When something unexpected happens, you always have to make sure that you’re in control and in the best possible position to alleviate the situation. This is doubly true when you find yourself in an emergency situation, in which seconds can make the difference between life or death, so you’ll need to be center yourself.
In this article, we’re going to discuss some of the things that you can do to keep yourself centered when you’re in the midst of an emergency. Keep in mind that everyone’s different, so some of our tips may work better for you than they do for others or vice versa. Before we get to our suggestions, we’ll take a quick look at what it means to be centered in the first place.
What Does it Mean to Be Centered?
Being centered is something that is hard to put into words because it is a vague feeling, but its effects can’t be disputed. When you’re centered, it means that you’ve struck a balance between your physical body and your mind, allowing them both to operate as one as efficiently as possible.
If you’re centered during an emergency, you’ll be more likely to render the needed assistance and make the right decisions in time. Instead of second-guessing your actions, you’ll feel more assured, and you’ll be able to take action with confidence.
Our Tips for Staying Centered in Emergencies
1 – Focus on Your Breathing
The first thing that you’re going to want to do in an emergency situation is to focus on your breathing, as that will let you get centered fast. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you should gradually slow down your breathing until you have calmed down, this will give you time to think.
If you’re having trouble controlling your breathing in the first place, instead start by counting the number of breaths you take to detach yourself for a moment. As you count your breaths, you’ll slowly begin to calm down, and you’ll notice that your breathing and heart rate will slow down.
2 – Count to ten. Reset.
If focusing on your breathing doesn’t help you center yourself, then you can instead try counting independently of your breathing cycle. Take your time and gradually count to either four or ten, depending on what feels more comfortable for you. When you reach the final number, reset your count.
Every time you reset, you’ll find that you’re a little calmer when you start counting again. Using this method, along with breath control exercises, is one of the best ways to keep yourself centered. This technique has been taught to soldiers to help keep them calm while under fire.
3 – Visualization
Visualization is another excellent method that you can use to keep yourself centered in an emergency. To visualize something, all you’ll have to do is close your eyes and then imagine it until you can see it. It usually helps to envision something like your favorite place or someone you love.
When you visualize something calming, it will soothe and help you get away from the stress of the moment you’re in. Keep in mind that you won’t want to use this as a way to escape, but instead as a source of power so that you can center yourself and deal with the emergency as effectively as possible.
4 – Disconnect Yourself from the Situation
When you’re in a stressful position like an emergency, it’s easy to let your emotions get the best. If you feel like your emotions are hampering your efforts to center yourself, then you’re going to need to disconnect yourself emotionally from the situation and deal with things objectively.
In an emergency, try to make an effort to push your emotions to the side and focus on the objective elements of the situation. When every second counts, you’ll want to focus on what you can do and then save how you feel about the situation for afterward. This is something that our body tries to do naturally through adrenaline.
5 – Analyze the Situation
If you feel like you can’t center yourself and visualization doesn’t work for you, then focus your observational skills outward instead of inward. Take the time to consider everything around you an analyze the situation carefully, as this will distract you from how you feel and make it easier to center yourself.
Even if you can’t glean any helpful info from your surroundings, you’ll likely feel more centered than you did before taking stock of things. In the best case, then you may have discovered something that can improve the situation during your short analysis of the things around you.
6 – Relax Your Muscles
Relaxing your muscles is another excellent way to help yourself get centered in an emergency, as that will calm you physically. When your body relaxes, then it will be easier for your mind to do the same thing, and a calm mind is crucial when you’re trying to center yourself.
Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is an excellent technique to help you get tension from your body. Using PMR, flex each group of muscles at a time, and then allow them to relax. There are plenty of online resources available that can teach you more about relaxing yourself with PMR.
7 – Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness can also help you center yourself when you’re in an emergency situation, and it works similarly to analyzing your surroundings. The main difference between the two methods is that you’re focusing on the surroundings themselves more than the info you can get from them when using mindfulness.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many different ways that you can keep yourself centered when you’re in an emergency. We hope that you’ll never have to use the advice in this guide, but it helps to stay informed, just in case.
