Feeling stressed is extremely unpleasant. It turns our body into a state of high alert. With no enemy to run from or fight, we can be anxious, miserable, tetchy, depressed, excited, tired and unable to think clearly, all within a very short space of time. It’s a very messy state of affairs. If we were able to see the effects on our energy, and consequently the body, we might be… well, even more worried. So why for so many of us does the approach of Christmas and its season, which should be happy and joyful, result in us feeling stressed? And is there anything we can do about it?
Feeling stressed is caused by one major mistake
In spite of knowing deep down that nothing is what it seems, the human race has a collective amnesia. We have forgotten who we really are. So instead of seeing things, and indeed ourselves, in their natural state, our foggy minds make it all up. Imagining situations as real, we continually respond to everything we see and hear. It’s like being in a never-ending dream – and it’s exhausting.
The remedy can be summed up in one word
Stop. That’s all we need to do. There may seem to be a million and one things we have to do but that’s part of the dream. Stopping enables us to have a lucid moment and realise that we have created an enormous, and very convincing, illusion. But with this new-found clarity, we see there is no urgency to respond to everything that appears in front of us after all. Now we have choice. When we learn to stop for a few moments and be still, we allow our natural peace to take over for a while. Then it’s easier to make the right choices, and finally bring an end to feeling stressed.
The importance of stopping and how it can give us a clear mind is explained fully in The Art of Not Doing
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