The Problem – Stress The Answer – Meditation

Every week we seem to hear about another illness in which stress is a significant factor. The understanding of the impact of stress is becoming more widespread, as the pressures and demands of modern living takes its toll.

Stress can originate anywhere and the causes are pretty much limitless. Rushing from place to place, bills in the post, poor relationships, feelings and beliefs of lack, need for approval, criticism, pressure, lack of appreciation or understanding the list goes on and on.

What is negatively stressful for one person may be perfectly acceptable to another, indeed some people seem to thrive on stress and others seem to go to pieces over the slightest little thing. Stress, it seems, is not triggered by an actual event, but how we, as an individual react to that event. The situation that makes us feel stressed one day could have no impact the next. More usual though, is that there is a gradual build up of stress, which may or may not, eventually exceed personal tolerance levels.

Not all stress is bad, we need a certain amount of it to motivate us, to get the best out of us. Without stress we can become apathetic, lethargic, lazy. Stress is activating. It’s a case of balance and appropriateness.

There are two main types of stress, Eustress is the positive and Distress of course, the negative. There is also Post Traumatic Stress, which, as its name suggests, can occur as a consequence of a past traumatic experience, which really needs professional help.

You might feel yourself to be under constant pressure and unable to cope with the demands of today’s hectic lifestyle. It seems strange that when we have so many time-saving, labour saving devices, washing machines, microwaves, tumble dryers, dishwashers, remote controlled everything, to name but a few, many of us still find it difficult to enjoy quality time doing what we really want to do. How much time have we actually gained from these inventions? Have they together added to the complexity of our lives? When we do have the spare time, how many of us feel guilty when we are inactive or doing something for ourselves?

In addition many people today are suffering from ‘information overload’ too much information for the mind to cope with. We wake up with busy minds and we go to bed with busy minds. We are bombarded everywhere we go with images an dinformation.

Primitive man was governed by the need to hunt for food and the animal body is designed to act or react as in the ‘fight or flight’ response. When faced with danger the blood flows away from the stomach and to the limbs, (hence that sinking feeling) to enable man to run or fight; the digestion shuts down, which is why it is never a good idea to eat when under stress, otherwise you could suffer from indigestion. The muscles tense ready for action, the glands secrete adrenalin, a powerful chemical eventually, when the threat of an attack is over the body returns to a state of near normal, but it is still on the alert – remaining vigilant.

Technology has advanced at a far greater speed than human beings have. And the stressors of yesteryear are very different from the ones of today. We rarely need to fight or flee these days,  but our body is still prepared every time the stress triggers are pushed.

In consequence all that negative energy accumulates in the muscles. It may cause ulcers, migraine, tension headache, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety or panic attacks, perhaps just feelings of general unease. There could be dizziness, irritability, a feeling of being constantly ‘on edge’.

Too much stress results in failure of the immune system to produce those important T cells that help to fight off infection. The immune system then attacks itself, resulting in arthritis, ME, MS, allergies, asthma, to name but a few.

If we look at the physical and psychological benefits of meditation we can see that this ancient spiritual practice is the perfect antidote to the stresses we face in the modern world. Even beginning with as little as ten minutes a day will have benefit.

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