The document discusses three tricks for overcoming anxiety and stress through "state shifting" or controlling one's emotional state. The first is manipulating the breath by taking long, slow exhales to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and halt stress. Second is cultivating curiosity about one's emotions and reactions to reduce impulsivity and promote calm. Third is paying attention to somatic or physical cues in the body that indicate one's emotional state and relaxing areas of tension to influence one's state. Using these three tricks allows one to develop greater control over emotions and move toward greater calm, happiness, and ease.

1. As it turns out, our emotions don’t need to determine us. There are certain tricks to
overcome anxiety and stress. You can at least move towards greater happiness and
serenity just by changing your awareness. Wouldn’t that be nice? It’s called state shifting:
our conscious control over our own being.
The first is by manipulating the breath. Take a long, slow exhale for a five-second count.
A five second exhale activates the parasympathetic nervous system and halts stress. It
tricks the brain out of producing adrenaline (when you yawn it means your
parasympathetic is activated). And you can fully halt the production of the stress
hormone, cortisol, by taking five deep and slow breaths.
Secondly: curiosity is a powerful tool for state shifting. Normally, our feelings, emotions
and thoughts determine us. But, unfortunately, over our evolutionary journey, we got
hard-wired to over-react to threats. That means, despite our best intentions, we sometimes
lash out, shut down or withdraw. These mechanisms definitely served us at some point,
say 10,000 years ago, roaming dangerous grasslands where predators lurked. Now, our
survival mechanisms are antiquated. The good news is that we can get curious about our
inner drama and bring some loving awareness to it. Observing, rather than acting from,
our ancient patterns greatly reduces impulsivity. This means greater calm, fewer social
faux pas and healthier relationships.
Thirdly: Take somatic cues. The body and mind parallel each other bi-directionally. That
means, where your mind goes, your body follows and vice versa. Do you feel some
collapse in your chest? Or maybe, suddenly you get antsy during a difficult conversation?
Or, your neck and shoulders tense up to handle a conflict? These somatic markers
indicate your interior state. You can thus affect that state by relaxing those shoulders
subtly, calming your restless body, or creating lift in the heart. We each have great power
over our being. Our emotions don’t necessarily need to run the show.
Use these three tricks to state-shift and watch yourself develop towards greater calm,
happiness, and ease.