State dynasty settling down (7)

I believe the answer is:

calming

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'settling down' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to change as well as being present participle verbs.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'state dynasty' is the wordplay.
'state' becomes 'cal' (short for California).
'dynasty' becomes 'ming' (I've seen this before).
'cal'+'ming'='CALMING'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for calming that I've seen before include "Placatory" , "Soothing" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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