The Tao of Stress: How to Calm, Balance, and Simplify Your Life by Robert G. Santee
Authors: Robert G. Santee
Tags: Non-Fiction
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likelihood that we will perceive threats to our
uncorrected proof
The Tao of Stress
perspectives on life. Thus, rigid thinking not only initiates the fight- or-flight response, but also keeps it activated, leading to chronic stress.
To eliminate this chronic stress, we need to remove the complexity and rigidness of our thinking. We need to simplify our thinking. This removes the clutter from the mind. In this way, we begin to simplify our lives.
Although the previous chapter provided an experiential introduc-
tion to wandering mind in the context of meditative practices, it didn’t give you a good opportunity to experience it in a nonmeditative context.
You weren’t exposed to all the clutter in your mind. The next exercise will remedy that.
Practice: Observing Your Thoughts
In this exercise you’ll explore what exactly the Zhuangzi refers to as gal oping while sitting. Find a place where you can be alone and
sit comfortably for ten minutes without any outside distractions. Turn off your TV, radio, cell phone, iPod, and other potential y distracting devices. Get a timer and set it for ten minutes.
For the full ten minutes, just sit and don’t think about anything.
Don’t try to focus on one thing, such as your breath, a body part, or a word. This isn’t a meditation. I don’t want you to meditate. Just sit and don’t think about anything. When your timer goes off, stop.
* * *
What happened? What did you notice? Did you get distracted by any-
thing? Did thoughts almost immediately begin to pop up in your head even though you were trying not to think? Did your thoughts connect to other thoughts, seemingly on their own, such that you found yourself talking to yourself in your head about something? Were you wondering about the exercise? Did you find yourself making negative
judgments about it? Did you find that your mind was gal oping all
over the place? If so, this is normal; it’s what most people experience.
The purpose of this exercise is to simply make you aware of your
racing thoughts and demonstrate that, at this point, you don’t have as much control over your thoughts as you probably think you do. In 42
uncorrected proof
Simplifying Your Thoughts
Taoism this agitated mind, with its gal oping thoughts, is seen as the major source of chronic stress.
Our Changing World
As mentioned in chapter 2, in Taoism existence is seen as a continual, cyclic process of change. Taoists accept change and the uncertainty associated with it as natural. The goal of Taoism is to be in harmony with this natural process of change. This requires us to be flexible and adaptable.
It also requires that our thoughts and beliefs be consistent with our ever-changing world. Unfortunately, for most of us this isn’t the case.
In general, most of us don’t like change and uncertainty, especially regarding events, conditions, people, and objects that are meaningful to us. Uncertainty is threatening because we feel we don’t have control over the situation or ourselves. Insofar as this is threatening, it activates the fight- or- flight response and we become stressed. We don’t like the uncomfortable feelings associated with this stress.
In order to address these unpleasant feelings, we build a rigid and complex worldview composed of absolute concepts, beliefs, expectations, judgments, biases, and perspectives. These essentially serve to deny change and uncertainty. While this is functional to a point, if something occurs that violates our absolute expectations about how we, others, and the world should behave, we feel threatened because the change and uncertainty associated with it are staring us in the face. Our rigid and complex worldview is no longer protecting us. In fact, it has become a source of chronic stress because there’s a mismatch between our thinking, which is absolute and unchanging, and the world around us, which is characterized by a continual, cyclic process of change.
The Zhuangzi and
uncorrected proof
The Tao of Stress
perspectives on life. Thus, rigid thinking not only initiates the fight- or-flight response, but also keeps it activated, leading to chronic stress.
To eliminate this chronic stress, we need to remove the complexity and rigidness of our thinking. We need to simplify our thinking. This removes the clutter from the mind. In this way, we begin to simplify our lives.
Although the previous chapter provided an experiential introduc-
tion to wandering mind in the context of meditative practices, it didn’t give you a good opportunity to experience it in a nonmeditative context.
You weren’t exposed to all the clutter in your mind. The next exercise will remedy that.
Practice: Observing Your Thoughts
In this exercise you’ll explore what exactly the Zhuangzi refers to as gal oping while sitting. Find a place where you can be alone and
sit comfortably for ten minutes without any outside distractions. Turn off your TV, radio, cell phone, iPod, and other potential y distracting devices. Get a timer and set it for ten minutes.
For the full ten minutes, just sit and don’t think about anything.
Don’t try to focus on one thing, such as your breath, a body part, or a word. This isn’t a meditation. I don’t want you to meditate. Just sit and don’t think about anything. When your timer goes off, stop.
* * *
What happened? What did you notice? Did you get distracted by any-
thing? Did thoughts almost immediately begin to pop up in your head even though you were trying not to think? Did your thoughts connect to other thoughts, seemingly on their own, such that you found yourself talking to yourself in your head about something? Were you wondering about the exercise? Did you find yourself making negative
judgments about it? Did you find that your mind was gal oping all
over the place? If so, this is normal; it’s what most people experience.
The purpose of this exercise is to simply make you aware of your
racing thoughts and demonstrate that, at this point, you don’t have as much control over your thoughts as you probably think you do. In 42
uncorrected proof
Simplifying Your Thoughts
Taoism this agitated mind, with its gal oping thoughts, is seen as the major source of chronic stress.
Our Changing World
As mentioned in chapter 2, in Taoism existence is seen as a continual, cyclic process of change. Taoists accept change and the uncertainty associated with it as natural. The goal of Taoism is to be in harmony with this natural process of change. This requires us to be flexible and adaptable.
It also requires that our thoughts and beliefs be consistent with our ever-changing world. Unfortunately, for most of us this isn’t the case.
In general, most of us don’t like change and uncertainty, especially regarding events, conditions, people, and objects that are meaningful to us. Uncertainty is threatening because we feel we don’t have control over the situation or ourselves. Insofar as this is threatening, it activates the fight- or- flight response and we become stressed. We don’t like the uncomfortable feelings associated with this stress.
In order to address these unpleasant feelings, we build a rigid and complex worldview composed of absolute concepts, beliefs, expectations, judgments, biases, and perspectives. These essentially serve to deny change and uncertainty. While this is functional to a point, if something occurs that violates our absolute expectations about how we, others, and the world should behave, we feel threatened because the change and uncertainty associated with it are staring us in the face. Our rigid and complex worldview is no longer protecting us. In fact, it has become a source of chronic stress because there’s a mismatch between our thinking, which is absolute and unchanging, and the world around us, which is characterized by a continual, cyclic process of change.
The Zhuangzi and
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