Finding peace in a turbulent world

If the world feels very loud right now, you’re not imagining it. We live in a time of constant notifications, 24-hour news cycles, rising costs, busy calendars and nervous systems that rarely get a break. Even when we sit down our minds often don’t stop; we’re scrolling, watching, always reachable. Inner calm isn’t about escaping reality or pretending things aren’t difficult. Instead, it’s about creating small, steady anchors within the noise, practices that remind your body what being rather than doing feels like.

Here’s a few simple ways to begin:

Start with the body, not the mind!

As humans, we overthink EVERYTHING, we try to problem solve EVERYTHING, sorting things into neat little boxes of black and white, right, and wrong. But often that doesn’t bring us calm it just keeps us busy, so before trying to reframe or rationalise, begin with something physical, take a moment and breathe! The breath can be our greatest enemy when it gets out of control, increasing our stress responses, but when we control it, and harness it, it can also be our greatest support. A simple pattern to try is placing your feet on the ground, inhaling through the nose for four and then exhaling slowly for four, every couple of breaths then increasing the exhale by one count until you eventually get to a count of eight. By doing this for a few minutes, the longer exhale sends a signal to your nervous system that it can shift out of fight or flight and into rest and digest, allowing us to relax and often think more clearly allowing us to solve problems from a better space. The gentle rhythmic repetition allows us to feel more grounded and embodied, in the moment!

Another great way to achieve this feeling of grounding is stretching before bed, or a structured class such as Vinyasa Yoga linking movement to breath, with the repetition and intention drawing you out of mental noise and back into sensation, back into your body. Calm often begins there!

Eat for support and stability!

What we consume doesn’t just affect our waistline but also our nervous system. What we eat sends signals throughout the body for it to respond, from blood sugar spikes and crashes which mimic anxiety to excess caffeine amplifying an already overstimulated system, we are what we eat, and boy, do we feel it! But how do we approach this without stressing ourselves out even more? Instead of creating rigid rules, create awareness. By creating routines with balanced meals, regular eating, adequate protein, and proper hydration we can find a calmness in the body that many of us, simply fuelling for ease and speed rather than purpose may not have realised was possible! The goal isn’t perfection; it’s consistency and stability. When your body feels stable, your mind often follows as nutrition, like breath is a quiet regulator often underutilised but hugely impactful.

Sleep is sacred

In a society that never sleeps, tiredness can sometimes be seen as a badge of honour, but we need to turn the tides and remember that sleep is not a luxury it’s a necessity, it’s neurological maintenance. This is because our deep sleep regulates our mood, restores cognitive function, and lowers baseline stress levels. This means without it the world seems much louder and even more stressful!

Sometimes sleep can seem evasive though, so there’s a few things we can do to give ourselves the best possible chance of true rest:

Dim the lights in the evening, both in the room and on any electronic devices to help signal to our bodies that it will soon be time to sleep

Reduce screen exposure an hour before bed, and if you can’t try to wear some blue light glasses to prevent the melatonin suppression they can bring. Blue light from phones and screens tricks the brain into thinking it’s daytime, making it harder to fall asleep

Keep your room cool and dark

Go to bed and wake at the same time to help set your circadian rhythm into a routine

Even small adjustments can help your body relearn how to power down. Calm during the day often begins the night before.

Your diet isn’t just what you eat it’s everything you consume!

We often talk about being mindful of what we eat. But what about what we consume online? Your nervous system doesn’t distinguish well between physical and digital stressors. Constant outrage, comparison culture, alarming headlines; these all register as stimulation, so it’s important we curate what we consume. A great way to do this is to unfollow accounts that don’t make you feel good, mute noise that drains you, and choose content that informs or uplifts you rather than agitates. What you ingest mentally can be just as impactful as what you ingest physically so when we think of our feed as a diet, we limit the negative impacts social media can have on our thoughts and our nervous system. Calm is easier when you aren’t constantly feeding your mind chaos.

Practice to find peace

In turbulent times, whether in the world around you, or within your own immediate life, distraction is easier than ever, but true restoration is much rarer. As humans we often seek a way to switch off the world, thinking that practices like meditation mean our minds become silent, but meditation seeks to bring peace not silence. That’s because there’s a difference between numbing ourselves and settling ourselves, instead of silence we seek acceptance and non-attachment. Even sitting in stillness, and silence for 1 minute a day can bring great calm to your mind and body, then over time increasing it, it’s not easy but with practice it brings great rewards.

Movement is medicine 

We often think of movement as something we do to burn calories or build strength. But one of its most powerful benefits is regulation because movement is medicine for the nervous system. When stress builds up, it doesn’t just sit in the mind, it sits in the body. Tight shoulders, shallow breath, a clenched jaw, restlessness. Intentional movement helps discharge that accumulated tension. Movement doesn’t erase life’s turbulence, but it strengthens your capacity to move through it. In a world that keeps us seated, scrolling and mentally overstimulated, even 45-60 minutes of intentional movement can act as a re-set button. Not punishment, not performance, but medicine.

Protect your peace

Calm rarely appears spontaneously, it responds to consistency, instead of waiting for life to slow down before you join the gym or see your friends, create time, create a pocket of peace for you! It might be ten minutes of stretching in the morning or a weekly class where your phone stays firmly in your bag, what matters isn’t the scale, it’s the regularity and the dedication to you!

Calm is built, not bought

Now when you started to read this, coming from a wellness studio owner, you may have thought that it would simply be a plug for our services, which yes, we can help you, but it’s also a reminder that you need to help yourself. Inner calm isn’t found in the purchase of a membership or a one-off reset; it’s built quietly through repetition and dedication. These two words couldn’t sound less sexy if they tried, but the reality is that isn’t sexy it’s consistency and it’s time: a longer exhale, a balanced meal, a consistent bedtime, a quieter feed, and regular movement. The world around you may remain loud, but you have the power to shift your internal response to it with a few small and consistent changes. You don’t need to withdraw from life to find calm, you just need small anchors within it and if you need our help we’re always here!

Charlotte Montgomery is the Studio Director of Satya Sanctuary, Knutsford's inclusive wellbeing studio in the heart of King Street. As featured in OM Yoga Magazine and Fearne Cotton's Happy Place, Satya Sanctuary offers Hot Yoga, Yoga, Mat & Reformer Pilates, Barre, Pre & Post Natal Classes and so much more. As a Finalist for Best Yoga/Pilates Studio in Cheshire, this beautiful studio offers something for everyone, with over 50 classes available 7 days a week. Satya Sanctuary provides a welcoming space designed to support every stage of life and every level of ability.

Satya Sanctuary, 44 King Street, Knutsford, WA16 6DT - www.satyasanctuary.co.uk

Satya Sanctuary will be taking part in Health and Wellness Week, alongside other Knutsford practitioners, from 14-22 March. Further information can be found www.discoverknutsford.com/events