Our nervous system (even if we are not highly sensitive, gifted or otherwise not neurotypical) is equipped to consistently scan our environments for threats. This used to be beneficial for us in the Savannah. The problem with modern day living is, that we are consistently being alerted to the proverbial Tiger in the bush, through every notification, every time our phone rings at work, ads, a demanding job, family life and so on.
This creates a series of mini fight-flight-or freeze responses, which is barely noticeable but adds to a sense of overwhelm and anxiety and leaves us in a reactive state. Add to this, life is innately challenging. We have to not only deal with "small" threats but also bigger things and events that happen globally, to us personally, or those close to us.
So what can we do (other than retreat to a cabin in the mountains without Wifi, which is an enticing yet entirely impractical idea for most of us)? What can we do to make our lives a little less "hectic" while actually continuing to live and deal with every day demands?
The practice of centering (through attention, breath and physical balance) is one way to signal back to ourselves that we are safe. This is what we are trying to do, when we tell ourselves that something is "not actually that stressful" or that we "shouldn't be so anxious". The problem is that we are precisely as stressed, or anxious, physically, as we feel in this moment, and thinking we shouldn't be is not going to change that. I found that starting with the body more helpful. By practicing to pay attention what it is doing as a response to situations, I can get to know my own patterns and also have a physical point of reference to recover to.
There are a lot of ways to practice centering. Some "click" more for me than for others and vice versa. One that I found quite surprising is to ask myself if my "personal field" (that's the space around us that we consider "ours") is equal in the front and the back. Most of the time it isn't, because our primary mode of perception is visual — but that's not the point. There is quite an interesting physical reaction to this question (and I invite you to try it out). I sometimes experiment with the "size" of the field, expanding it to the corners of the room or beyond, then making it smaller again, or including other people. Again, this takes only a couple of seconds, and done repeatedly can create a pretty profound shift in posture and spatial awareness.