Zen and the Art of Stress Maintenance

Murli Menon takes you through a few techniques to beat stress, an ailment which is more common than the common cold

A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it everyday. He climbed to the tree top, ate the apples, took a nap in the shade. He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him. Time went by... the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree everyday. One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad. “Come and play with me,” the tree asked the boy.

“I am no longer a kid, I don’t play around trees anymore.” The boy replied, “I want toys. I need money to buy them.”

“Sorry, but I don’t have money... but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money.”

The boy was very happy. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad. One day, the boy returned and the tree was excited. “Come and play with me.” the tree said. “I don’t have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?”

“Sorry, but I don’t have a house. However, you can chop off my branches to build your house.” The boy cut all the branches of the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy never came back since then.

The tree was again lonely and sad. One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was delighted. “Come and play with me!” the tree said.

“I am sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?”

“Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy.”

So, the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a long time. Finally, the boy returned after a gap of many years.

“Sorry, my boy. But I don’t have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you...,”the tree said.
“I don’t have teeth to bite,” the boy replied.
“No more trunk for you to climb on.”
“I am too old for that now” the boy said.

“I really can’t give you anything ... the only thing left is my dying roots” the tree said with tears. “I don’t need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years,” the boy replied. “Good! Old tree roots is the best place to lean on and rest. Come, sit down with me and rest.” The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears...

You may think the boy is cruel to the tree but that’s how all of us are treating our body, mind and soul. The result? We are exposing our body and mind to tremendous amounts of stress. There is a great lesson behind this simple Zen story. A large majority of us are under stress. We are not even aware that we are under stress. Seventy per cent of mild hypertensives continue to live their lives thinking they are normal, until they go for a routine screening at the neighbourhood Blood Pressure (BP) camp and discover that their BP levels were 10-15 per cent above normal.

It is the same with stress. A large majority of us don’t take anti-stress measures seriously because “stress is what happens to others, not to me!”

The first step in stress management begins with awareness. You have to become aware that your body and mind is always under tremendous stress. Once you are aware that you are under stress, you can begin to take anti-stress measures.

From the CEO to the marketing manager to the sales manager, everyone in the industry now complains of stress. It has become more common than the common cold. Stress refers to a person’s general disturbed state of both body and mind affected by the immediate environment like occupational hazards and alienation. It requires a conscious effort to cope with it.

Considering the fact that stress is quite a common phenomenon among managers, there is a boom in development of stress management techniques and programmes. Of late, Zen meditation is in vogue. This form of meditation uses personal energy to give relief to a person and it allows him to transmit positive energy, which results in freshness of body and mind.

Why are managers under stress? The answer is as simple as it is obvious. Long working hours of endlessly staring into a computer screen which emits radiation. Lack of sleep. Irregular or wrong eating habits. Little or no outdoor exercise. Pressure of deadlines to meet and targets to achieve. Staying away from family. Couple this with stays in apartments shared with colleagues and work which never stops. Such an environment is the ideal breeding ground for stress.

Here are some simple but effective stress management techniques:

* Regular exercise is a powerful anti-stress activity. It is regarded as one of the safest and a cheap way to reduce stress. Aerobics, stretching or massaging reduce stress as they release endorphins.

* Zen Meditation can be used as an anti-stress technique as it leads to relaxation of mind and body. Researchers have shown that Zen meditation is able to produce alpha waves which are associated with a feeling of tranquillity and lack of tension. Zen meditation involves concentrating on a ‘bindu’ point on a picture. Such pictures can be downloaded as JPEG files and used as a screen saver. Whenever the screen saver is activated you can concentrate on the ‘bindu’ point and meditate for a few minutes without disturbing your work.

* Music can also go a long way in reducing stress. Listening to soothing music can help one in coping with stress. You can download therapeutic music as MP3 files and listen to it as you work on your computer. Thus IT professionals can learn to relax as they continue to work.

* Developing a hobby can be of great help to people under stress. Hobbies like gardening, photography or philately can give a sense of satisfaction and provide relaxation to mind.

Stress management techniques are basically about evolving a coping mechanism. The coping mechanism should give emphasis on relaxation, leisure and tranquillity.

In fact, managers should be encouraged to practice meditation early in their career, which would enable them to cope with stress in their jobs. Yogic exercises can also help to a great extent in regaining both physical and mental health. Regular practice of yoga controls the senses of the human being and helps in relaxation. y

(The author is the president of phenoMenon Consultants Inc., Ahmedabad. He can be contacted by email at feno@vsnl.in)