Weakening stress and anxiety in our lives through the

teachings and techniques of Yoga and Buddhism (Part 1)

Almost everyone these days is suffering from or being influenced by states of stress and anxiety.

Stress can be thought of as being something that is

brought on by external demands, experiences and

situations while anxiety can be thought of as being an

all pervading apprehension and fear, regardless of

external demands.

Of the two, anxiety is much more damaging,

debilitating and dangerous and over the long - term

may lead to depression and various personality, mental

and behavioral disorders.

At the same time, we need to remember that an

experience or feeling of constant stress can lead to

anxiety.

It seems the combination of how we are as individuals,

with needs and desires, the constant input of

experiences through the senses and the bombardment of

being told we should be a certain way or have certain

things, and the unwholesome conditioning that we may

have been exposed to and our own ignorance can easily

lead us astray so stress and anxiety can become very

much a part of our existence.

When we are under this pervading and constant state we

become confused about who and how we are, lose touch

with our true and peaceful nature, make decisions, act

and react to things based on our feelings instead of

on wisdom and look for escapes through things that are impermanent and may add to our mental turmoil and foster unhealthy,

 debilitating and chronic physical states.

Bringing Yoga or Buddhism into our life as a way to

cultivate a more healthy and wise approach to life is

hindered by our own imbalances and disharmony, our

inability to make a focused commitment to them and our misperceptions about what they are.

Our misperceptions are generally thinking that Yoga

and Buddhism are religions that are alien to us or go

against our previous or present beliefs or that by

practicing them we will be committing a sin.

Sometimes we fear that we will be under the influence

of an individual of questionable background or

character or in a cult like atmosphere.

We may also fear that we will be asked to do things

that go against how we are at present or find

threatening or offensive to our nature.

And our own ego, built on individual pride and at

times foolish arrogance will not let us admit to

ourselves that we do have problems that need to be

addressed, are not the center of the universe, do not

know all the answers and that we may benefit from

embracing something new.

Too many times we may feel and see this act of

embracement as an admission of failure or of

submission.

We may also think that we are going to be involved

with people who are from different walks of life then

we are and that may feel threatening to us.

In its simplest and easiest to comprehend terms, we

can think of Yoga and Buddhism as being systems which

offer us a set of techniques that are performed

mentally, verbally and behaviorally.

It does not involve shaving one’s head, staying in an

ashram or temple, leaving husband, wife and children

behind or going to live in Thailand, Sri Lanka or

Myanmar (Burma).

It does involve learning and understanding the

teachings of either of these two systems and then

making a sincere and constant attempt to apply them in

our lives and day to day actions.

In looking at Yoga and Buddhism as consisting of

techniques that are performed mentally, verbally and behaviorally, we understand that sometimes the line that divides these

 various planes of our being is not a clear one and how they are all related and affect and are affected by one another.

Thought, word and action are all closely intertwined

and it is hard to cleanly and clearly differentiate

between them.

Many times, in our quest for some kind of alleviation

from stress and anxiety we look to physical

activities.

In the material world and our day to day existence,

these can consist of physical work, exercise and sex.

Of course, we can also see that although they may take

away our stress and anxiety for a while or provide a

focus for our energy, they do not in themselves lead

to any permanent weakening and alleviation of stress

or anxiety.

So much emphasis is placed on sex these days, but we

see people who have active sex lives being just as

subject to stress, anxiety, unskillful ness and

unwholesomeness in life as those who have inactive sex

lives.

And one does not have to do much active research to

see that many rich and famous celebrities and

personalities are dealing with the same kind of issues

and problems that those who are not in the same

position face.

They may just have more money and opportunities to

manifest their stress and anxiety with and through.

Yoga, with more emphasis on the physical then

Buddhism, provides us with a number if practices that

we can do each day that will weaken and alleviate

stress and anxiety.

The body and its energy can become extremely tense and

stagnant or blocked and we can have poor posture.

We lose mindfulness of these things as we live life

day to day, reacting to the body in our quest for

pleasure or in pain.

When we perform the physical practices of Yoga, we

make our body more relaxed and as a result, our mind

and consciousness starts to let go of stressful and

anxious states. We become more mindful and tranquil.

People who suffer from stress and anxiety need to

develop these two states of consciousness so they are

more aware of what is happening and how it is

affecting them, are more able to deal with it in a

peaceful and calm state and know what they can and

should do to deal with them and not make things worse.

Mental techniques, as we have called some of these

teachings of Yoga and Buddhism, can be subtler and

more difficult to fully comprehend and apply.

In dealing with the body, through the physical, we are

dealing with something that is gross and easy to see,

whereas dealing with the energy of the consciousness,

we are dealing with unseen forces that have been

deeply conditioned into us and fluctuate based on

various things, such as our attitude to work and life,

routine, leisure activities, and habits as regards

diet and sleep.

Learning and understanding these mental techniques

will take more study, time and effort then the

practice of the physical techniques.

They will also present us with more challenges as we

attempt to apply them into our lives.

Some will ask can I bring about the changes that I

desire through the practice of the physical techniques

alone.

The answer to that is a qualified “yes”, you can, but

with the understanding and practice of the mental

techniques, the change will be deeper and more

permanent.

If one wants to weaken and alleviate stress and

anxiety in their lives, why not make a total

commitment?

This total commitment is not as difficult as it sounds

and need not be made all at once.

Things can be done in stages, as one grows in

mindfulness and tranquility, sees the benefits of what

they have learned and practiced already, and is

willing to put more time and effort into exploring

these teachings and what they ask of us to learn and

do.

©2004 John C. Kimbrough

(John lives and teaches in Bangkok, Thailand. He can

be reached at johnckimbrough@yahoo.com)