This is a tough time in Türkiye, as our once happy-go-lucky lives have changed for the time being as we continue to grieve the tragic earthquakes that demolished the lives of so many. Now, even those on the opposite ends of the country feel survivor grief or worry that they could face a similar fate at any moment.
Nonetheless, we must power through these times and continue to help recovery efforts while enjoying every moment on this beautiful planet. What happened is a hard pill to swallow, as many of our basic needs, such as sleep, have been disrupted, and we are feeling anxiety and sadness for our compatriots. But several tried-and-true ways exist to seek solace and calm ourselves down when life feels overwhelming.
It just so happens that the fastest way to reduce anxiety is the most accessible practice available to us: breathing. Study upon study shows that simply breathing through our nose or doing controlled exercises can help us feel calmer in minutes or even less. When anxious, we tend to take quick and shallow breaths from our mouths. This tells our brain we are in “fight or flight mode,” which is the opposite of feeling calm. And so doing the contrary, such as taking long, deep breaths, can switch our bodies out of that stressful mode and help calm us down.
There are a variety of breathing techniques out there, such as taking a deep breath, holding it in, and releasing the breath slowly to diaphragmic breathing as well as advanced techniques, such as the popular Wim Hof method. A tip given by experts is to simply place a piece of tape over our lips to remind and guide us to switch out breathing from our mouths to our noses. All in all, breathwork is correlated with helping with anxiety, lifting our mood, increasing our mental focus, and even alleviating depression.
Recommended reading: “Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art” is a book released by journalist James Nestor in 2020. The book details the differences between mouth and nasal breathing and its historical and scientific ramifications.
The tea ceremony, a ritual in Japan, is a practice that is also deeply embedded in Turkish culture. While the tools and the tradition may differ from Japan, the practice of taking time out in the day to enjoy sipping a cup of tea is also embedded in Turkish culture. It is as much of a social practice as a reflective one here in Türkiye and is a practice we can all adopt to give ourselves some healthy pampering.
Rather than partaking in traditional Turkish tea, however, several herbal teas widely available in Türkiye are known for being relaxing. While chamomile (papatya) and linden (ıhlamur) teas are widely available most anywhere tea is served, the lemony melissa tea and Saint John’s Wort (sari kantaron) and which is considered an herbal mood-lifter are available in most markets, spice shops and freshly picked at farmer’s markets.
Recommended reading: Written by Kakuzō Okakura in 1906, "The Book of Tea" remains for over a century to be the most significant literature on the cultural intricacies of the tea ceremony in the East in contrast to the West.
One of the most significant issues of our technological and social media-absorbed civilization is that people spend too much time looking at screens. Furthermore, those screens continue to get smaller. Not only does this affect our eyes, but it also affects our brains. Therefore, it is essential to stand back and look around you; look as widely around you as possible by setting your sights on the horizon.
Embrace any opportunity to look up, whether from our screens or on the paths we walk. As far as we know, we have this one life we are living, and even more so, all we have is now. The more time we can spend enjoying the now rather than focusing on what has and may happen, the happier we will be.
Recommended reading: If you haven’t read it, there’s no better time than now. “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle in 1997 is one of the original pieces of literature on spiritual enlightenment and how to enjoy the moment.
Spending time in the sunshine is essential for humans on many different levels. It boosts our vitamin D, which promotes good mental health, among other benefits such as regulating our immune system, lowering blood pressure, and getting sun, which can also control our sleep patterns. In addition, absorbing sunlight in the morning, especially without sunglasses, has been shown to assist in resetting our body’s circadian rhythm, which means we will get to bed earlier and sleep better.
“The 4 Pillar Plan” by Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, Britain’s most well-known physician who, in addition to writing several books on how to feel better, also hosts a Podcast called Feel Better, Live More, where he talks with experts on a wide range of healthy living practices.
As people, our thought processes have a negativity bias, meaning we are much more likely to focus on negative thoughts. But instead of contemplating them, it can help to get these thoughts down on paper and out of our minds. Journaling provides perspective on our fears and their validity and can serve as a way to come up with affirmative thoughts and potential solutions to problems. Whether you journal as part of a “worry time” practice in which you devote 10 minutes to genuinely worrying or your writing time is spent documenting all you are grateful for. The method in itself is both relaxing and rewarding.
Recommended reading: Many gratitude journals provide inspiring quotes and prompts on what to write down. However, one of the most popular is “The 5-Minute Gratitude Journal” by Sophia Godkin, aka the “Happiness Doctor.”
