Figure 1. Is this your end of the day? Or worse, ten minutes in? Stress is a very real part of life for most of us. With all the different facets of life we need to integrate, it seems much easier to get to a place of peace and joy it does to maintain it. But maybe for some of us even getting to a level of zen is getting harder. If we can manage it on a weekend, how do we maintain it through our work week, between home duties and work duties, bill paying and shopping, and all the other "musts"?
Getting through the day alive
Do you start your morning refreshed from yoga or meditation or even from a good night's sleep and end up like our friend to the left? Does your zen seem to evaporate between 9 and 5? Even tried and true stress relieving methods not helping much?
I can relate.
I feel your pain. It seems that time has speeded up, filled out and fallen over on top of us sometimes. How do we manage? Of course there are lots of unhealthy choices we can make but what about something more long term and sustainable?
Getting through the day alive
Do you start your morning refreshed from yoga or meditation or even from a good night's sleep and end up like our friend to the left? Does your zen seem to evaporate between 9 and 5? Even tried and true stress relieving methods not helping much?
I can relate.
I feel your pain. It seems that time has speeded up, filled out and fallen over on top of us sometimes. How do we manage? Of course there are lots of unhealthy choices we can make but what about something more long term and sustainable?
Figure 3. All chakras cleaned, connected and in the flow. Zen is on!
Figure 2. I don't recommend this method I like to pride myself on being able to zen with the best of them. (Although I do admit that with three planets in Sagittarius, I can be high strung.) So when the poster on the left showed up taped to a wall in my office, I surmised that I must
have been showing more stress than I thought. Feedback is a good thing, since we don't always have a clear picture of where we are at, especially when we get overly busy.
So how to get from figure 1 to figure 3? Great question! Although our society would like to see us all as a homoglobuous mass, the truth is that we are all individuals. Thus every person's way will be different. And the farther you are from being inner directed, the more difficult zen will be to get to.
have been showing more stress than I thought. Feedback is a good thing, since we don't always have a clear picture of where we are at, especially when we get overly busy.
So how to get from figure 1 to figure 3? Great question! Although our society would like to see us all as a homoglobuous mass, the truth is that we are all individuals. Thus every person's way will be different. And the farther you are from being inner directed, the more difficult zen will be to get to.
Gaining Balance or How to Get to Zen
Like any journey, the length of time or effort it takes to get to the destination, depends on where your departure is from. If you are just beginning, check out my book The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Meditation.
For the sake of this post, let us surmise that you already have a practice - be it qi gong, yoga, meditation, communing with nature, or another practice, which brings you to zen. If that is true, then here are a few things which may need tweaking.
1. Discipline
2. A quick check up
3. A clean up/tune up
1. Discipline
Sometimes, we have a love affair with that which brings us our zen that is not monogamous. We cheat. We don't have a daily discipline. We flirt with our practice but it is not an integrated part of our lives. In any type of successful life, discipline is key. 28 or 30 days is all it takes to create a new habit and discipline is a habit. You need to have someone hold you to it, so enlist a friend or put up a checklist and use other tools to help yourself.
2. A Quick Check Up
Even in the busiest days, some time needs to be spent in the washroom. Take a quick minute to take three deep breaths and centre yourself. Relax and let go.
Like a reset button, it will help you to get back to positive. That check up for me is something that makes the stress simply roll away.
3. A Clean Up/Tune Up
We are energy. And even if you are one of those who has done their inner work and cleaned up their act, that is not to say that you will not have to deal with those during your day, who have not. Just like that old story about the two monks, you may end up carrying their baggage home. So how do we clean that up?
There are many visualizations or meditations for this. But really, if you know how to muscle test, you can simply ask, "Is this mine?" If the answer is "No." Then you can ask that the feelings be removed and rendered inert. If the answer is "Yes." Then you need to work with something like the Emotion Code or reprogram through EFT or another modality
The Expression of Self
The above three points will definitely help you maintain your zen. But if you live in the world of roles and responsibilities only, you will find that zen eludes you. Our society provides us with much distraction to dissuade us from finding out who we are - our true self. If you are watching television - tell a vision - you will find yourself alienated, medicated or cynical.
The Kabbalists also talk about the two modes - receiving and bestowing. Receiving is what the society wants you to be. Go out and shop! The things you receive will make you happy. Yes, of course - for about fifteen minutes. Then you will need a new fix.
But bestowing is different. If you have not found your inner genius, you can not get to bestowing. Bestowing is creativity. It is what you have to offer. When I am creating, time is irrelevant. I am completely in the now. That is joy. And it is what I have to offer to others. But their approval is not important. What is important is that I am doing what I am passionate about. There is no stress in that.
Summary
Stress is there because you are disconnected and doing something that is not working for you. So connect! And stay connected. Not to others necessarily but to yourself - your true self. You need to bring meaning from within yourself. If you do that on a regular basis, you will have less stress. And you will be able to use the three ways I mention above to maintain balance in an unbalanced world.
There will be stress. The question is how do you see it and what do you do with it.
Like any journey, the length of time or effort it takes to get to the destination, depends on where your departure is from. If you are just beginning, check out my book The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Meditation.
For the sake of this post, let us surmise that you already have a practice - be it qi gong, yoga, meditation, communing with nature, or another practice, which brings you to zen. If that is true, then here are a few things which may need tweaking.
1. Discipline
2. A quick check up
3. A clean up/tune up
1. Discipline
Sometimes, we have a love affair with that which brings us our zen that is not monogamous. We cheat. We don't have a daily discipline. We flirt with our practice but it is not an integrated part of our lives. In any type of successful life, discipline is key. 28 or 30 days is all it takes to create a new habit and discipline is a habit. You need to have someone hold you to it, so enlist a friend or put up a checklist and use other tools to help yourself.
2. A Quick Check Up
Even in the busiest days, some time needs to be spent in the washroom. Take a quick minute to take three deep breaths and centre yourself. Relax and let go.
Like a reset button, it will help you to get back to positive. That check up for me is something that makes the stress simply roll away.
3. A Clean Up/Tune Up
We are energy. And even if you are one of those who has done their inner work and cleaned up their act, that is not to say that you will not have to deal with those during your day, who have not. Just like that old story about the two monks, you may end up carrying their baggage home. So how do we clean that up?
There are many visualizations or meditations for this. But really, if you know how to muscle test, you can simply ask, "Is this mine?" If the answer is "No." Then you can ask that the feelings be removed and rendered inert. If the answer is "Yes." Then you need to work with something like the Emotion Code or reprogram through EFT or another modality
The Expression of Self
The above three points will definitely help you maintain your zen. But if you live in the world of roles and responsibilities only, you will find that zen eludes you. Our society provides us with much distraction to dissuade us from finding out who we are - our true self. If you are watching television - tell a vision - you will find yourself alienated, medicated or cynical.
The Kabbalists also talk about the two modes - receiving and bestowing. Receiving is what the society wants you to be. Go out and shop! The things you receive will make you happy. Yes, of course - for about fifteen minutes. Then you will need a new fix.
But bestowing is different. If you have not found your inner genius, you can not get to bestowing. Bestowing is creativity. It is what you have to offer. When I am creating, time is irrelevant. I am completely in the now. That is joy. And it is what I have to offer to others. But their approval is not important. What is important is that I am doing what I am passionate about. There is no stress in that.
Summary
Stress is there because you are disconnected and doing something that is not working for you. So connect! And stay connected. Not to others necessarily but to yourself - your true self. You need to bring meaning from within yourself. If you do that on a regular basis, you will have less stress. And you will be able to use the three ways I mention above to maintain balance in an unbalanced world.
There will be stress. The question is how do you see it and what do you do with it.
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