6 Ways to Stay Calm and Collected During a Heated Argument
6 Ways to Stay Calm and Collected During a Heated Argument
BY SOPHIE BISHOP
Arguments can be productive when approached constructively, but if heated conflict takes over, it is time to regain control. Sophie Bishop shares valuable tips to stay collected during disagreements on the Garden Court Mediation blog. She recommends understanding the roots of your anger, addressing underlying issues, practicing techniques like calm breathing, and avoiding raising your voice. Discover the power of calm communication for more meaningful resolutions.
Arguments are an unavoidable part of life, but they’re not always bad. Whether between a parent and child, two partners, or friends, heated discussions can be a proactive way to express your feelings and find solutions to your mutual problems.
But, if you often find your conflicts turn into screaming matches, you’re probably not seeing the benefits of them. When anger takes over, it’s time to work on regaining control over your emotions and becoming a calmer communicator.
To help, we’ve put together our top tips to help your stay collected during arguments.
1. Learn to Understand Your Anger
Once you understand that conflict begins in the brain and has deep-rooted origins, it becomes easier to take charge of it.
Anger is instinctive. It’s a natural human response when you perceive something to be a threat, and it fuels your body to act aggressively. You’ll want to shout, slam the door, and throw anything that’s close to you. But this is an unconscious, biological response, and in that sense, it’s not necessarily ‘you’.
You may not want to get angry, and 9 times out of 10 you’ll feel guilty and embarrassed afterwards. This is because you’re allowing your base-level instincts to control your responses rather than your conscious mind. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
By becoming aware of your emotions and identifying when you’re having an angry response, you can learn to calm yourself down. This doesn’t mean ignoring the problem at hand, but it does mean controlling those aggressive impulses that begin to take over.
