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Weakening Stress & Anxiety
in our lives through the teachings and techniques of Yoga and Buddhism

 

 

By Mr. John C. Kimbrough

 

Almost everyone these days is suffering from or being influenced by states of stress and anxiety.

Stress can be thought of as being something that is brought on by external demands, experiences and situations while anxiety can be thought of as being an all pervading apprehension and fear, regardless of external demands.

Of the two, anxiety is much more damaging, debilitating and dangerous and over the long - term may lead to depression and various personality, mental and behavioral disorders.

At the same time, we need to remember that an experience or feeling of constant stress can lead to anxiety.

It seems the combination of how we are as individuals, with needs and desires, the constant input of experiences through the senses and the bombardment of being told we should be a certain way or have certain things, and the unwholesome conditioning that we may have been exposed to and our own ignorance can easily lead us astray so stress and anxiety can become very much a part of our existence.

When we are under this pervading and constant state we become confused about who and how we are, lose touch with our true and peaceful nature, make decisions, act and react to things based on our feelings instead of on wisdom and look for escapes through things that are impermanent and may add to our mental turmoil and foster unhealthy, debilitating and chronic physical states.

Bringing Yoga or Buddhism into our life as a way to cultivate a more healthy and wise approach to life is hindered by our own imbalances and disharmony, our inability to make a focused commitment to them and our misperceptions about what they are.

Our misperceptions are generally thinking that Yoga and Buddhism are religions that are alien to us or go against our previous or present beliefs or that by practicing them we will be committing a sin.

Sometimes we fear that we will be under the influence of an individual of questionable background or character or in a cult like atmosphere.

We may also fear that we will be asked to do things that go against how we are at present or find threatening or offensive to our nature.

And our own ego, built on individual pride and at times foolish arrogance will not let us admit to ourselves that we do have problems that need to be addressed, are not the center of the universe, do not know all the answers and that we may benefit from embracing something new.

Too many times we may feel and see this act of embracement as an admission of failure or of submission.

We may also think that we are going to be involved with people who are from different walks of life then we are and that may feel threatening to us.

In its simplest and easiest to comprehend terms, we can think of Yoga and Buddhism as being systems which offer us a set of techniques that are performed mentally, verbally and behaviorally.

It does not involve shaving one’s head, staying in an ashram or temple, leaving husband, wife and children behind or going to live in Thailand, Sri Lanka or Myanmar (Burma).

It does involve learning and understanding the teachings of either of these two systems and then making a sincere and constant attempt to apply them in our lives and day to day actions.

In looking at Yoga and Buddhism as consisting of techniques that are performed mentally, verbally and behaviorally, we understand that sometimes the line that divides these various planes of our being is not a clear one and how they are all related and affect and are affected by one another.

Thought, word and action are all closely intertwined and it is hard to cleanly and clearly differentiate between them.

Many times, in our quest for some kind of alleviation from stress and anxiety we look to physical activities.

In the material world and our day to day existence, these can consist of physical work, exercise and sex.

Of course, we can also see that although they may take away our stress and anxiety for a while or provide a focus for our energy, they do not in themselves lead to any permanent weakening and alleviation of stress or anxiety.

So much emphasis is placed on sex these days, but we see people who have active sex lives being just as subject to stress, anxiety, unskillfulness and unwholesomeness in life as those who have inactive sex lives.

And one does not have to do much active research to see that many rich and famous celebrities and personalities are dealing with the same kind of issues and problems that those who are not in the same position face.

They may just have more money and opportunities to manifest their stress and anxiety with and through.

Yoga, with more emphasis on the physical then Buddhism, provides us with a number if practices that we can do each day that will weaken and alleviate stress and anxiety.

The body and its energy can become extremely tense and stagnant or blocked and we can have poor posture.

We lose mindfulness of these things as we live life day to day, reacting to the body in our quest for pleasure or in pain.

When we perform the physical practices of Yoga, we make our body more relaxed and as a result, our mind and consciousness starts to let go of stressful and anxious states. We become more mindful and tranquil.

People who suffer from stress and anxiety need to develop these two states of consciousness so they are more aware of what is happening and how it is affecting them, are more able to deal with it in a peaceful and calm state and know what they can and should do to deal with them and not make things worse.

Mental techniques, as we have called some of these teachings of Yoga and Buddhism, can be subtler and more difficult to fully comprehend and apply.

In dealing with the body, through the physical, we are dealing with something that is gross and easy to see, whereas dealing with the energy of the consciousness, we are dealing with unseen forces that have been deeply conditioned into us and fluctuate based on various things, such as our attitude to work and life, routine, leisure activities, and habits as regards diet and sleep.

Learning and understanding these mental techniques will take more study, time and effort then the practice of the physical techniques.

They will also present us with more challenges as we attempt to apply them into our lives.

Some will ask can I bring about the changes that I desire through the practice of the physical techniques alone.

The answer to that is a qualified “yes”, you can, but with the understanding and practice of the mental techniques, the change will be deeper and more permanent.

If one wants to weaken and alleviate stress and anxiety in their lives, why not make a total commitment? 

This total commitment is not as difficult as it sounds and need not be made all at once.

Things can be done in stages, as one grows in mindfulness and tranquility, sees the benefits of what they have learned and practiced already, and is willing to put more time and effort into exploring these teachings and what they ask of us to learn and do.

 

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John C. Kimbrough
John Lives & Teaches in Bangkok, Thailand. E-Mail : johnckimbrough@yahoo.com

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Mail to : Ahimsa Foundation
www.jainsamaj.org
R280804