Calmness

Parental soothing (by rocking, holding, etc.) in infancy lays the foundations of the capacity to self-calm.{{cite book|first=Allan N.|last=Schore|title=Affect Regulation and the Origin of Self|publisher=Hillsdale|year=1994|page=226}} Thereafter transitional objects can help maintain calmness,{{cite book|first=D.W.|last=Winnicott|title=The Child, the Family, and the inside World|publisher=Penguin|year=1973|pages=168–69}} while pets as {{clarify|text=self-objects|date=July 2023}} also promote soothing and calmness.{{cite book|editor-first1=Christopher|editor-last1=Blazina|editor-first2=Guler|editor-last2=Boyraz|editor-first3=David|editor-last3=Shen-Miller|title=The Psychology of the Human-Animal Bond|year=2011|publisher=Springer|page=154}}

Calmness is a quality that can be cultivated and increased with practice,{{cite web|url=http://www.simoleonsense.com/the-psychology-of-cool-calm-collected/ |title=The Psychology of Cool, Calm, & Collected |date=December 3, 2008|access-date=April 23, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513144845/http://www.simoleonsense.com/the-psychology-of-cool-calm-collected/ |archive-date=May 13, 2011 }}{{better source needed|date=July 2023}} or developed through psychotherapy.{{cite book|first=Daniel|last=Goleman|title=Emotional Intelligence|location=London|year=1996|page=214}} It usually requires training for one's mind to stay calm in the face of a great deal of different stimulation, and possible distractions, especially emotional ones. The negative emotions are the greatest challenge to someone who is attempting to cultivate a calm mind. Some disciplines that promote and develop calmness are prayer, yoga, tai chi, martial arts, theatre arts, gardening,{{cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=Richard |title=past president |journal=Clinical Medicine |year=2018 |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=201–205 |publisher=Royal College of Physicians, London |doi=10.7861/clinmedicine.18-3-201 |pmid=29858428 |pmc=6334070 }} relaxation training, breath training, and meditation. Jon Kabat-Zinn states that "Your mindfulness will only be as robust as the capacity of your mind to be calm and stable. Without calmness, the mirror of mindfulness will have an agitated and choppy surface and will not be able to reflect things with any accuracy."{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/calmness|title=Calmness Quotes|website=www.goodreads.com}}{{better source needed|date=July 2023}}

Sarah Wilson recommends reducing one's exposure to choices/decisions as a route to calm.{{cite book|first=Sarah|last=Wilson|title=First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Journey Through Anxiety|location=London|publisher=Dey Street Books|year=2018|pages=210–11}}{{clarify|reason=explain what makes Wilson an authority on this subject|date=July 2023}}

Another term associated with calmness is "peace".{{r|webster}} A mind that is at peace or calm will cause the body to produce fewer stress hormones; this in turn gives the person a stable emotional state and promotes good health in every area of life, including marriage.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=98658&page=2|title=Study: Bad Hormones Lead to Bad Marriages|author=ABC News|work=ABC News|access-date=2016-04-01}} It is beneficial to stay calm, especially during stressful events.{{cite web|url=https://www.apa.org/topics/anger/control|title=Controlling Anger — Before It Controls You|work=APA Psychology Topics|date=3 March 2022|access-date=2016-04-01}}

The term comes from Middle English {{lang|enm|calme}}, from Old French, from Old Italian {{lang|it|calmo}}, from Late Latin {{lang|la|cauma}}, "heat of the day", the "resting place in the heat of the day", from Greek {{transliteration|grc|kauma}}, burning heat, from {{transliteration|grc|kaiein}}, to burn.

• Gibbon praised Boethius: “the sage who could artfully combine in the same work, the various riches of philosophy, poetry, and eloquence, must already have possessed the intrepid calmness, which he affected to seek”.{{cite book|first=Edward|last=Gibbon|year=2005|title=Abridged Decline and Fall|publisher=Penguin|page=444}}
• Rear Admiral Spruance, carrier commander at the Battle of Midway, was nicknamed "Electric Brain" because of his calmness in the hottest action.{{cite book|first=R.|last=Overy|title=Why the Allies Won|location=London|year=2006|page=46}}
• Lord David Cecil saw Wuthering Heights as dominated by the contrast between what he called on the one hand “the principle of storm... and on the other, the principle of calm – of the gentle, the merciful, the passive, and the tame”.Quoted in {{cite book|first=R.|last=Wallace|title=Emily Bronte and Beethoven|year=2008|page=49}}

{{Wiktionary|calmness}}

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• {{annotated link|Ataraxia}}
• {{annotated link|Equanimity}}
• {{annotated link|Humorism}}
• {{annotated link|Stress}}
• {{annotated link|Vagus nerve}}

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Category:Positive mental attitude

Category:Happiness

Category:Emotions