When you find yourself in the middle of a negative or unproductive reaction, perhaps you may have noticed how your breathing often becomes superficial and more rapid, and you may well feel unsettled in the stomach area, or a pulsing in your head. Sometimes your face might become flushed, or your chest area could start to tighten up as your emotions seem to start running out of control. After that, it can become like a slippery slope as thoughts can arise and emerge, which seem to make the matter even worse, and your emotions seem to go into overdrive.
There are many different techniques which can be leveraged to help you stop sliding deeper into this reactionary process. Simple breathing with conscious intent, can be a very effective means to stop this slide, anchoring your thoughts to one point. With yourself anchored, you have the opportunity to pause and choose to stop the continued reactionary process. The next time when you experience an adverse reaction to anything in life, do your utmost to apply some conscious breathing. By engaging your mind to bring focus to your breathing for a couple of moments, you can start to regulate your reactions. Then as you begin to take deeper and more rhythmical breaths, they can help you to find an anchor for your calmness. Allow this anchor to grab hold, and steady your emotions as you continue to breathe consciously.