Different Stress Management Techniques
The terrible toll that stress takes upon the body is well documented. Many people, however, fail to understand that stress is not something that is imposed from the outside. Certainly there are unpleasant events and situations that arise in life, but stress is not a result of those events. It is, instead, a result of our inward reaction to them.
The more we react with negative emotions to these outward events, the more we struggle to control our reactions. Unfortunately, this often results in an attempt to repress, deny or bury those emotions, sometimes to such an extreme that we lose touch with the reality of our own psyches. Depression, self-hatred and scores of physical illnesses can result from such denial.
For nearly 50 years, Roy Masters, the head of the Foundation of Human Understanding, has been teaching a form of meditation called "Be Still and Know." Rather than attempting to deny or ignore emotions, it asks us to pay attention to every thought that enters our mind during the exercise. The key is to strive for objectivity, so that we can recognize those emotions without reacting to them.
When we can rid ourselves of resentment, judgment and rage, we are no longer stressed by external events. We are capable of taking correct actions to deal with the external events that cause such emotions, thereby freeing both our minds and our bodies from the negative effects. Download the guided meditation at the FHU website, or order your audiotape or CD version.
Foundation of Human Understanding
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