Eric Maisel - Everyday Calm: 30 Ways to Soothe Your Inner Beast

I've been working as a therapist and a creativity coach for the past twenty years with clients all around the world. Some are world-famous writers, musicians, painters, actors, screenwriters, and directors. One thing I've learned is that less is more in therapy and in coaching. A simple idea or solution, once it takes hold, is more valuable than long discussions and arcane theories. One nugget is better than tons of ore.

Each card in the A Little Every Day Deck series presents a single idea and a simple exercise to try. I believe that each card's lesson is an important one and that trying even one exercise can change your life. You can use the decks in one or all of the following ways. You can read through the thirty cards in your deck, pick out one that feels particularly resonant, and try the simple exercise the card suggests. You can use the cards as a thirty-day program, taking in one message a day and on some days (or on all days) stretching yourself by trying the accompanying exercise. You can shuffle the cards, cut the deck, and let a random (Is it really random?) message speak directly to you. These are just a few suggestions. I'm sure that you'll find your own, additional ways to use these decks.

First published in 2004 by

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

York Beach, ME

With offices at:

368 Congress Street

Boston, MA 02210

www.redwheelweiser.com

Copyright 2004 Eric Maisel

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

ISBN 1-59003-079-6

Typeset in ITC Garamond Condensed and Bureau Grotesque Three Seven by David A. Freedman

Printed in Hong Kong

Asia Pacific

11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The six decks in the A Little Every Day series are Everyday Calm, Everyday Creative, Everyday Smart, and the soon to come Everyday Mindful, Everyday Centered, and Everyday Joyful. These six ideascalm, creative, smart, mindful, centered, and joyfulmake up a complete program for creating an excellent way of life. Each individual idea supports the other five. If you use the decks in concert with one another, you will find yourself growing in profound, unexpected ways.

The thirty cards in the Everyday Calm deck provide you with thirty different ways to soothe your inner beast. They will teach you strategies for quieting your mind chatter, eliminating your negative self-talk, relaxing your body, and reducing your overall stress. I invite you to learn about breath awareness, self-forgiveness, selective inattention, walking as meditation, and much more. Each card in the Everyday Calm deck will help you grow more calm. Just pick a card and let your journey begin!

I am always happy to hear from readers of my books and users of my decks. You can find the best way to contact me at my web-site, www.ericmaisel.com. I hope that you find the decks in the A Little Every Day series evocative, beautiful, and useful. May you have a calm, creative, smart, mindful, centered, joyful day!

Calmness is a practice. It starts with intention. Hold the intention to be calm.

Grow calm through practice.

Hold the intention to grow calm by saying out loud I am calm or I am growing calm. Put the single word Calm or Calmness where you can see it, on the refrigerator or above your desk.

Breathing is the secret gold. One cleansing breath can calm you. Mindful breathing works wonders.

Grow calm through breathing.

Inhale deeply for 5 to 6 seconds. Exhale slowly, taking another 5 to 6 seconds. This is a single cleansing breath. Take cleansing breaths throughout the day.

Picture something beautiful. A landscape you once saw. Your child smiling. Picture calm and calm will follow.

Grow calm through visualization.

Create your own visualization. Think about a scene that might calm you. Then picture yourself in the middle of that scenein the forest, at the beach, in the mountains. Bring the scene to mind whenever you seek calm.

Attend to nature's rhythms. No storm lasts forever. No calm lasts forever.

Grow calm by honoring nature's rhythms.

Keep a journal of the natural rhythms in your life, the alternating periods of calm and agitation. Notice these patterns and plan special calming rituals for those predictable periods of agitation.

Flow like water. Don't fight every battle. Don't run into every wall.

Grow calm through eliminating resistance.

Imagine yourself flowing calmly and effortlessly through your day. What would you have to change in order to make that possible? Make one of those changes.

Get a grip on your mind. Your mind can chatter or hush. Your mind can worry or relax.

Grow calm through mindfulness.

Quiet your mind by softly saying Hush. Say it as if you were soothing a baby. Every time your mind chatters or a worry erupts, softly and firmly say Hush to your mind.

Trust your inner resources. Surrender to your own wisdom. Then a hundred calming ways will come to you.

Grow calm through self-trust.

Whenever you have a worry say, I have the inner resources to handle this. Truly believe that you do.

Emptying brings a calming peace. Empty yourself of worry, fear, even thought. Let yourself be as empty as the sea at night.

Grow calm through emptying.

Picture a vast empty space. Feel its complete emptiness. Whenever you feel full of turmoil and worry, return in your mind's eye to that vast empty space and say, Here, take everything.

Let go completely. What you cling to imprisons you. Open the cage and fly free.

Grow calm by letting go.

Name something that you have been fighting hard to make happensome ambition, some goal, some desire. Then say, I let go of that completely. Feel the sense of liberation that instantly follows.

Pain prevents calmness. We suffer when our body aches, when our soul aches. Healing is the answer.

Grow calm through healing.

Make a list of healing strategies. Use your imagination and your wisdom to dream up ways of healing yourself. Rank order your list and then try out the strategies you have put at the top.

Flight is not the path to calmness. Stop and face your demons. They will vanish.

Grow calm through bravery.

Name the thing that you fear the most about yourselfthat you are unlovable, that you are a failure, that you have no talent. Face that self-indictment bravely and say, No, I don't think so!

Conflict is a constant agitation. A resolved conflict spreads calm like a wave. Can you resolve one conflict today?

Grow calm through conflict resolution.

Name a simmering conflictwith your child, with your mate, with a coworker. Then ask yourself the question, Can I release this conflict? Can I just let it go? If you can, do!