Stress is like a friend who has turned into a foe! Stress was Nature's way of protecting us to prepare for fight or flight when we faced a life-threatening attack. During a stressful moment, our body chemistry is quickly adjusted to face the danger by increasing blood pressure, releasing sugar from the liver. After the crisis is over, these chemicals are normally not left floating around in the body. If however the danger is not real and only imaginary, the thoughts generate the same reactions on the body. For example, when we dream of a lion chasing us, we wake up shouting, our pulse shoots up and we might break into a cold sweat! When we imagine, "what if I get a hear attack?" The fearful thought produces the same chemical reactions in the body and if such fears continue to cross the mind, the chemicals linger in the body causing damage like diabetes, hypertension, and even cancer.
Remedies are many but one should follow the ones best suited for the situation and the individual. In the next article I'll discuss a few of these remedies.
Let's now look at a few ways to prevent the accumulation of stress, and a few methods to diffuse the unavoidable stress: e.g. death of a dear one, a divorce, financial collapse, loss of job, accidents etc.
My interest in psychology began when I was studying hypnotism. For example, have you ever wondered How prayers or chanting mantras can ever influence someone? Or how yoga can affect the mind? In short what is body mind connection? To answer this, we need to understand what is MIND and how it relates to the brain.
Brain is very complicated and even today it is not understood how thoughts are processed and memory is stored and retrieved. Mind is an abstract name which we intuitively understand. When someone says, "keep this in your Mind" that friend shakes his head and replies don't worry I will. This promise is made without thinking what the mind is or how to keep anything there! So for practical purposes, we can say, Mind is something where we feel the thoughts are recorded and stored. The most likely organ used for this is the brain. using the analogy of a cinema screen where pictures are seen, thoughts are like the picture recorded on the mind the thing corresponding to the screen. The thoughts follow so rapidly that we miss the interval between two thoughts. Thoughts are discreet. If the number of thoughts could be reduced,the interval could become longer for recognition. In the theoretical limit of no thoughts, this interval becomes infinite.This state is called in yoga, Samadhi the most coveted tranquil state. All mental activities are suspended. Life is still there, there is PURE Awareness of existence- of self awareness to distinguish from the awareness of the body or the surroundings.This is called self realization and extremely rare. However psychologists consider this as an altered state of mind- a mental abnormality needing treatment!
Let us leave this to the Yogi. For us the reduction of thoughts springing up is very useful tool.This is possible only by keeping the barest minimum of activities. Thus reduction of thoughts is achieved.This called in Sanskrit "Vasana kshayam". For a yogi this is absolutely essential, and methods are available for centuries.
Ramana Maharishi has explained this well by describing how an idle mind acts like an with the trunk of an elephant standing idly. The trunk keeps moving looking for objects to grab. If you extend a stick, it will grab it. Fixing the mind on one thought firmly for long time one prevent the mind from wandering through a gamut of thoughts. This is the basis of Meditation, a universal method for reducing or avoiding stress. Practicing meditation successful requires a regular structure and the guidance of a qualified master. If this is too difficult, turn to easier methods like, participating in sport activities, watching TV, socializing, reading, traveling, acquiring new skills or hobbies.
Sometimes we need special help when extremely difficult situations like serious illness, financial difficulties, divorce, or the loss of a job. People turn to those who can peek into the future like an astrologer who can locate your stress creator, the reason for it, and when you are most likely to turn the corner- something like, "after two months planets move to favorable places
and your problems are resolved then." The result is, your stress in lessened, you see light at the end of the tunnel and you go home with good hope, and try methods to tide over the short bad patch.Thus astrology can remove the stress, at least reduce the stress for the time being, and on later finding the prediction true, stress is removed permanently.
Prayer is a powerful stress reliever. However, this method demands complete faith in a Supernatural, unseen power that can help us. We are aware of an orderly functioning of the universe-say if we plant a mango tree, it does not give us coconut. Microscopic feed-back controls are seen everywhere, these operate at macroscopic levels. How exactly these work we can never find. So we need to use our knowledge, without going to the fundamental mechanisms.
There is a story of an emperor who asked after reading LaPlace's famous astronomy book,"why have you not mentioned God who created this universe?'' LaPlace simply replied, "Your Majesty, I do not need that hypothesis for my work." Leaving alone the LaPlaces, for most of us knowing that such an unknown force is at work is logical and appealing. Majority of human population believe in some religion or other,worship God (the unknown power which controls nature).Very ancient civilizations existed,where some form of worship existed. At first it was the worship of natural elements such as Earth,Water, Fire, and Air. This practice continues even today in some parts of the world. It is also quite logical as the Sun and water are essential for the life on earth! There is a joke.Once an English man met an Egyptian,and made a statement" I heard that you worship Sun in your country! The Egyptian replied "Yes,we do, and I am sure you too would,if only you can see Him in your country!" Jokes apart, every where in the world sun-shine is welcome if it is not too hot.
Basic teaching in all religions, as expounded by all enlightened prophets, is to have faith in an unseen but existing power that controls the Universe. The name of this mighty power has many names like God, Nature, Cosmic Energy, Brahman, etc. The formula is simple here, when in need evoke that Power for help, and fully trust that your a solution to your problem will come. This is called prayer. With the development of very wide range of methods around the world, when communication technology opened up and people traveled to discover them, many were amazed and confused. If you closely examine the fundamental principles are similar. With an allowance for the independent evolution of different cultures over the centuries, we can understand why this happens.
To deal with unavoidable situations and stress management, you need to choose a faith that you can follow with full confidence. Prayer with full faith gives relief from stress.
Self-hypnosis or auto suggestion is another method. Telling yourself repeatedly, "This situation is temporary. I will find a way out to recover my normal self soon." This generates self confidence, which removes the low-feeling and gives strength to move forward and take steps to eliminate the stress causing problem e.g, get going with looking for a new job, if the cause is loss of job.
Consuming drugs or narcotics do not help remove the cause of stress. Instead, consultation with experts who can suggest methods to solve the stress causing problems, is a better option.
We end this here. We'll explore some details in my next post on methods adopted in Tantra,Yoga, and Mantra to overcome stress.
Remedies are many but one should follow the ones best suited for the situation and the individual. In the next article I'll discuss a few of these remedies.
Let's now look at a few ways to prevent the accumulation of stress, and a few methods to diffuse the unavoidable stress: e.g. death of a dear one, a divorce, financial collapse, loss of job, accidents etc.
My interest in psychology began when I was studying hypnotism. For example, have you ever wondered How prayers or chanting mantras can ever influence someone? Or how yoga can affect the mind? In short what is body mind connection? To answer this, we need to understand what is MIND and how it relates to the brain.
Brain is very complicated and even today it is not understood how thoughts are processed and memory is stored and retrieved. Mind is an abstract name which we intuitively understand. When someone says, "keep this in your Mind" that friend shakes his head and replies don't worry I will. This promise is made without thinking what the mind is or how to keep anything there! So for practical purposes, we can say, Mind is something where we feel the thoughts are recorded and stored. The most likely organ used for this is the brain. using the analogy of a cinema screen where pictures are seen, thoughts are like the picture recorded on the mind the thing corresponding to the screen. The thoughts follow so rapidly that we miss the interval between two thoughts. Thoughts are discreet. If the number of thoughts could be reduced,the interval could become longer for recognition. In the theoretical limit of no thoughts, this interval becomes infinite.This state is called in yoga, Samadhi the most coveted tranquil state. All mental activities are suspended. Life is still there, there is PURE Awareness of existence- of self awareness to distinguish from the awareness of the body or the surroundings.This is called self realization and extremely rare. However psychologists consider this as an altered state of mind- a mental abnormality needing treatment!
Let us leave this to the Yogi. For us the reduction of thoughts springing up is very useful tool.This is possible only by keeping the barest minimum of activities. Thus reduction of thoughts is achieved.This called in Sanskrit "Vasana kshayam". For a yogi this is absolutely essential, and methods are available for centuries.
Ramana Maharishi has explained this well by describing how an idle mind acts like an with the trunk of an elephant standing idly. The trunk keeps moving looking for objects to grab. If you extend a stick, it will grab it. Fixing the mind on one thought firmly for long time one prevent the mind from wandering through a gamut of thoughts. This is the basis of Meditation, a universal method for reducing or avoiding stress. Practicing meditation successful requires a regular structure and the guidance of a qualified master. If this is too difficult, turn to easier methods like, participating in sport activities, watching TV, socializing, reading, traveling, acquiring new skills or hobbies.
Sometimes we need special help when extremely difficult situations like serious illness, financial difficulties, divorce, or the loss of a job. People turn to those who can peek into the future like an astrologer who can locate your stress creator, the reason for it, and when you are most likely to turn the corner- something like, "after two months planets move to favorable places
and your problems are resolved then." The result is, your stress in lessened, you see light at the end of the tunnel and you go home with good hope, and try methods to tide over the short bad patch.Thus astrology can remove the stress, at least reduce the stress for the time being, and on later finding the prediction true, stress is removed permanently.
Prayer is a powerful stress reliever. However, this method demands complete faith in a Supernatural, unseen power that can help us. We are aware of an orderly functioning of the universe-say if we plant a mango tree, it does not give us coconut. Microscopic feed-back controls are seen everywhere, these operate at macroscopic levels. How exactly these work we can never find. So we need to use our knowledge, without going to the fundamental mechanisms.
There is a story of an emperor who asked after reading LaPlace's famous astronomy book,"why have you not mentioned God who created this universe?'' LaPlace simply replied, "Your Majesty, I do not need that hypothesis for my work." Leaving alone the LaPlaces, for most of us knowing that such an unknown force is at work is logical and appealing. Majority of human population believe in some religion or other,worship God (the unknown power which controls nature).Very ancient civilizations existed,where some form of worship existed. At first it was the worship of natural elements such as Earth,Water, Fire, and Air. This practice continues even today in some parts of the world. It is also quite logical as the Sun and water are essential for the life on earth! There is a joke.Once an English man met an Egyptian,and made a statement" I heard that you worship Sun in your country! The Egyptian replied "Yes,we do, and I am sure you too would,if only you can see Him in your country!" Jokes apart, every where in the world sun-shine is welcome if it is not too hot.
Basic teaching in all religions, as expounded by all enlightened prophets, is to have faith in an unseen but existing power that controls the Universe. The name of this mighty power has many names like God, Nature, Cosmic Energy, Brahman, etc. The formula is simple here, when in need evoke that Power for help, and fully trust that your a solution to your problem will come. This is called prayer. With the development of very wide range of methods around the world, when communication technology opened up and people traveled to discover them, many were amazed and confused. If you closely examine the fundamental principles are similar. With an allowance for the independent evolution of different cultures over the centuries, we can understand why this happens.
To deal with unavoidable situations and stress management, you need to choose a faith that you can follow with full confidence. Prayer with full faith gives relief from stress.
Self-hypnosis or auto suggestion is another method. Telling yourself repeatedly, "This situation is temporary. I will find a way out to recover my normal self soon." This generates self confidence, which removes the low-feeling and gives strength to move forward and take steps to eliminate the stress causing problem e.g, get going with looking for a new job, if the cause is loss of job.
Consuming drugs or narcotics do not help remove the cause of stress. Instead, consultation with experts who can suggest methods to solve the stress causing problems, is a better option.
We end this here. We'll explore some details in my next post on methods adopted in Tantra,Yoga, and Mantra to overcome stress.
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