A Simple Way to Calm Yourself, Be Mindful and Be in Control of Your Emotions.

This is one of the simplest and quickest way when you find yourself getting anxious, angry or losing control of your emotions.

It is called the breathe counting exercise.

If this is the first time you are doing this, find a comfortable chair to sit in and somewhere with no disturbance. With practice, you can then do it anywhere.

1. Sit upright in a chair, feet on the floor.

2. Put your attention on your breathe, just be aware of the air flowing in and out of your nose.

3. Breathe comfortably, you do not need to make deep inhale or exhale.

4. When you are ready, on the next inhale, in your mind, count "1."

5. On your next exhale, in you mind, count "2".

6. Next inhale, count "3" in your mind, next exhale, count "4" in your mind.

7. Inhale again, count "5", exhale, count "6".

8. Inhale, count "7", exhale, count "8"; Inhale again, count "9", exhale, count "10".

9. This is one set, from 1 to 10.

10. If you have calmed down after a set, you can stop, otherwise, you can do several sets until you feel that you have calmed down.

You can practice as a daily exercise, even when you are not feeling any strong emotions, so that you will get used to this exercise and can use it immediately when you need to.

You can start by practicing once a day.

It is very normal that we have automatic strong emotions in some unexpected or challenging situation in our daily life. But do remember that only when we are not overwhelmed with emotions that we are able to tackle the presented challenges.

Practice, and don't forget to extend compassion towards yourself, every practice and new learning are always a work-in-progress.