Stress is caused by a lack of ease. When a machine isn't functioning properly (like when a car runs out of oil) there is obviously going to be stress somewhere in the system. Eventually the system breaks down in the weakest place. There are a lot of stressors I can react to in both my mind and the outside world. The three most obvious to me, from my experience, are the ones I am mentioning below. The thing about it is this, no matter which type of stress I am experiencing or you are experiencing, the body reacts in exactly the same way. It doesn't know the difference.
Mental Stress - This is probably one of the harder ones to remedy, because the root causes are hidden from us (by us) a lot of the times. One of the jobs of the ego, our concept of self, is to protect us from mental pain in our conscious mind. It creates an illusion of separation from others and the outside world. I think in the process of doing this our ego allows a lot of mental stress to go under the radar screen and into our subconscious. Because these "personal demons" are a few layers below what we might be dealing with consciously, it can be harder to pinpoint exactly what it really is that's the actual root of the problem. Most of the time if I dig deep enough I come to the same thing. Stress is usually stemming from a fear that I won't be able to either share love to the level I want to, or that I won't be able to receive love openly and without reservation. Of course, on the surface this could be the last thing from your mind. Typically mental stress can also manifest in what I have come to call "mental feedback loops". These are recurrent thought patterns. In my case, I have noticed that these mental stressors are typically the same ones that come up over and over. As I dig deeper, I realize that I am still reacting to things on a daily basis that were being triggered by an original trauma or stress from years and years ago. Many times these can reside below the level of everyday conscious awareness. I was just reading a book by, clinical psychologist, John Welwood called "Towards a Psychology of Awakening" that gives a few examples of this idea:
As I mentioned, working through these types of issues can be tough because self deception can be hard to identify and then admit. Sometimes it takes outside help from a counselor or psychologist. This is where meditation also helps. However, it's important to learn to forgive ourselves and love ourselves in order to move past these road blocks and to change. Unloading these types of burdens can be one of the most powerful forms of stress release available.
Environmental Stress - Environmental stress is happening around us all the time. In most cases our nervous system is balanced enough to be able to handle it. However, when we are compromised by either mental or physical stress, environmental stressors can seem overwhelming. Take sounds for instance. Listen closely to the sounds in your immediate surroundings. What do you hear? Right now, I am in a hotel room. I hear traffic noise outside, I hear a fan running, I hear a low hum from the refrigerator etc..etc.. I notice these types of mechanical noises more often and these can really cause a low level of stress. Just the vibrations from something like a refrigerator can have a negative impact on the bodies natural rhythms. Think about it, your body is a rhythm machine! You have a heartbeat, pulsation in your vessels, your brainwaves create frequency (another type of rhythm) and your breath expands and contracts and our digestive system even has it's own rhythm. We have circadian rhythms that regulate waking and sleep states from night to day. On the micro level even our cells have their own rhythms and vibrations. It is important that these things function in concert with each other with ease. Because we can naturally pick up on the rhythms of the environment, just like when we listen to music, it is possible for the cacophony of modern machinery to affect us too. In modern life, we have come up with a lot of great things to make our lives easier, but I think it's also important to be aware of how these things might be impacting our daily lives on another, perhaps unconscious level. Other environmental stressors, could include smells, chemicals in the air, pollution, pesticides etc.. Obviously, it's impossible to control all of these things all of the time, but it might be worth giving some thought to the ones that you have the power to change.
Physical Stresses - Physical stresses can come from conditions in the physical body that are already manifest. I think one way that physical stresses show up is as a result of mental stresses that have, over time manifested themselves into physical stresses. These could include obvious stress related health problems like high blood pressure, digestive issues, headaches.. etc.. etc.. I think it's also possible that stress could also contribute to many other physical ailments that aren't usually associated with stress. Stress is obviously caused by a lack of ease, and so over time this stress is bound to manifest physically as dis-ease. No need to fear though, because I believe that we all have the power to become less stressed and find the ease that may have become temporarily elusive. The best part is that our bodies are designed to repair themselves and are continually seeking this balance towards wholeness and ease.
Unfortunately, some of the most common ways of de-stressing that are endorsed in society can actually lead to more stress physically over the long term. Here's a couple and why they don't work, long term.
Alcohol - While it can help release stress temporarily alcohol causes more physical stress later. Over time alcohol causes the body to release the stress hormone cortisol. This can create a cycle of dependence because the person drinking would experience more stress later (from the cortisol reaction) and then try to remedy the stress by drinking more. Obviously, this creates a self perpetuating cycle. I have seen this first hand in some of my closest relationships and it's not good.
Here's more info. from wikipedia.
And from Dartmouth College.
Drugs - Ok, this may be an overly general statement as "drugs" covers a huge number of things we can put into our bodies. In general though, the majority of prescription drugs are intended to mask the symptoms instead of addressing the root cause. It's important to research any drug and ask what is this doing to me physiologically? Is it masking something I might need to address from another angle? Physical? Mental?
As far as recreational drugs go, most of them are narcotic drugs that are also damping the nervous system or providing a means of suppression similar to alcohol. Narcotic drugs can also throw the nervous system into imbalance and create dependency and addiction, which becomes a feedback loop of physical stress on top of the mental stress that caused the person to seek refuge in drugs in the first place.
There are many excellent (legal) medicines that can give us the space to heal both mentally and physically and I have used some that have helped me immensely. I always try to look at these things as a short term help, while I address the root problem and not just the symptoms. The important thing I try to remember is that doctors are pragmatic, they have to offer a solution that helps the most people, most effectively. Sure they can suggest lifestyle changes, but the number of variables for each patient in terms of food, exercise etc. etc. etc..are astronomical. Plus, most doctors don't (or can't) follow up closely with patients in terms of diet, exercise etc. This seems to have become the realm mostly of "alternative medicine" practitioners. Because of this, I imagine the magic of prescription drugs is the path of least resistance and most effectiveness for them in terms of alleviating symptoms. The other thing I try to remember is that pharmaceuticals are a profit making industry and as in every industry the attractiveness of profit can obscure the usefulness of a good idea and eventually become the problem. It's up to each person to decide what works for them short term and long term.
Junk Foods, Sugars - Foods containing excess sugars, and sodium put a high stress on the physical body. If the physical body is stressed, eventually the mind gets stressed. High sodium and sugars can also create a cycle of dependence, just like drugs. So while you can experience a boost just after eating these foods, they can leave you hungover later and craving even more the next day. This is mostly common sense, but be sure to check the nutritional information if you eat out much, especially the sodium and sugar content. This is posted on the websites of most restaurants. If you haven't done this before, you may be shocked at what you find. I personally don't eat out much anymore because of this. Even "healthy" choices at some restaurants contain really high sodium and sugar content. The body is a magnificent piece of equipment, and in order to function smoothly it needs the right fuel. The only one who can make the right choice is you. Sometimes this is a process, so be patient with yourself as your habits and choices change. Above all, use common sense and begin to become aware of what YOUR body is telling YOU.
--Is it coincidence that these things dampen our vital energy? Alcohol is definitely a poison, and you could easily make the argument that certain drugs and junk foods, etc. dampen our energy too. My personal theory is that as we raise life force energy in the body, any psychological / spiritual issues will have to be dealt with in order to have balance and comfort. In a heightened energetic state, I feel it is important to be a free flowing channel, otherwise unresolved issues tend come to the surface of the mind. I have noticed this in myself and have talked to several people who have experienced more mental stress or dealing with personal issues during a period of physical rejuvenation (weight loss, new exercise program, eating healthier, detox diets, fasting etc..) Is there a correlation here? I can't say for sure, but it's worth noticing and paying attention to.
For sound downloads click here.
Just a personal note: There is nothing new under the sun. I am just attempting to present info. here that has helped me. I hope to present it in a clear way based on my experience with anxiety which was a spiritual, psychological and emotional awakening for me. In retrospect of this experience I have been reading as much as I could to come to a deeper and more grounded understanding of this seemingly mystical thing that happened to me (so that I could share it with you). I'm not a doctor or a scientist. Please know this is only my experience. Yours will obviously be different, but since my experience was so similar to others I've talked to, I am hoping this may be helpful or useful to you in some way. It's also a way that I hope to share my love with you. That is my purpose here.
Mental Stress - This is probably one of the harder ones to remedy, because the root causes are hidden from us (by us) a lot of the times. One of the jobs of the ego, our concept of self, is to protect us from mental pain in our conscious mind. It creates an illusion of separation from others and the outside world. I think in the process of doing this our ego allows a lot of mental stress to go under the radar screen and into our subconscious. Because these "personal demons" are a few layers below what we might be dealing with consciously, it can be harder to pinpoint exactly what it really is that's the actual root of the problem. Most of the time if I dig deep enough I come to the same thing. Stress is usually stemming from a fear that I won't be able to either share love to the level I want to, or that I won't be able to receive love openly and without reservation. Of course, on the surface this could be the last thing from your mind. Typically mental stress can also manifest in what I have come to call "mental feedback loops". These are recurrent thought patterns. In my case, I have noticed that these mental stressors are typically the same ones that come up over and over. As I dig deeper, I realize that I am still reacting to things on a daily basis that were being triggered by an original trauma or stress from years and years ago. Many times these can reside below the level of everyday conscious awareness. I was just reading a book by, clinical psychologist, John Welwood called "Towards a Psychology of Awakening" that gives a few examples of this idea:
- A man had developed the identity of a psychological cripple, with the story line, "I can't do it, I'm not capable," as a way of deflecting attacks from his mother, who would not allow him his own autonomy. In therapy, just as he would get close to important material, a "fog" would arise in his mind, and he would say, "I can't do this..this is beyond me." This fog arose only in moments when he was on the verge of getting in touch with something that might allow him to move beyond his cripple identity. When he finally recognized that this strategy was a highly intelligent move, designed to protect him from attack, rather than evidence of a real incompetence, the fog disappeared and allowed him to start working on this old identity more directly. His masquerade had been a brilliant one that had kept himself and everyone else fooled.
- A woman who had developed a pervasive habit of lying had a hard time believing in herself because she felt like a fraud. She had begun to lie in childhood as a way of making herself look good and thus protecting herself from her parents' critical attacks. Since she knew herself to be good inside and could not understand why they couldn't see that, lying became her way of trying to get them to see that she WAS good.
- A man suffered from depression because he felt that life was hopeless. Yet when he investigated this depression, he discovered a well of sadness, which was connected to growing up in a disconnected dysfunctional family. Feeling sad as a child had actually helped him feel more alive, more real than his family, and was thus a way of differentiating himself from them and finding himself. The problem was that he had come to identify with his sadness, thinking that was who he was. And this was the source of his depression. Through realizing that his sadness has merely been a doorway into soulfulness, depth and sensitivity to his life, he began to realize that he could have those qualities without having to identify himself as an outsider who was doomed to be alienated all his life.
As I mentioned, working through these types of issues can be tough because self deception can be hard to identify and then admit. Sometimes it takes outside help from a counselor or psychologist. This is where meditation also helps. However, it's important to learn to forgive ourselves and love ourselves in order to move past these road blocks and to change. Unloading these types of burdens can be one of the most powerful forms of stress release available.
Environmental Stress - Environmental stress is happening around us all the time. In most cases our nervous system is balanced enough to be able to handle it. However, when we are compromised by either mental or physical stress, environmental stressors can seem overwhelming. Take sounds for instance. Listen closely to the sounds in your immediate surroundings. What do you hear? Right now, I am in a hotel room. I hear traffic noise outside, I hear a fan running, I hear a low hum from the refrigerator etc..etc.. I notice these types of mechanical noises more often and these can really cause a low level of stress. Just the vibrations from something like a refrigerator can have a negative impact on the bodies natural rhythms. Think about it, your body is a rhythm machine! You have a heartbeat, pulsation in your vessels, your brainwaves create frequency (another type of rhythm) and your breath expands and contracts and our digestive system even has it's own rhythm. We have circadian rhythms that regulate waking and sleep states from night to day. On the micro level even our cells have their own rhythms and vibrations. It is important that these things function in concert with each other with ease. Because we can naturally pick up on the rhythms of the environment, just like when we listen to music, it is possible for the cacophony of modern machinery to affect us too. In modern life, we have come up with a lot of great things to make our lives easier, but I think it's also important to be aware of how these things might be impacting our daily lives on another, perhaps unconscious level. Other environmental stressors, could include smells, chemicals in the air, pollution, pesticides etc.. Obviously, it's impossible to control all of these things all of the time, but it might be worth giving some thought to the ones that you have the power to change.
Physical Stresses - Physical stresses can come from conditions in the physical body that are already manifest. I think one way that physical stresses show up is as a result of mental stresses that have, over time manifested themselves into physical stresses. These could include obvious stress related health problems like high blood pressure, digestive issues, headaches.. etc.. etc.. I think it's also possible that stress could also contribute to many other physical ailments that aren't usually associated with stress. Stress is obviously caused by a lack of ease, and so over time this stress is bound to manifest physically as dis-ease. No need to fear though, because I believe that we all have the power to become less stressed and find the ease that may have become temporarily elusive. The best part is that our bodies are designed to repair themselves and are continually seeking this balance towards wholeness and ease.
Unfortunately, some of the most common ways of de-stressing that are endorsed in society can actually lead to more stress physically over the long term. Here's a couple and why they don't work, long term.
Alcohol - While it can help release stress temporarily alcohol causes more physical stress later. Over time alcohol causes the body to release the stress hormone cortisol. This can create a cycle of dependence because the person drinking would experience more stress later (from the cortisol reaction) and then try to remedy the stress by drinking more. Obviously, this creates a self perpetuating cycle. I have seen this first hand in some of my closest relationships and it's not good.
Here's more info. from wikipedia.
"Alcohol is a psychoactive drug that has numerous effects on the functioning of the human body. Specifically, alcohol largely affects the body’s endocrine system, resulting in changes of various hormone levels caused by impairment of hormone-releasing glands and of target tissues. Hormonal changes may play a large role in alcohol-seeking behavior. Additionally, changes in hormonal levels may explain causation for relapse behavior in recovering alcoholics.
Cortisol is a stress hormone secreted by the adrenal gland, which makes up part of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. It is typically released at periods of high stress designed to help the individual cope with stressful situations.[1] Cortisol secretion results in increased heart rate and blood pressure and the temporary shut down of metabolic processes such as digestion, reproduction, growth, and immunity as a means of conserving energy for the stress response. Chronic release of cortisol over extended periods of time caused by long-term high stress can result in:"
- Fatigue
- Hypertension
- Ulcers
- Hampered growth
- Cancer
- Accelerated neural degeneration during aging
- Impaired immune system.[2"]
And from Dartmouth College.
"Often, students decide to celebrate after a stressful episode by consuming alcohol, often in large quantities over a short time frame. Ironically, this method of releasing stress actually stimulates the HPA axis and encourages the manufacture and release of cortisol. In fact, the elevation in glucocortioid levels as a result of alcohol consumption can be greater than the elevation from stressful stimuli. Alcohol probably functions to activate the HPA axis by disinhibiting it: alcohol depresses the nerve cells responsible for HPA inhibition, thereby elevating HPA axis activity (19). As a result, the adrenal cortex secretes higher levels of cortisol. It is hardly surprising, then, that Dartmouth students and college students generally complain of the consequences of considerable anxiety and pressure: our common responses to stress, lack of sleep, caffeine intake, and alcohol consumption act in conjunction to raise the amount of cortisol in our bodies, augmenting the very stress we seek to combat."
Drugs - Ok, this may be an overly general statement as "drugs" covers a huge number of things we can put into our bodies. In general though, the majority of prescription drugs are intended to mask the symptoms instead of addressing the root cause. It's important to research any drug and ask what is this doing to me physiologically? Is it masking something I might need to address from another angle? Physical? Mental?
As far as recreational drugs go, most of them are narcotic drugs that are also damping the nervous system or providing a means of suppression similar to alcohol. Narcotic drugs can also throw the nervous system into imbalance and create dependency and addiction, which becomes a feedback loop of physical stress on top of the mental stress that caused the person to seek refuge in drugs in the first place.
There are many excellent (legal) medicines that can give us the space to heal both mentally and physically and I have used some that have helped me immensely. I always try to look at these things as a short term help, while I address the root problem and not just the symptoms. The important thing I try to remember is that doctors are pragmatic, they have to offer a solution that helps the most people, most effectively. Sure they can suggest lifestyle changes, but the number of variables for each patient in terms of food, exercise etc. etc. etc..are astronomical. Plus, most doctors don't (or can't) follow up closely with patients in terms of diet, exercise etc. This seems to have become the realm mostly of "alternative medicine" practitioners. Because of this, I imagine the magic of prescription drugs is the path of least resistance and most effectiveness for them in terms of alleviating symptoms. The other thing I try to remember is that pharmaceuticals are a profit making industry and as in every industry the attractiveness of profit can obscure the usefulness of a good idea and eventually become the problem. It's up to each person to decide what works for them short term and long term.
Junk Foods, Sugars - Foods containing excess sugars, and sodium put a high stress on the physical body. If the physical body is stressed, eventually the mind gets stressed. High sodium and sugars can also create a cycle of dependence, just like drugs. So while you can experience a boost just after eating these foods, they can leave you hungover later and craving even more the next day. This is mostly common sense, but be sure to check the nutritional information if you eat out much, especially the sodium and sugar content. This is posted on the websites of most restaurants. If you haven't done this before, you may be shocked at what you find. I personally don't eat out much anymore because of this. Even "healthy" choices at some restaurants contain really high sodium and sugar content. The body is a magnificent piece of equipment, and in order to function smoothly it needs the right fuel. The only one who can make the right choice is you. Sometimes this is a process, so be patient with yourself as your habits and choices change. Above all, use common sense and begin to become aware of what YOUR body is telling YOU.
--Is it coincidence that these things dampen our vital energy? Alcohol is definitely a poison, and you could easily make the argument that certain drugs and junk foods, etc. dampen our energy too. My personal theory is that as we raise life force energy in the body, any psychological / spiritual issues will have to be dealt with in order to have balance and comfort. In a heightened energetic state, I feel it is important to be a free flowing channel, otherwise unresolved issues tend come to the surface of the mind. I have noticed this in myself and have talked to several people who have experienced more mental stress or dealing with personal issues during a period of physical rejuvenation (weight loss, new exercise program, eating healthier, detox diets, fasting etc..) Is there a correlation here? I can't say for sure, but it's worth noticing and paying attention to.
For sound downloads click here.
Just a personal note: There is nothing new under the sun. I am just attempting to present info. here that has helped me. I hope to present it in a clear way based on my experience with anxiety which was a spiritual, psychological and emotional awakening for me. In retrospect of this experience I have been reading as much as I could to come to a deeper and more grounded understanding of this seemingly mystical thing that happened to me (so that I could share it with you). I'm not a doctor or a scientist. Please know this is only my experience. Yours will obviously be different, but since my experience was so similar to others I've talked to, I am hoping this may be helpful or useful to you in some way. It's also a way that I hope to share my love with you. That is my purpose here.