Thursday, October 1, 2015

Stress Management

A colleague of mine went to a stress management seminar and shared some of her key take-always with me. It turns out that we spiritual travelers should be well-positioned to handle stress; many of these insights are ones that we often talk and write about.

One conclusion in particular sounded just like the "Power of Now": the instructor commented that so many of our thoughts are either regrets about past events that we can't do anything about, or worries about scary scenarios in the future that may never materialize. What a waste of mental energy! This insight certainly sounds convincing but what exactly can we do about it? Are we truly the creator of our thoughts?

I ran a little thought experiment with my colleague, I asked her not to think about an ice bear over the next sixty seconds, but if she were to do so, she should please count how often this image pops up in her head. 12 was her answer! Well, his can you not think of ice bears if you have been primed that way. 

Thoughts often run subconsciously; so there is little we can do about the stuff that pops up in our head; but we certainly may be able to decide whether to run with a train of thought or not. And we also have the power over what to say and what to do. Personally, I live by the "Power of Now", and while I cannot do much about the babbling in my head, I can focus on the next project at hand and continue with it despite myself. I can't really erase stress that way, but I can proceed without sabotaging my Self. And this by itself is a giant leap forward!

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