchuk / Shutterstock
Why do some people always stay calm? And that as a matter of course? We started looking for the serenity formula far away from yoga and the like.
Do you know these people who always seem to be at peace? The bakery is sold out, the coffee falls, the bus is delayed. And while we are already seething inside, they sit down relaxed on a bench and wait for the next one. With a slight admiration, you catch yourself glancing over at the person – perhaps to catch a sign of stress after all. Was that an eye roll? Are these worry lines? No, she even laughs! How does she do it?
We experience similar situations at work, but also in private and family life. Some people take life as it comes, drift and surf the waves as if they had never done anything else. While we are being carried away by the next current before we can even breathe.
Relaxed people are often perceived by those who tend to be stressed like an exotic, magically attractive animal. In doing so, serenity can definitely be learned. And no: we are not talking about another yoga routine before work and meditation during the lunch break. Mindfulness exercises are certainly justified and don’t get us wrong – we are big yoga fans – but we are looking for the true habits that the serene among us follow so naturally and from which we would like to learn a slice. And we think we found a few. Curtain up …
6 habits of relaxed people
They ignore messages.
Our time has been increasingly externally controlled, at least since the possession of smartphones. As soon as the cell phone flashes or tinkles, our hand reaches for it almost automatically. Symbols indicate whether our messages have been read and who is currently online. All of this creates tremendous pressure to be available anytime, anywhere and immediately. But we don’t have to. When we learn not to respond instantly to news, we take an immense burden off our own shoulders.
You set an appointment limit.
Do you know it when you agree to all meetings and suddenly every day of the next week is already scheduled again? There is a simple exercise: Set a limit to the number of appointments per week. If this is achieved and someone asks if you have time, the answer is no – because we ourselves need space to recharge our batteries.
They practice waiting and breathing.
This is probably one of the most difficult exercises in calmness, but it gets us the furthest: Enduring uncertainties. There is a saying that if you drive yourself crazy before something, you experience the stress twice – on the date and has been fixed since. It is better to wait and then deal with things when they really happen. Do not forget to take a deep breath, because we often lose that in everyday life.
They know that control is a misconception.
How nice it would be to have everything under control? And how incredibly boring! Life is simply not controllable – if we accept that we cannot control everything, we also take on a bit of responsibility. Giving up control can feel pretty good.
You keep a to-do list.
To-do lists are nice, but nicer ones, but the ones we cross out. Serene people know their limits and know that they cannot and must not achieve everything – and that it does not make them worse. Just not doing things that are not important and learning that the world won’t end from them.
They like quirks.
Quirks make them adorable. Yes, we have heard it often, but seriously: Anyone who takes a look around their surroundings and consciously pays attention to alleged flaws in their fellow human beings will find that we are all a bit strange in our own way. That’s why we don’t even need to strive for perfection ourselves!