The Four Attitudes of Calm

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Equanimity is a sense of calm and composure. It's the polar opposite of stress. Myriad posters, t-shirts, and greeting cards espouse the virtues of staying calm, especially when adversity strikes. Actually doing so remains a challenge for many of us. It may be that adopting four fundamental attitudes can help you dampen, even extinguish, the fires of excessive stress and develop the equanimity so many seek but so few actually achieve.

The Raging Inferno

So, from whence do the fires of human distress arise? With the risk of oversimplification, the anatomical center of human stress is the limbic system. In 1952, Paul MacLean coined the term "limbic system" to refer to the functionally integrated system responsible for human emotion. Located deep within the center of the brain, it consists of the hypothalamus, amygdala, thalamus, and hippocampus. Of these four components, the amygdala is of greatest interest to our discussion. The amygdala consists of two almond-shaped anatomic nexuses. In addition to regulating autonomic physiology in everyday life, the amygdala also gives rise to the “fight or flight” response. It serves to alert and arouse the body in instances of fear, anger, aggression, panic, and traumatic stress. The amygdala is believed to be the primary culprit in the vast majority of stress-related physical illnesses. So, you can see that keeping the amygdala from becoming a raging inferno of hyperactivity would be desirable. But how?

Activate the “Cut-off Switch”

In his pioneering research, Herbert Benson (Benson, Beary, & Carol, 1974) asserted that the consistent practice of meditation could dampen the activity of the amygdaloid-based “fight or flight” response and reduce the likelihood of its over-reacting. Subsequent research confirmed his assertions (Everly & Lating, 2019). But perhaps there are easier and even quicker ways to dampen the flames of an overheating amygdala.

What’s the best way to put out a fire? Answer: Deprive the fire of fuel. What’s the best way to stop a broken waterline from flooding your house? Answer: Close the main water supply line. Pretty simple, right? Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to cut off that which fuels the fires of stress and anxiety? Well, there is. Research shows that attitudes can regulate stress and anxiety. By adopting four specific attitudes you can dampen the activity in brain regions from which stress and anxiety arise, especially the amygdala.

Four Attitudes of Equanimity

Research has shown that there are at least four attitudes that you can invoke that serve to reduce activity in the amygdaloid nuclei. Those are the attitudes I refer to as the “four attitudes of equanimity” (calm). They are: gratitude, forgiveness, acceptance, and hope. Functional neuroscience has shown these attitudes activate the angular gyrus, the anterior cingulate cortex, and prefrontal cortices, all of which have the ability to dampen acute arousal in the amygdala almost instantaneously. In doing so, they can provide you with an opportunity to pause, reflect, reassess, and perhaps react differently. More specifically, gratitude mitigates loss and envy. Forgiveness extinguishes anger and vengeance. Acceptance can quash worry, frustration, and misdirected protestation. And hope offers transcendence.

© George S. Everly, Jr., PhD, 2023.