4 Ways to Keep Calm & Carry On
I don’t think I need to explain why we need techniques for keeping calm at the moment but I will say that when I first heard the acronym BANI (meaning Brittle, Anxious, Non-Linear and Incomprehensible) to describe the world we are experiencing a few years ago my experience of it was just theory.
The term comes from the futurist @Jamais Cascio in 2020 in his white paper ‘Facing the Age of Chaos’. When I heard it I thought, ‘Hah, that’s an interesting take on what’s happening’ and that it would be good to put that in my leadership programmes
Now, a few years on, BANI appears and manifests in every conversation I have - whether it’s peoples’ personal lives or professional. Brittle industries where the cracks are showing, Anxious about the state of the world and what is happening, Non-Linear which I take to mean that things just don’t have the same cause and effect they use to and Incomprehensible- ugh, the overwhelm, stuff coming at us, polarising views and thoughts.
Most people I know are frazzled, worried and their energy sources are being depleted. I don’t think we can change the BANI world in one fell swoop which means we need ways of trying to Keep Calm & Carry On.
So I thought it might be useful to share a few that I’ve been trying.
Breathe
My favourite is to do Oceanic Breath which comes from yoga practice. It’s originally known as Ujjayi breath. It’s essentially self-soothing. You simply breathe in and out through your nose into your belly and make the sound of the ocean with your breath. If you can, close your eyes and listen to the sound, it can be very meditative. If you can’t hear you can focus on the sensation of air going in and out of your nasal passages. You can do this at your desk, whilst walking out and about, before you have a big meeting. It’s proven to kick in your rest and digest part of your nervous system.
2. Create something with your hands.
Since New Year I’ve been inspired to take up knitting again. I’ve gone slightly OTT with it, to be frank and have knitted about 8 things. Voila the latest hat I made. But it’s totally got me off my phone, off scrolling incessantly. And it’s given me great joy in choosing yarn and colour combinations and textures and patterns. Plus you get something hopefully beautiful at the end to share with others.
3. Walk & Talk.
There is nothing better than walking and talking, I think, with a friend. Walk it out, talk it out. The movement, the outdoors, dogs may be involved. There is something about talking things out whilst looking forward. I’ve just chat gpt-ed it and I’m reading that when you walk, blood flow increases, oxygen increase and your brain shifts into a more open mode. Sitting tends to narrow ideas, walking expands it!
4. Nature.
I have been craving just sitting on a hill and looking a blades of grass to chill out. This weekend, my family went to visit my father-in-law in the countryside and he has a lovely garden and in it was wild garlic. So instead of looking at blades of grass, I picked some wild garlic and looked up a recipe and made Wild Garlic Pesto which was delicious! Then I spotted some nettles which wouldn’t normally spark joy but I looked up how to make nettle tea and it’s benefits (very good if you have allergies, apparently), I picked some lovely young nettle and made two big pots of nettle tea which I then distributed to the family. Yes, the tasting notes I got back were ‘potato and pea’ but we all enjoyed the moment.
Okay so those are 4 ways I’m trying. I do think keeping calm is a practice. It’s not a once and done thing. It helps if we weave it into our day. Can you, will you, what else do you do?
Take care everyone.
And just a reminder, I have a YouTube channel called Yoga in the Boardroom which has loads of little exercises and stretches to help you feel better in this crazy world. Check it out here.
And breathe…
Tracy
