Dubai, UAE- Life can turn chaotic when you least expect it. Sometimes things may not go well with your health, finances, career, or even relationships, causing undue stress and distress. To combat this kind of stress that drains and exhausts one, people turn to shortcuts- from drinking another coffee, losing some sleep, and surviving purely on adrenaline.

“There are no shortcuts when dealing with stress,” says Hanan Al Sammak, founder, life coach, and Theta healer at the HAC institute in Dubai. “Instead of relying on temporary solutions, it is important to develop a calm and mindful way to tackle and negate everyday stress. Only by tapping into one's inner peace will we be able to overcome obstacles and stay productive in life.”

Stress is a natural survival instinct. In the animal kingdom, you often see stress as a brief “fight or flight” response that keeps them safe from predators. Although it is a short-lived response, it wears down their health and energy. As simple as their lives are, animals slow down to rest and replenish their resources after a stress response, unlike us human beings.

Many people live and thrive under stress. However, this is not a healthy way to live. Not only does stress often give you tunnel vision, disallowing you to see the bigger picture, but it also leads to physical and mental health issues in the long run. So how can you manage your stress calmly and effectively, without depending upon short-term solutions?

Today, self-development courses and life coaching sessions can teach you various techniques to achieve a calm mind. Being calm and mindful helps you cope with stressful situations as well as makes you more empathetic and understanding towards others at the same time. Cultivating a calm mind will essentially help you successfully navigate your personal and professional lives, without giving up on your health and wellbeing. Here are 4 proven methods that can help you calm yourself down in minutes recommended by therapists and certified life coaches.

- Mindful breathing: Focusing on your breathing pattern is a failsafe way to calm your racing heart or stressed mind quickly. Breathing activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which initiates the calming response of your body.

- Forgive yourself: More often than not, stress comes from a place of self-criticism. When you start doubting yourself, it destroys your chances to be resilient and bounce back from struggles. So learn to accept your mistakes and forgive yourself for being who you are.

- Forgive others: Just like having compassion for oneself, being forgiving towards others helps you develop a more peaceful attitude towards life. When you learn to be kind and compassionate towards others, you start surrounding yourself with people who are also in a better mindset to cope with whatever life throws at them.

- Connect with others: Loneliness is a pandemic- a silent killer- that affects millions of people every year, leading to many physical and mental illnesses. If you are a loner, it is time to actively break out of that habit, reach out and connect with your peers. The more you build positive relationships with people around you, the more peaceful you feel in life. Relationships and community also contribute to building resilience.

“During life coaching or self-development sessions, we recommend multiple exercises that can help you calm down and focus on the tasks at hand,” continues Hanan. ”However, the most important input from your side is that you will be a better version of yourself.”

For more information on life coaching and self-development courses in Dubai, visit the HAC website today.