The Stress-Free Habit by John Perkins

Author:John Perkins
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Physchology/Self-Help
ISBN: 9781594777325
Publisher: Inner Traditions / Bear & Company
Published: 2011-06-17T10:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 6

THE STRESS-FREE HABIT

THE FIVE ELEMENTS

The people described in the preceding chapters are fortunate. Techniques for managing stress are built into their cultures.

Time spent with them and others in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East taught me that I was severely crippled because my culture did not provide comparable techniques. At first I was reluctant to fully embrace the lessons I had learned, and I did not discuss them with others. But eventually I did begin to research the principles in earnest. And what I discovered was eye-opening.

Throughout the country research was booming; some was devoted to mind-body issues. Respected scientists were hacking away at the barriers that had been erected by their predecessors between psyche and soma. Venerable institutions like Harvard Medical School were concluding that through meditation a person could control systems that previously had been classified as "involuntary." Biofeedback had become chic. Nixon's trip to China opened new doors; acupuncture was suddenly taken seriously. I found that people sought me out at cocktail parties; they delighted in hearing stories about foreign lands, customs, and especially the way other cultures responded to technology and its side effects-including stress. And I had concluded from personal observation that many successful U.S. executives shared traits in common with Toyup, Viejo Itza, and Don José. Concentration, faith, the ability to define problems in goal-oriented terms, to attempt solutions, and to stay cool under fire (thus minimizing the harmful physical effects of stress): these all seemed to be plusses for the person climbing the corporate ladder.

Many years have elapsed since those informal observations. Mind-body research has become big business. Meditation, visualization, hypnosis, and yoga are used in many medical programs, at hospitals, and in rehabilitation centers. Science can describe the impact of stress on our bodies, from the point where it causes the brain to activate chemicals, to the obstructed artery that ultimately results in death. Links between stress and problems such as depression and lack of immunity to disease have been established. Management consultants have found themselves replaced in many corporations by motivational experts. The need to control the harmful effects of stress is recognized throughout our culture. We have proven to ourselves that age-old, "primitive" techniques do work. We have also learned that those who are able to manage stress effectively are likely to be healthier, happier, and more productive than those who do not. Nevertheless, our culture still is a long way from providing us with daily routines for accomplishing this.

We do not share the good fortune of the people described in the preceding chapters when it comes to stress control. Toyup, Viejo Itza, the people of Pinrang, and the brickmakers may lack many of the benefits offered by our technological society; however, in the realm of stress, they have the advantage. Let us briefly review their situations.

Toyup's Javanese myths combine aspects of Zen and Hinduism. They provide encouragement and guidance for dealing with stressful 'situations. O-Nami is but one of many stories that are told by the Javanese during times of stress.

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