What looks like calmness is often self-suppression. You appear composed in front of others, but it costs your nervous system a massive amount of effort.
Thoughts and words keep rising, and you start calculating Should I say this? Should I hold back?
In that moment, you’re no longer present. You’re managing yourself.
That constant self-management is what creates overthinking.
Calm is not control.
Presence doesn’t require permission.
Stop managing. Stop controlling. Let yourself be here.