The Tao of Stress: How to Calm, Balance, and Simplify Your Life (21 page)

along the outside of your legs until you return to the starting position.

The entire process of extending your arms overhead, bending

forward, and returning to the starting position constitutes one repetition. Repeat eight more times, for a total of nine repetitions. After the last repetition, pull your legs back and return to the posture Sitting in Stil ness. Reflect upon what you feel.

This posture stretches the backs of the legs and the back and

arms. It also enhances the circulation of qi and blood throughout

the body. In addition, it cultivates attention and concentration and, as a result, stil s and empties the mind, which helps eliminate chronic stress.

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Practice Posture 8 of the Yijinjing

Sequence: The Body Sinking

and Rising

From the Wuji Standing posture, which you returned to after Nine

Ghosts Pul ing a Saber, take a deep breath through your nose. At the same time, scoop your hands inward, palms facing up and middle

fingers slightly touching, and slowly raise your hands up, palms still facing up and middle fingers touching, keeping your elbows down.

Raise your hands until they’re in line with the middle of your chest.

At this point, rotate your hands inward and then downward until your palms are facing the ground.

Shift your weight to your right foot and step out to the side with your left foot so that your feet are shoulder- width apart (a little wider is okay). At the same time, gently pull your hands out to the sides, keeping your hands at chest level and your palms facing down. At this point, begin to slowly exhale through your nose and push your palms down to waist level as you slowly bend your legs and lower your rear end so that your body sinks. Keep your back straight. You are essential y performing a squat. Visualize each of your palms pushing down on a table. Pause for a moment.

Slowly take a deep breath through your nose. Then, as you begin

to slowly exhale through your mouth, slowly straighten your legs. At the same time, rotate your palms inward and upward, grasping your

hands into fists with your palms facing up, and slowly pull them up to chest level. Visualize that each fist is holding a handle connected to a pulley system that’s attached to a heavy weight. When you’re

straightening your legs and pul ing your fists up, visualize yourself moving a heavy weight upward. Pause. Then slowly inhale through

your nose and sink down to the squatting position with both of your hands pushing down on a table.

The sequence from the squatting position to the upright position

and back to squatting again constitutes one repetition. Repeat four more times, for a total of five repetitions. After the last repetition, return to the Wuji Standing posture.

This posture stretches and strengthens the legs, arms, abdomen,

and waist. It also enhances the flow of qi in the lower dantian. The
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use of visualization strengthens attention and concentration and also assists in stil ing and emptying the mind, which is beneficial for eliminating chronic stress.

Conclusion

This chapter focused on the foundation of the nonspecific, nonintentional, and body- grounded Taoist approach to stilling and emptying the mind and managing or eliminating chronic stress: the Taoist meditative core. Practicing all four elements of the meditative core regularly—

Breathing from Your Heels, Mind Like a Mirror, Heart and Mind Fasting, and Sitting in Oblivion or Forgetfulness— will give you a better understanding of the Taoist path and how it harmonizes yin and yang

approaches to eliminating chronic stress. The next chapter, which is the last chapter in the book, explores how this harmonization is manifested in the Taoist role model: the authentic person.

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Chapter 10

The Authentic Person

From ancient times until the present, the
zhenren
, or authentic person, has been the role model for practitioners of Taoism. The earliest description of the zhenren appears in the
Zhuangzi
(Guo 1974), written over 2,200 years ago. The authentic person is described as obtaining stress-free, restful, and sufficient sleep. When she is awake, she isn’t chronically stressed. She eats moderately. Her mind is still and empty of agitation.

She doesn’t have absolute thoughts, beliefs, judgments, and other forms of negative thinking. Her mind, body, and behavior are all in harmony with the continual process of change and transformation. She doesn’t interfere with herself, others, or the world around her. She doesn’t get entangled in the activities of the world. She doesn’t fear death or relish life. Her life is quite simple. She is happy, carefree, and at peace. She is integrated with Tao.

In the
Zhuangzi
, the authentic person, who is clearly free from chronic stress, is compared to the person who is chronically stressed. The breath is key to this distinction. The authentic person is described as breathing very deeply, from her heels, whereas the chronically stressed person is described as breathing very shallowly, from his throat. His breathing is restricted, giving rise to a retching sound when he talks. This compromised breathing is linked to an agitated mind and body, unresolved desires, and a long- standing pattern of being uncentered, unrooted, unstable, and superficial.

In what is believed to be the earliest Chinese medical text, the

Neijing
, the authentic person of ancient times is described as reaching the highest state of health and well- being and therefore having the greatest uncorrected proof

The Tao of Stress

longevity. The fundamental reason for his good health, well- being, and freedom from chronic stress was that he understood and was guided, cognitively, physically, and interpersonally, by the interrelated, continually changing and transforming process of yin and yang. He realized that there are no absolutes, cognitively or physically, because everything is subject to the continual process of change and transformation. He

focused on the positive and life affirming, rather than the negative or life denying. He turned his attention to vitality not lethargy, facilitating not impeding, and enjoying not disliking. He also practiced moderation, balancing between excessive and deficient in all of his behavior, cognitive, physical, and interpersonal. Therefore, he was in harmony with himself and the world around him.

The authentic person’s daily life was consistent and regular. He did not labor excessively. He was concerned with getting restful and adequate sleep, eating and drinking in moderation, stretching, and exercising in the form of brisk walking. He also practiced
yangsheng
, or cultivating life, by practicing correct breathing, inhaling and exhaling qi and jing (life essence) while standing alone (Standing like a Tree or Stake in the Ground) and observing, guarding, and embracing his spirit (shen) and thus uniting it with his body. Today, we know yangsheng as qigong.

The Three Taoist Treasures

I briefly mentioned the concepts jing and shen earlier in this book. Now I’d like to take a closer look. In Taoism, the human being consists of three basic interrelated components, or treasures: qi, jing, and shen.

Reintegrating these three treasures is a fundamental spiritual goal for the authentic person, and a prerequisite for this reintegration is eliminating chronic stress.

As noted earlier in the book, qi is vital energy and breath. It takes on various shapes, configurations, and qualities through the workings of yin and yang. It circulates throughout the universe and throughout our bodies. It is the basic building block of all things organic, where it combines with jing, and inorganic. We maintain our lives through the qi we receive via breathing, eating, and drinking. Jing is the life essence or life force. It is coarse, condensed, and concrete qi. Our lives are also
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maintained through the jing we receive via breathing, eating, and drinking. Shen is consciousness and spirit. It is fine, thin, and intangible qi.

Psychologically, qi is associated with our emotions, jing is associated with our desires, and shen is associated with our cognitive activity, such as attention, concentration, beliefs, judgments, thoughts, and thinking.

All three treasures are intertwined and linked to all of our behaviors.

Excessive or deficient emotions drain qi. Excessive or deficient desires drain jing. Excessive or deficient cognitive activity drains shen. The draining of qi, jing, or shen leads to an agitated mind and body, resulting in chronic stress. This underlies Taoism’s focus on the necessity of moderation in all aspects of our lives.

For the authentic person, a holistic lifestyle of moderation is created by eliminating chronic stress and maintaining a harmonious relationship between jing, qi, and shen. What and how much we eat, what and how much we drink, how much and how well we sleep, whether and how

much we exercise and meditate, the simplicity of our lives, whether our desires are excessive or deficient, how we interact with others and the world, and how we think, feel, and behave all have a direct impact on our jing, qi and shen; on being centered, rooted, and stabilized; and on maintaining a harmonious relationship between mind, body, and

environment.

The Authentic Person and the

Art of Calculation

The authentic person is sensitive to, responsive to, and integrated with the world around her and all that entails, and to her own body and mind.

This isn’t due to some magical potion or sudden epiphany. It is due to the application of a strategy that is flexible, noncontrived, and nonscheming, as noted in both the
Zhuangzi
(Guo 1974) and
Neijing
(2007). This allows the authentic person to be in harmony within herself and with the world.

This strategy of self- monitoring provides guidance and requires self-monitoring, discipline, attention, concentration, effort, and ongoing consistent practice.

One description of this strategy is found in the ancient text known as the
Bingfa
. Originally developed as a manual on warfare, this
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Taoist- influenced text is still used in many Asian countries for guidance on how to manage business affairs. To a certain degree, you have been learning to use the same guidelines throughout this book, applying them to addressing chronic stress.

The five steps in this pattern of guidance, based on chapter 4 of the
Bingfa
, are utilized for assessing, analyzing, and evaluating chronic stress and coming up with solutions to the underlying problems creating the stress (Sunzi 2012). Once the problem has been identified the following five steps are applied:

1. Gathering information from various contexts

2. Measuring the information

3. Analyzing the information and generating solutions

4. Evaluating the analysis

5. Making a decision, acting on it, and monitoring the results

In order to make the application of these five steps concrete, I’ll apply them to Martha’s situation. As you may recall from the story in chapter 7, Martha had a problem with excessive texting.

1. Gathering Information from

Various Contexts

The focus of the first step is on gathering information about what occurred and where. In Martha’s case, the problems are poor sleep, poor nutrition, being late for work, poor work performance, physical pain, poor attention and concentration on activities other than texting, being physically and psychologically drained, and, ultimately, a car accident.

The numerous contexts where her problems occurred include at home, at work, and while driving down the street.

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2. Measuring the Information

Given the information gathered in the first step, the focus of the second step is on calculating how often, how long, and when the problematic behaviors occur. This step would be applied to all of the identified problems. For example, Martha has been noticing pain in her wrist, fingers, thumb, shoulder, and neck. It is occurring on a daily basis, lasts for about an hour, and appears to happens every time she texts.

3. Analyzing the Information and

Generating Solutions

Given the problem and its frequency, duration, and link to a specific behavior, the next step is to ask what can be done with the information.

What does the information tell us about the cause of the problem? Can the cause be connected to other identified problems? In Martha’s case, the cause of her physical pain seems quite obvious: she’s spending too much time texting. She appears to have a repetitive use injury. Her excessive texting can also be easily linked to her other identified problems, such as lack of sleep, poor eating habits, and lack of energy. In other words, Martha’s excessive texting has resulted in her being chronically stressed physically, psychologically, interpersonally, and occupationally.

Given that excessive texting has been identified as the cause of

Martha’s pain, and given that texting is also clearly linked to Martha’s other identified problems, the immediate solution is to stop texting or at least significantly reduce how much time she spends texting. In addition, given her chronic stress, she needs to take a proactive approach to generating solutions. For starters, she might consider exercising, meditating, and changing her eating habits.

4. Evaluating the Analysis

The potential solutions must be evaluated. We need to consider

what value we place on each potential solution and the benefits each might confer. We also need to consider the consequences of not

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implementing each solution. In Martha’s case, one potential solution is eliminating or at least reducing her texting. If she doesn’t implement this solution, her pain will probably get worse, she many lose her job, and she will remain chronically stressed. What are the consequences of implementing this solution? In all likelihood, both her pain and her chronic stress will be reduced. It’s also important to consider whether proposed solutions may have negative consequences. In Martha’s case, decreasing her texting time may lead to problems with her texting friends. If these problems arise, they can be addressed using this same five- step process.