4 ways to stay relaxed around stressful people

Four ways to stay relaxed around stressful people

Sometimes the negativity and unrealistic expectations of other people can derail your determination to include relaxation as a valuable part of your life. Don’t let that happen. Instead, consider the following suggestions to help you to remain relaxed around non-relaxed people.

1. Develop an invisible shield between yourself and stressed folk

This is really a visualisation technique, in which you imagine that you are cocooned against the negative vibes of overly stressed people around you. See their behaviour and attitudes for what they are, recognise what their stress is doing to them but refuse to let this penetrate your shield.

• Don’t carry the world’s weight on your shoulders – these people are making a choice to behave in this way, and you don’t have to come along for the ride.
• De-linking yourself from others stress can be hard at first, especially if you are emphatic by nature, but keep practicing until not giving in to their negativity becomes second nature

2. Disconnect

Put the phone back down, shut the email folder, and walk away. Whenever you feel like making an instantaneous reply in anger to someone who has raised your fire, don’t act on it. When we feel angry and stressed, we are more likely to read sinister interpretations into our interactions and if we act on them, our self-righteous anger can be self-fulfilling when the person responds negatively. Sleep on your angry missive and practice the relaxation techniques outlined here.

• Write a draft of your response, and let it sit for a day. If everything in it is just as true and valid to you 24 hours later, consider sending it. If not, you’ll be grateful you held off.
• Walk away and decompress. Instead of acting in anger, remove yourself from the situation until your calm has returned.

3. Avoid toxic personalities

Spend less time with people who try to guilt you into doing things or tell you that you’re not good enough. Yes, even if they’re family.

• Steer clear of people who are constantly complaining or miserable, aka “negaholics”. Stress can be contagious, so avoid transmitters. Understand that there is always a solution to a problem, even if they don’t, or won’t, see that.
• Avoid people who practice the art of woundology (and avoid practicing it yourself!).

Wallowing in misery is an art form for some people. You don’t need their negativity, nor their rapacious need for making the worst of every situation.

4. Spend time with people who radiate warmth and with whom you can truly connect

Regardless of what your goals, industry or interests are, there’s no getting around it: Personal relationships run the world. Contact with positive-thinking and joyous people broadens your capacities enormously and helps you to feel more relaxed and happy. Put simply, only make friends with people you genuinely want in your life.

Source:
– wikiHow, How to Relax Your Mind. Read article.

Subscribe to our newsletter