Stress Explained: Why We Feel It and What to Do About It

Most of us believe that stress is something external. We often say that my boss, my mother-in-law, my wife, my husband, my situation etc. is the cause of stress. We frequently tend to blame the other person or the situation. E.g. we say because my boss is too demanding I am stressed.  I had an opportunity to experience considerable stress owing to a trivial situation in my own life. I had to travel to Pune by train scheduled for departure at 5:10 p.m. Considering the heavy traffic, I left my house an hour early at 4 p.m. The travel through this route which happens to be my routine, made me confident that I would reach the station by 4:30 p.m. given the heavy traffic too. However, to my surprise, the traffic that day was terrible. It was 4.30 p.m. and I had not even travelled half the way. This created a lot of turmoil within me.  

To add to my frustration, the taxi driver was driving at the slowest possible speed. At 4:40 p.m., I lost my cool and fired the taxi driver. On thinking about it, I realize that was a stressful situation for me. My heart beats grew faster with each passing second, I lost my temper, I was trembling in anger, my ears were hot and my blood was boiling. But then there was a sudden flash of awareness. I calmed myself down and turned my focus within. I realized that the main thing that was bothering me was the fact that if I missed the train, I would be left with no option other than to travel by bus, which would mean considerable more expense. The moment I become conscious of this my anxiety began to ease.  

So what was the stress? Was it the traffic condition or was it the slow driving? When we examine this situation deeply, we see that all the turmoil and the disease was the manifestation of the feeling to spend more money. That means the stress was not the situation itself,  but my perception of the circumstance. The stress was about spending in my case and not the traffic or the slow driving. So the stress is not something external but the way we perceive and experience our state of affairs. The moment we realize or become aware of this perception, ease sets in. 

This inner turmoil, inner disturbance, inner perception which is either subconscious or unconscious is what we call in Homoeopathy as disease. The external situation like the traffic jams are just apparent causes to excite this inner turmoil. So we see that at conscious level it is the traffic and slow driving but the way I experienced this is loss of finance. This loss of finance is what we call in Homoeopathy as ‘the other song.’ This other song, this inner turmoil needs to be healed.  

During a homoeopathic interview a homoeopathic physician tries to identify this inner disturbance. He is skilled in this art of carving the portrait of this inner mayhem. This is done by going deeper into the fears, the dreams the stressful situations and the physical complaints. The medicines are intended to correct this inner chaos, the real root, the true origin, the foundation or the source of so called dis-ease.  

The idea that mind is the cause and source of disease is not a new one. Our sages preached this idea millions of years ago, that a diseased body could be an indication that the mind is not at ease and this factor needs to be addressed first. Thus several diseases once thought to be merely physical dysfunctions have been found to be psychosomatic in origin. 

Conversely when the mind is calm, quiet and balanced, it starts to heal the distress, the physical problems start undergoing remission, the immunity gets a boost, the sleep improves and more importantly the relationships become more harmonious and fulfilling. Slowly one starts to become more loving, forgiving and an attitude of reverence develops within for all creatures. Thus connecting to godliness within and transforming self. One becomes a paradise of heaven; radiating peace and joy. Homoeopathic medicines have a great potential to correct and bring back the balance and a sense of well-being.  

BIBILIOGRAPHY:  

Sri Sri Ravi Sankar: Management Sutras  

Speaking Tree  

 Sri Sri Ravi Sankar: Art of Stress Free Living  

Body Mind Balancing Osho  

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