Lavender

The smell of lavender calms most people down immediately. Same for other herbal scents. They give us a sense of well being.
It is important to have things that give you a focal point that can override anxiety. It can be a phrase you know or a thought about a place you love. It doesn’t matter. Whatever makes you feel the best the fastest is good to know. You can pull it out when you are under stress. Most people just are reactive to stress. But being proactive is having a plan when times are difficult. The first part of the plan could be a calming down thought or scent or whatever works for you to focus and relax. In the olden days they would carry smelling salts around in case they fainted. At least they had a plan. Most people do not have a plan. We do visualization exercises in Creative club not to be in a new age altered state trance, but simply to refocus so we can think and imagine better. You can’t think clearly if you are being 100 per cent reactive. You want to be reactive as little as possible. You cant do anything without a plan because I guarantee any journey is full of obstacles and annoyances. A proactive plan for every circumstance will make the overwhelming seem just like a change to do something new. I heard of a family that lost their house in forclosure. They lost everything. The unexpected result was happiness. They had less to worry about now and could start over. And starting over is always a fantastic opportunity to do something new and better.