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My first night at sea was almost my last. Over 20 years ago, I set sail on a 70 foot sailboat from New York harbor in the middle of January. That night, we were hit by a brutal storm. Snow fell in horizontal sheets while massive waves periodically and unpredictably rose out of the darkness to smash into the deck. I looked out and saw 360 degrees of icy death – there would be no way of surviving going overboard in those conditions. Over the next few hours, the captain guided us to haul on ropes and crank the winches when needed, providing the muscle to wrestle the boat into a manageable course. His calm, focused confidence kept us alive that night.

How does one develop such calm under fire? How can each of us cultivate the capacity to face danger, difficulty, or any other intensely stressful circumstances? (And we’ve sure got plenty of those these days).

In this latest episode of the Apotheosis podcast, I kick off a series on this topic, looking at techniques and practices for cultivating calm in even the most stressful times.