Keep Calm and Carry On

Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amidst the storm.
– Author unknown

Being calm and relaxed, yet engaged and alert, is the natural physiological baseline of our body-brain – the natural equilibrium that allows us to stay balanced and centered as we navigate the ups and downs of our lives.

Once you can use the somatic intelligence of your pre-frontal cortex to manage your body’s automatic reactivity to danger or threat, and reliably maintain an inner equilibrium, you can act in the world with skill and conscious response-ability. You can carry on.

Click on links to listen to or download excerpts and exercises from Bouncing Back: Rewiring Your Brain for Maximum Resilience by Linda Graham, MFT.

Chapter 10: Losing and Recovering our Equilibrium

Introduction to Equanimity and Keeping Calm, p. 197

Exercise #1: Cultivating Equanimity, pp. 195-196

Chapter 11: Recovering Our Balance through the Body

Oxytocin: The Neurotransmitter of Calm and Connect, pp. 209-211

Exercise #1: Activating the Release of Oxytocin through Touch, pp. 211-212

Exercise #2: Activating the Release of Oxytocin through Loving Connection, pp. 213-214

[Other body-based ways to return to equilibrium]

Exercise #3: Body Scan, p. 219-220

Exercise #4: Relaxation Response, pp. 221-222

Exercise #5: Moving the Body to Rewire Difficult Emotions, pp. 222-223

Additional exercises are available in Bouncing Back: Rewiring Your Brain for Maximum Resilience and Well-Being.