Stress - the mechanics behind it

In my last post, I emphasized on the fact how the human craving for "More" is a potential source of stress and unhappiness due to the complications that it brings in. I have also been trying to decode the mystery behind stress. And this is what I think it really is.
Stress is often not a malady in itself. It is a by-product of our actions, thoughts, and desires. I view it as something which is caused by the level of importance you attach to your actions, thoughts, desires, expectations and the end results. Example? Okay here it is. Being late for any event can cause stress only if it is important enough to catch it in time. What will happen if you reach late to your office?
a. Miss a meeting / deadline for an activity.
b. May lose half a day of leave.
c. Poor impression with boss, peers or juniors.
One or more of these are the most possible outcomes. But can it be a matter of life and death? I bet that the answer is mostly a NO. But look at people during the morning rush hours. Their faces tell a grim story. They apparently think that it is a matter of life and death. They honk, they swear, they get into verbal fights with other commuters and you can easily see the high stress levels as a collective negative energy on the roads.

So what to do? Stop worrying about meetings, deadlines, bosses, or even absent marks? I don't think I want to suggest that. Then what to do?

I suggest one has to reduce the degree of importance attached. At least not till the time you actually reach the work place. Take a chill pill. Enjoy the commute with all its challenges. Try to reduce stress for others. If someone is in a great hurry, give him way with a smile. At least let him feel better.Shouting at him is going to increase the stress for two people. Smiling and giving way does not mean you are losing a battle. It is actually a way of winning it.! And winning it collectively for all.

I am sure not many will take this suggestion as a strategy. But I am not going to stress myself with that thought either. I am keeping my expectation levels low enough not to cause me any stress :-)

Yeh dil mange more

Why people have stress? Why people are unhappy? Why people do not seem to be satisfied even after having a decent livelihood, relationships and good health ?

This is a million dollar question. A very simple answer lies in one sentence - Yeh dil mange more. Or in simple English it mean the heart craves for more. This "more" is the one force behind how the mankind has evolved in its journey so far. I strongly feel it is the single most powerful cause of all the not so happy things in this world.

Let me elaborate with an example - You initially used to walk to your work place and then came the desire for a public bus to be available on that route to take you there. And there came the many associated stressful things despite the ease and comfort it brought. You struggle with crowds, pollution, change for tickets, worried  about pick pockets, eve teasing, and the list goes on. So once again the heart craved for more. A bike or may be car would be ideal. So now you have traffic congestion, rash co-commuters, high fuel costs, high maintenance, insurance premiums, police cops etc. to worry about !! The same pattern continues in all aspect of life. A bit of thought will make it visible. Be it relations, job, house, education or any other thing in this world. This pattern is everywhere. Result ? Stress, unhappiness, discontentment, anger, frustration

So does this mean we should go back to stone age in the hope that we become stress free? Nope. Is there a solution in sight? Maybe. My observation is that to reduce stress levels, one has to reduce expectation levels. Simple formula is to do more and expect less. Be like any other animal on the planet. Aim for the sky like a human but be happy when you got two square meals just like an animal.Keep the things simple. Do not try to read too much into what is going around, who is doing what and things like that.

I want to write more on this. But let me keep it simple. So I will do it sometime later. 

DOING NOTHING WITH A PASSION ...

Do what you love the most. We hear this way too often. Then wonder what we love doing! A person like me finds the going even tougher since I love nothing. I mean doing NOTHING!! Then how do I DO NOTHING? Can someone offer any clues here? Actually it is very simple. You can actually DO NOTHING by doing something you DO NOT love doing. So effectively you DO NOTHING (which you actually love)!! On a serious note, this statement bugs me a lot. There are different things I love to do … at different times. So how can I be doing something that I love all the time? People talk about following their passion. I do not know how you do that. Passion is about spending huge energy doing things and still feeling happy upon being exhausted. And then be ready to do the same thing upon the next available opportunity. So trying to bring my passion into doing NOTHING! More on this later ……

Food and mind - the relation

Folks it has been a while that I have been writing on this blog. But seriously, since there have been no feedbacks coming, I was kind of just trying to put my thoughts in order before I share them on the blog. Truly, this is no scientific study that I am doing. It is just some observations that I try to relate with mind and then share it on this blog with the hopes that someday someone finds them stimulating enough to respond back and share with his or her thoughts. So this time I have some observations regarding the state of mind and its correlation with the food that we have. So on a typical day, you had a late dinner when you were feeling hungry and charged enough to have a spirited go at it. And once you are done with it, your spirits start coming down and so do your energy levels. Soon you are engulfed with laziness and slowly you are pulled towards the couch so that you can watch your favorite TV show. First ten minutes pass and then sleep takes over. But hey, there is something which will now start to spoil your show. Yes, the burps make sure that you can’t enjoy your sleep. But since you not awake enough to do something better, you still proceed to your bed. The story is still not over. The moment of weakness on the dinner table is now going to be hours of torture at the middle of night. And damn it, you just can’t find the soda bottle in the fridge. So you sit for a while, get up and pace up and down in the hall, then go back to sleep. No way have you felt better. Now it is the heart burn which is causing distress. So you struggle for another hour and finally tiredness wins over and gives you the much required sleep.
So what has this to do with mind? Of course it has a lot to do with it. The next morning is when the trouble starts. You get up after having a bad sleep and even some unpleasant dreams. Unpleasant dreams? I bet most of you will get them. With a bad stomach you really need to be born in different species to get sweet dreams! If you don’t believe, try to simulate this once and give me your feedback.
So, what next? Well, that is even interesting. You hardly want to start the day. Your spirits are down to the lowest. Life is gloomy and there is no hope. You push yourself to make a cup of tea when you find that the milk smells of the onion curry that you stuffed in the fridge after your dinner last night. Damn it! Your life is a waste and the future is so bleak. You switch on the TV just to find that channels are not working. Heavy rains last night have disturbed your dish TV antenna! So now you look for the news paper. And so you get to know the impending lay-offs that is staring your industry. Too bad?!!!
Now try doing this. No food after 8 pm. 30 min of walk followed by a good night’s sleep by 10 pm. Let me know if you wake up next in a different and happier mindset. Let me also know in case you felt differently!

Can your mind heal your body?

Lately, I have been observing a definite pattern my body behaves in line with my moods. On a particular day, when I get up in the morning in particularly disturbed mood, my body shows hell lot of unhealthy symptoms. My head is heavy, the stomach is showing signs of indigestion, the joints seem to be stiff like never before and the energy levels are down to a zero level. This adds to my irritation and makes me skip my Yoga sessions at times. However, if I force myself to carry on with my sessions, the symptoms slowly start disappearing and by the end of it, I am feeling like I can even run a marathon! Often I wonder about this type of body behavior. Confused if the body is doing something to my mind or the mind is doing something to my body. Recently I tried to involve myself into a very different kind of warm up. Generally, before starting the game or a work out, all people are advised to carry out some warm up exercises. But I kept lying on the bed without trying to get up and start the daily routine. Instead, I tried to warm up my mind first by consciously forcing and stuffing some happy thoughts. The results were quite encouraging. My body symptoms started disappearing and I was soon feeling like I could conquer the world! This lead me into believing that there is much to be known about the body and mind connection and if illness symptoms could be successfully reversed giving powerful suggestions to you mind. I am putting a link of a video I found on YouTube that talks about it

Can mind be controlled? - Part 2

I am brooding over this issue since few days with no satisfactory answer. But today when I was into my morning yoga session, I went through a thought process. I was constantly being pulled into thought over issues from workplace and some family issue. Soon I was aware of this state. Slowly I started to remove those thought from my mind like wiping off the stuff written on a black board with a duster. Some stuff would start reappearing as I wiped it off. But I persisted. Soon the black board was blank and I could concentrate on my breathing before something appeared yet again. For some time this continued. And finally the blackboard went blank again.
This experience has given me some ideas. If I can wipe out thoughts though they keep reappearing, I may as well write new thoughts on this mental blackboard. Though it is difficult wiping off the old impressions which are sort of engraved on this black board, I can create new impressions and keep writing them over and over again till they get engraved and make a lasting impression.
This revelation gives me some more insight to my mind. Not all thoughts which have got engraved are the thoughts of my choice.But may be it is possible to engrave new thoughts which are my choice. Is it possible? May be. May not be. Perhaps I need to give it a try.
Any one who has similar experience ? Please share with me. I am eager to know. Waiting for your comments.

Can mind be controlled?

"Can mind be controlled" ? This question is troubling me for last few days. Have been reading few self development books since past few years. Many of them talk about changing life by changing thinking pattern. This needs controlling your mind and creating thought habits that change your life. I have been wondering if it is really possible.Authors of those books claim it is. They say you need practice to do it. I am not convinced. Has any one done it successfully ? I would like to meet one such person. Get in touch with me if you are one such person and share your experience.