The Tao of Stress: How to Calm, Balance, and Simplify Your Life (14 page)

2. What function does this desire perform for you?
It allows me
to drink something that I enjoy tasting instead, such as coffee,
which gives me an energy boost and makes me feel good.

3. Is it beneficial to your health? If not, why not?
Truthful y, no. If
I don’t get an adequate amount of water each day, my normal

body functioning is compromised.

4. Is it detrimental to your health? If so, how?
Yes. I experience a
wide range of symptoms, such as problems with pain, energy,

digestion, blood pressure, anxiety, constipation, diarrhea,

memory problems, being easily distracted, and being con-

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fused and unable to focus, because of not drinking enough

water.

5. Can you avoid or change the environment in which this desire

arises or is deficient? If so, how?
No. I need to drink an adequate amount of water wherever I am.

Having become aware of and examined these problematic

excessive or deficient desires, the next step is to moderate or eliminate them. Excessive desires need to be decreased, while deficient desires need to be increased. This process of increasing and decreasing helps us establish our center and root and al ows mind, body, and the environment to be in harmony.

The challenge, of course, is transferring this from an exercise on paper to actual y reducing or eliminating these excessive or deficient desires. Just remember to be moderate in your approach! Start with one of the problematic desires you explored above, for which your

answers indicated that it is indeed stress producing and harmful to your well- being. Ask yourself what thinking and behavior you need to change in order to moderate or eliminate it this desire. Once you’ve figured this out, just do it.

I’ll use a deficient desire in regard to exercising as an example. If you believe that exercise is good for you and not exercising is bad for you, the next step is to change your behavior. Because the goal is to eliminate your chronic stress, your motivation to change your behavior is strong. Therefore, the first step of changing your behavior and actual y exercising won’t be a problem. Start with something simple and easy. If you already walk, brisk walking would be an excellent exercise to begin with. For example, you might starting with a ten-minute or half- mile walk and gradual y (not excessively) increase your time and distance until you are briskly walking two miles in thirty minutes. There is no rush to do more right away! The benefits you

receive from brisk walking will reinforce your desire to continue doing this exercise and your behavioral commitment to doing it.

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Interlude

The first part of this chapter discussed the mental approach to addressing and eliminating excessive and deficient desires associated with chronic stress. Now we’ll turn to the physical approach. Remember, the Taoist path incorporates both a mental approach and a physical approach in establishing a harmonious relationship between mind, body, and environment. This harmonious relationship is centered and rooted between excessiveness and deficiency.

Qigong

In addition to learning the fifth postures of both of both the Baduanjin and the Yijinjing sequences, in this section you’ll also learn the Taoist meditative process of chanting while walking in a circle, created by Qiu Changqun about eight hundred years ago (Miller 1993; Santee 2009).

With this technique, you not only exercise your body as you walk, but also train your attention and concentration. This meditative tool helps you still your mind and empty it of problematic desires, thoughts, beliefs, and judgments and the agitation and chronic stress they create.

As usual, upon finishing each of the Baduanjin and Yijinjing

sequences with the new posture, reflect upon your experiences. What were your body and mind telling you about yourself? Take some time to write in your journal about what you experienced while performing these movements.

Practice Circle Walking

As you now know, in Taoism, everything changes and transforms in

a cyclic or circular process. The circle is fundamental to our lives, as is evident in the cyclic, intertwining, reciprocal relationship of yin and yang, the earth circling the sun, the moon circling the earth, the cycle of the four seasons, the blood circulating through the body, and even the electrons circling the nucleus of an atom. The Taoist circle walking practice puts us in harmony with the circular motions of the universe at both the macro and micro levels. It accomplishes this by
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rooting and centering us in empty space in the context of the circle, al owing the energies of yin and yang to intermingle and flow freely and natural y.

By continual y chanting or repeating a word or short phrase to

yourself as you walk the circle, you train your mind to attend and concentrate, while also emptying it of the problematic desires that contribute to its agitation. This process will assist you in removing chronic stress as it creates a harmonious integrative relationship between mind, body, and environment.

To practice, find an area, inside or outside, where you can walk in a circle. Depending on where you’ll walk, select either a small circle (eight total steps) or a medium circle (sixteen total steps). Walk around something, such as a tree or an object on the ground, perhaps a

water bottle or a potted plant. This will help keep you focused and help keep the size of your circle consistent.

Select a word or short phrase that you can continual y chant or

quietly say to yourself with each step as you walk the circle. Make sure the word or phrase you choose is meaningful to you. It can be a positive affirmation, something from your philosophy of life, or related to your religious or spiritual tradition. Here are some examples:

“Peace,” “Love,” “Happiness,” “Wuwei,” “Simplify,” “Empty,” “God,”

“I am free,” “I am healthy,” “I love my family,” “I am energized,” or

“May everyone be safe.”

Before beginning to walk, do some simple stretching to loosen

up. Remember to practice guan and smile at all times. Then, breathing natural y, come into the Wuji Standing posture. As you stand,

gently twist your torso to the left, toward the center of the circle and look at the center of the circle at eye level. Begin walking the circle in a counterclockwise direction, starting with your left foot, using your natural gait, and keeping your gaze directed toward the center at eye level. A natural gait is placing your heel down first, fol owed by the rest of your foot and ending with your toes while pushing off with the back foot. Remember to continual y repeat your word or phrase as

you walk. Walk in a counterclockwise direction for thirty repetitions.

Next, simply turn around, gently twist your torso to the right, toward the center of the circle, and begin walking in a clockwise direction, starting with your right foot and keeping your gaze directed toward the center of the circle at eye level. Once you’ve completed thirty
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clockwise circles, walk in a noncircular manner for a few moments to cool down. Then drink some water.

To keep track of your repetitions, count them every time you com-

plete a full circle. If you find yourself getting frustrated or distracted while walking, simply refocus on your word or phrase. If you lose

count, begin again from ten.

As you feel more comfortable walking the circle, you can increase

your speed, add more repetitions in both directions, or do both. It is probably most effective to do this practice about three times per week, taking a day off between sessions.

When you finish your first practice of the circle walk, reflect upon how you feel. What do you notice? Do you have any desires, or is

your mind fairly empty and stil ? Recall how you felt while walking the circle. What did you notice? Did you have any desires (to do something else) or thoughts (such as,
This is stupid
) or experience other distractions that interfered with your focus on walking? If so, what were they? What did you learn about yourself? Take some time to

write about your experience in your journal.

Practice Posture 5 of the Baduanjin

Sequence: Swishing Saliva in

Your Mouth Thirty- Six Times

From the Sitting in Stil ness posture, which you returned to after Pushing the Mountain, take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Look forward with your lips gently closed. Place your thumbs in your palms and lightly close your fingers around them, resting your fists on your lap or thighs. Breathe natural y.

Raise your fists upward, turning your palms to face forward (away

from you), and contract your shoulder blades, which will bring your arms back and in line with your shoulders. Your upper arms should

be aligned with your shoulders, with your elbows bent at right angles and your palms still facing forward. This movement stretches your

upper back, chest, and shoulders.

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Rotate your tongue across your outer gums in a counterclock-

wise direction thirty- six times. Then repeat this motion in the opposite direction. Next, move your tongue all around in your mouth. Final y, puff up your cheeks from side to side and also puff out the area

behind your lips. At this point you should be well aware of the saliva in your mouth. Swish it all around your mouth. Then swal ow it in

three noisy gulps. Visualize it entering your lower dantian.

After the third swal ow, slowly lower your fists to your thighs or lap, open them up with your palms facing each other, and return to the

position Sitting in Stil ness. Smile. Smiling natural y is an expression of a centered, rooted, and happy spirit, or
shen
. At this point, stretch out your legs, take a few breaths, and get up.

The Taoists practice of rotating and moving your tongue in your

mouth and puffing out your cheeks and lips is a way to gather qi

(vital energy, or breath) and mix it with the
jing
, or life essence, in your saliva (Robinet 1993). This mixture has both transforming qualities (qi) and nourishing qualities (jing). By combining the two, swallowing the mixture, and visualizing it entering your lower dantian, it will combine with the heat of the dantian and spread throughout the body, reducing or eliminating problems caused by stress (Kohn

2008a). In addition, visualizing the saliva mixture entering your lower dantian is believed to be helpful for developing one’s center and

stil ing the mind. On a more mundane level, swal owing the saliva

mixture is believed to aid digestion.

Practice Posture 5 of the Yijinjing

Sequence: Supporting a Staff

Above Your Head

To link the new movement, Supporting a Staff Above Your Head

(adapted from Santee 2011), to the ending of the previous movement, Holding a Staff Across Your Chest, don’t bring your hands back to

your sides to the Wuji Standing posture; instead, stay in the posture Holding a Ball in Front of Your Abdomen. After a minute or two of

breathing natural y in that position, take a deep breath.

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As you exhale, bring your hands inward toward your belly button,

stopping about a fist- width from your belly button with your palms facing up and your fingertips still pointing toward each other. Take another deep breath. As you exhale, lift your hands up with your

palms still facing upward. When your hands reach the level of your eyes, keep your fingertips pointing toward each other and, in a continuous motion, rotate your hands inward, so that your palms face

down; then outward, so that your palms face forward, away from you; then upward. Continue the motion, pushing your hands upward until

your arms are almost ful y extended but without locking your elbows.

Your palms should be over your head facing up, and your fingertips should still be pointing toward each other.

At this point, rotate the thumb side of your hands inward until your fingers face backward over the top of your head. Extend your fingers toward the rear while pushing your palms upward and slightly twisting them inward. Visualize a heavy staff resting across your palms with the ends of the staff pointing to the sides. Your entire body should now be feeling the dynamic tension and twisting created by this form.

The overall feeling in your arms and hands should be a sensation of moving in three directions— up, inward, and to the rear— at the same time. Focus on the center of your palms. You should feel your chest and abdominal cavity opening up and a stretching in your hamstrings and calves. Your entire body is being stretched. Your muscles are

tense. Continue breathing deeply and natural y. Hold this position for one to two minutes.

When you’re ready to finish this position, take a deep breath. As

you exhale, relax and push your hands out to the sides, your palms facing outward, and al ow them to circle downward until they return to the position Holding a Ball in Front of Your Abdomen. You should have a distinct sense of an inward twisting of both your arms and your hands toward the center of the imaginary ball that you’re holding.

Your palms should be facing inward and slightly upward. Focus your mind on a point about three inches below your belly button. Breathe natural y and hold this position for one to two minutes. Then let your arms return to your sides and resume the Wuji Standing posture.

Remember, for this movement and for all of the Yijinjing move-

ments discussed thus far, your eyes are open and looking forward.

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Your mouth is closed with your teeth gently touching each other. Your head is pulled up, like a puppet on string, gently stretching your neck.