STRESS

I heard some deceptively simple words of wisdom recently: “Whenever you’re experiencing stress, the solution is always to relax.”  Well, that’s obvious, isn’t it?!  Or is it? I suspected there may be more to it than that, so for the rest of the day, each time I felt my stress/aggravation meter start to rise, I remembered to give myself a split second to think and feel “Relax”. What I discovered surprised me. It was just like that scene in the Wizard of Oz when Toto pulls aside the curtain revealing the terrifying Wizard as a mild-mannered little man. As soon as I thought “relax”, the squeezing sensations of stress began to dissolve. It was that easy!

“Stress” is a potent word. We think “I’m so stressed! This is stressful, you’re stressing me out!” and are immediately trapped into feeling helpless and put upon. But it isn’t necessary to go down that path. Even during times of real trial and suffering, by harnessing our ability to relax we connect to a deep, gentle, and truly powerful place of healing flow. Think of when you’re in physical pain. If you fight it, it gets worse. Take a breath, allow relaxation to pour through you, and the pain lessens.

I discovered my own default mechanism to deal with stress is to (yikes) analyze it. That’s not a bad tool, but it doesn’t always help with the original problem of learning how to let go of stress because the effort is limited to a mental exercise. The Qigong way offers quick relief: Notice the stress, then allow yourself to connect to a sensation of relaxation. (You can accomplish this with one or two breaths.) Your mindful intention will lead the qi. It’s all truly connected.

The gift of the water element is that is can help us wash away stress, go with the flow, and allow the sensation of relaxed confidence to transform whatever is temporarily taxing our central nervous system. Winter is the best time to strengthen the water element within us, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine. I’ll incorporate this concept into our classes all week. It’ll help us roll through this sometimes-stressful time of year with easy-going confidence and ease.