The Tao of Stress: How to Calm, Balance, and Simplify Your Life (2 page)

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Introduction

approach, primarily in the form of qigong postures. For the purposes of this book, the mental and physical approaches have equal weight. You need to do both.

The Mental and Physical

Approaches

In the mental approach, I’ll guide you in consciously, intentionally, and directly bringing a specific problem into awareness, examining and reflecting upon its cause, generating a solution for resolving it, and then implementing the solution. Each chapter focuses on a specific context, the problems within that context that give rise to chronic stress, how is it maintained, and how it can be eliminated. The mental approach can be viewed as being both reactive (“I am chronically stressed and I want to eliminate it”) and proactive (“Having gotten rid of it, I don’t want it to return”).

The physical approach is more general in nature and doesn’t inten-

tionally or directly focus on any specific problem or its cause, other than the obvious concern with chronic stress: your health and well- being. It focuses on teaching you proper body alignment and how to root and

center yourself by training your attention, concentration, and breathing.

It also includes instruction in how to stretch and relax your body. A rooted and centered body is healthy and not chronically stressed. This approach is based on the observation that by calming and relaxing the body, the mind will relax and become still and empty. This will help ease your chronic stress.

Another benefits of the physical approach is that the more that you practice it, the less time you’ll spend engaging in and reinforcing the problematic thinking, desires, and behaviors that lead to ongoing physical and psychological agitation and create chronic stress. Thus, the physical approach addresses the same areas that the mental approach does, but in an entirely different manner.

Because this Taoist path incorporates both a mental approach and a physical approach, and because it addresses mind, body, and environment, it is holistic in nature. To remedy chronic stress, you need to incorporate both approaches into your life.

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The Tao of Stress

Qigong

Qigong
literally means developing, working with, and cultivating qi.
Qi
is both vital energy and breath. When a person is ill, her qi isn’t circulating freely throughout her body. Her mind, body, and environment aren’t in harmony. She has lost her center and root. The practice of qigong is focused on finding and maintaining your center and root; allowing your qi to circulate freely; reestablishing and maintaining the harmony between your mind, body, and environment; teaching you to relax; and helping you reduce or eliminate chronic stress.

There is considerable research validating the benefits of qigong and
taijiquan
(often spelled tai chi or tai chi chuan). The research covers both physical and psychological problems associated with lifestyle and chronic stress (for example, Jahnke et al. 2010; Rogers, Larkey, and Keller 2009).

There is also considerable research validating the physical and psychological benefits of meditation (Davis and Hayes 2011; Walsh and Shapiro 2006).

I’ll teach two basic types of qigong in this book. Both are extremely old. The first is the Sitting Eight Pieces of Brocade (Baduanjin), which incorporates both still and moving postures. I will teach all eight postures in this book. The second is the Method of Changing and

Transforming the Muscles and Tendons (Yijinjing). This is a standing form that incorporates both still and moving postures. You will learn eight postures from this form.

Starting with chapter 2, each chapter will include instruction in one posture from the Baduanjin and one from the Yijinjing. In each subsequent chapter, I’ll instruct you in the next posture in the two sequences.

After learning each new posture, make sure you link it to the previous postures. For example, after learning and practicing the third posture for the Baduanjin, go back and perform the first posture, followed by the second posture and then the third. Use this process for all of the postures. The Baduanjin and Yijinjing were developed to have practitioners do the postures sequentially, one right after another, until all are completed. By practicing in this way, you’ll receive optimal benefits from your practice.

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Introduction

Eating, Drinking, Sleeping,

Exercise, and Chronic Stress

Chapters 4, 5, and 6 all discuss eating, drinking, sleeping, exercise, and chronic stress, doing so in the contexts of behavior, noninterference, and desires, respectively. Each context looks at eating, drinking, sleeping, and exercise from a slightly different perspective. Although each of these contexts is explored in a separate chapter, in Taoism everything is interrelated and thus these contexts overlap and are integrated with each other.

Chinese Texts

The ancient Taoist texts I referred to are the
Daodejing
(sometimes spelled
Tao
Te
Ching
, and often translated as
The
Way
and
Its
Power
), the
Zhuangzi
(no translation as it is a man’s name), the
Liezi
(no translation as it is a man’s name), the
Zuowanglun
(
Discussions
on
Sitting
in
Oblivion
or
Forgetfulness
), the
Neiye
(
Inner
Explorations
), the
Yijing
(sometimes spelled
I
Ching
, and often translated as
The
Book
of
Changes
), the
Neijing
(
Classic
of
Internal
Medicine
), and the
Bingfa
(
The
Art
of
War
). Several of these are over 2,200 years old: the
Yijing
, traditionally believed to have developed over time and attributed to numerous authors; the
Daodejing
, traditionally attributed to philosopher Laozi (sixth to fifth century BCE); the
Zhuangzi
, written in part by philosopher Zhuangzi (370– 290 BCE); the
Neiye
(fourth century BCE), which is a chapter in the
Guanzi
(com-piled in the first century BCE and representing anonymous essays from the fifth through first centuries BCE); and the
Bingfa
, traditionally believe to have been written by Sunzi (sometimes spelled Sun Tzu; sixth century BCE), a general. The
Neijing
, of unknown authorship, is approximately 2,000 years old. The
Liezi
, traditionally attributed to philosopher Liezi, is believed to be about 1,700 years old. The
Zuowanglun
, written by Taoist master Sima Chengzhen (647– 735 CE), is approximately 1,300

years old. For the specific selections I refer to in this book, I’ve reference my own translations from the original Chinese.

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The Tao of Stress

Keeping a Journal

Throughout this book, after you do various activities, practices, and the qigong, I’ll ask you to record your experiences in a journal. You can do this in whatever format works for you: in a notebook, on a computer, and so on. Keeping this journal will allow you to reflect back on your experiences and give you a record of your challenges and progress as you journey on the Taoist path for the removal of chronic stress. The act of journaling itself is commonly thought to be a useful therapeutic tool and a helpful way to reduce chronic stress (Howes 2011).

How to Use This Book

This book is structured to be followed sequentially, in both the mental approach and the physical approach. As noted previously, it’s important to incorporate and integrate both approaches and treat them as being of equal weight. There is no rush to get through the book. Take your time, especially with the qigong.

Now it’s time to start your journey. As Laozi said in chapter 64 of the
Daodejing
(Wang 1993, 249), “A journey of 1,000 miles begins with your first step.”

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Part 1

Understanding Stress

and Taoism

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Chapter 1

Stress and Taoism

This chapter consists of two parts. The first part explores the basics of stress, the fight- or- flight response, and the problems associated with chronic stress. The second part provides an introduction to Taoism and explains its solution to the problem of chronic stress.

Normal Stress

At the most basic level, stress is the changes that happen in the body and brain to help us face challenges and solve problems in our ever- changing world. These changes primarily consist of increased energy, acute focus of attention and concentration, motivation to act, and actually acting.

This is normal stress.

Normal stress serves to help us find a solution to a problem. For

example, after waking up in the morning and while still lying in bed, you probably experience a sensation that indicates you need to go to the bathroom. Going to the bathroom is the problem. To accomplish this, you need to sit up, then stand up, and then walk to the bathroom. This is the solution. To achieve this, the body and brain need to go through a series of changes.

You need to remain focused on going to the bathroom. You need to

be motivated to get up and go to the bathroom. You need to increase your energy levels so you can remain focused and motivated and actually get up and go to the bathroom. The changes in position from lying in bed, to sitting, to standing, and then to walking require that you expend uncorrected proof

The Tao of Stress

more energy than needed to simply lie in bed. Thus, your heart rate and blood pressure increase, and your breathing speeds up to deliver energy to your muscles so you can make it to the bathroom. This is an example of the normal and natural type of stress that the body and brain experience every day.

The Fight- or- Flight Response

When normal stress is threat based, we call it the fight- or- flight response or stress response. The fight- or- flight response evolved to help us face infrequent immediate threats and solve them quickly, with the response shutting down after the threat has passed. It differs from normal stress in that it is threat based, the changes that occur are generally much more intense, and it just happens unconsciously, without thinking about it.

The primary function of the fight- or- flight response is to help resolve the perceived potential threat by increasing the body’s energy production and sending the energy to various physiological systems that put us on alert, motivate us to act, and prepare us to fight, flee, or freeze in case we actually have to fight, flee, or freeze. We are wired this way for own protection and survival.

Here’s an example of how the fight- or- flight response leads to a solution to the problem posed by a threat. Let’s say it’s late at night and you’re walking alone to your car in a dimly lit parking lot. You feel anxious and tense. Your sole focus is on getting to your car safely. You reach your car, open the door, check the backseat to make sure no one is there, and then get in. You lock the doors, start your car, and drive away. As you start to drive away, you can feel your body begin to relax.

What happened here? You perceived a threat. You wanted to get to

your car safely and drive home. Your fight- or- flight response was activated automatically and appropriately because you’re wired this way. You were alone and you perceived a genuine potential physical threat to your life: the setting and everything associated with it. The tension, anxiety, threat- based thinking, and single focus are all parts of the fight- or- flight response, alerting you to danger and preparing you to face a potential threat. Once you resolved the threat by safely reaching your car and driving away, your fight- or- flight response automatically turned off.

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There are two basic reasons why the fight- or- flight response automatically turns off once a threat is resolved. The first is that, when we are triggered, the bodily systems associated with the stress response are pushed beyond their normal limits, and they can’t sustain this sort of intensity in the long term without being harmed. The second reason is that energy is diverted away from certain body systems that don’t participate during the stress response, such as digestion, and when those systems don’t get enough energy to function, they may also be damaged or

deteriorate.

Chronic Stress

Stress becomes a problem when the fight- or- flight response isn’t turned off or is too easily activated. Chronic stress is the ongoing activation of the fight- or- flight response that can result from continual perception of potential threats or the frequent activation of the fight- or- flight response due to everyday hassles that are perceived as threats. When this happens, the fight- or- flight response isn’t functioning properly. It isn’t helping us as it’s supposed to. In fact, it is harming us.

The results of the American Psychological Association’s
Stress
in
America
surveys (APA 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012) clearly demonstrate that chronic stress has significant harmful effects on physical, psychological, interpersonal, and occupational health. Based on the results across the five surveys, the most recent
Stress
in
America
survey suggests that “the nation is on the verge of a stress- induced public health crisis”

(APA 2012, 5). Research indicates that 60 to 90 percent of symptoms reported to medical doctors by patients during office visits are associated with, worsened by, or caused by chronic stress (Benson 1998; WebMD

2011). Chronic stress is clearly not good for us.

Here’s an example of how this manifests. Let’s say that as you’re

leaving work for the day, your boss comes over and asks you to do a twenty- minute presentation first thing the next morning at an office meeting of about thirty fellow employees. She wants you to talk about an idea you mentioned to her the previous day. Your mouth immediately gets dry. Your stomach feels queasy. You hesitantly agree.