The Tao of Stress: How to Calm, Balance, and Simplify Your Life (23 page)

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The Authentic Person

is how you hold your hands. From the posture Sitting in Stil ness, which you returned to after the posture Touching Your Toes, make

a ring with the thumb and first finger of your left hand, touching the tips together. Push the thumb of your right hand through the ring and wrap the fingers of your left hand around your thumb. Then wrap the fingers of your right hand around the fingers of your left hand. Place your hands on your abdomen with the inside of both wrists touching your abdomen just below your belly button. Your elbows should be

down. This configuration is known as the joining of yin and yang or, more commonly, the
taiji
diagram.

The second difference is that, once in this position, you prac-

tice Sitting in Oblivion or Forgetfulness. Look forward with your eyes gently and partial y closed. Focus your attention on your abdomen

expanding and contracting as you inhale and exhale until you feel a sense of calmness. Then don’t focus on anything. Simply breathe natural y, without any thoughts, judgments, or distinctions, and experience the present. Once you feel a sense of calmness, practice Sitting in Oblivion or Forgetfulness for five minutes. Remember to smile. If you find yourself getting distracted, refocus on your breathing until you feel calm again.

Upon finishing this posture, note what you feel. Is your stress

gone, at least for the moment? Then take a deep breath and slowly

let it out. Push your legs out in front of you and gently stretch them.

Release your hands from the taiji diagram configuration and gently shake your hands and arms. When you feel ready, stand up and walk

away.

Practice The Closing Posture of the

Yijinjing Sequence

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

posture the Body Sinking and Rising, take a slow, deep breath and let your arms rise up to the sides until they’re level with your shoulders, with your palms facing down and your fingers extending out to the

sides. Rotate your hands so your little fingers move downward and

your thumbs move upward until your palms face upward. Continue to

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raise your arms, keeping them extended but not locking your elbows, until your hands come together above your head with the tips of your fingers and thumbs gently touching and pointing upward. Complete

your inhalation as your hands come together. You should have a

sensation that your chest, back, and abdomen are being stretched.

You should also feel the back of your legs, especial y your calves, being stretched. Hold this position for about thirty seconds, breathing natural y.

Then, while slowly exhaling, leave your hands together with fingers and thumbs pointing upward and slowly lower your arms in front of

you until your hands are in line with the middle of your chest, approximately six to twelve inches in front of your sternum. Your shoulders and elbows should be down. Complete your exhalation at the same

time as your hands, shoulders, and elbows come to rest.

Final y, breathing natural y and not focusing on anything in par-

ticular, hold the posture for five minutes. Remember to smile. If you find yourself getting distracted, direct your attention to your breathing until you feel centered and focused. After five minutes, let your arms gently lower to your sides. Note what you feel. Is your chronic stress gone, at least for the time being, upon finishing the sequence?

Practice The Opening Posture of the Yang

Style of Taijiquan

Start from the Wuji Standing posture, with your eyes open and looking forward. Take a slow, deep breath, shift your weight to your right leg, and step out to the side with your left foot so that your feet are about shoulder- width apart and your weight is evenly distributed. Slowly exhale. Your knees should be slightly bent and in line with your toes, not extending past your toes. Let your arms hang down alongside

your body, with your palms facing the rear.

As you slowly inhale once again, very slowly and gently let your

arms rise and arc up to the front until they’re level with and in line with your shoulders. Your arms should extended forward, your elbows shouldn’t be locked, and your palms should face down. Complete

your inhalation at the same time as your arms reach the level of

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your shoulders. There should be no tension anywhere in your body.

Without moving your head, watch your hands as they rise up.

Once your arms reach the level of your shoulders and your inha-

lation is complete, slowly exhale and al ow your arms to gently sink down to your sides, fol owing the path by which they arose. Without moving your head, watch your hands as they sink down.

Raising and lowering your arms once constitutes one repetition.

Leaving your feet in the same position, repeat nine more times, for a total of ten repetitions. At the completion of the tenth repetition, shift your weight to your right leg and return your left foot to its original position. Note what you feel. Do you feel centered, rooted, and stable? Is your mind still and empty? Do you have sensations of qi flowing, such as your arms or hands feeling heavy, light, tingling, pulsating, or like a hose full of water?

As you perform this posture, try to focus on using your legs,

abdomen, back, chest, and shoulders to both raise and lower your

arms, but doing so without creating tension anywhere in your body.

You aren’t just lifting and lowering your arms. The purpose of focusing of your eyes on your hands as you do the movements is to still and empty your mind of any agitation and also to activate the flow of qi.

Qi fol ows the focus or intention of your mind. So in addition to training your attention and concentration, this posture is about gathering, refining, and circulating qi throughout your body. Take a moment to reflect on your experience: as a result of practicing this posture, what is the status of your chronic stress?

Conclusion

This chapter introduced you to the Taoist role model known as the

zhenren, or authentic person. The authentic person follows the Taoist path by consistently practicing both the mental and physical components, and by not taking himself too seriously. As a result, the authentic person, smiling and laughing, is in harmony with his environment and isn’t chronically stressed.

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Moving Forward

I hope your journey along the Taoist path toward eliminating chronic stress has been and continues to be a fulfilling and worthwhile experience. You have come a long way since you took that first step.

Congratulations on staying the course.

You’ve learned several basic concepts and techniques that can assist you in eliminating and preventing chronic stress by calming, balancing, and simplifying your life. Utilize both the mental and physical approaches.

Believe in yourself, practice moderation, and be flexible. Remember to smile and laugh on a daily basis. Incorporate guan into your life. Stay in the present. Put all of this into practice on a consistent and regular basis.

Essentially, the teachings of Taoism are about being in harmony with the continually changing process we call life and therefore being free from chronic stress. To be in harmony with life means staying within certain boundaries. Your yin and yang need to be in harmony so your qi can circulate freely.

This book guided you in seeing how excessive and deficient behav-

iors across many interrelated areas, such as thoughts, beliefs, judgments, desires, feelings, and actions, can lead to chronic stress. It has offered guidance in simplifying your life, reducing desires, and stilling and emptying your mind so you can free yourself from chronic stress. Having become aware of excessive and deficient behaviors, and having examined those behaviors and generated solutions, both mental and physical, you are well on your way to easing or eliminating chronic stress.

Ultimately, the focus of this book has been on helping you to return to a harmonious relationship with life and all that it entails so your uncorrected proof

The Tao of Stress

journey might be free from chronic stress. I’d like to leave you with these words from chapter 42 of the
Daodejing
(Wang 1993, 169):

All things carry yin on their backside and embrace yang in the

front.

Because they are centered and rooted in the empty space in

between, they are in harmony as their qi swirls and circulates

freely.

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