Stress has been defined as “a state of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium.” Stress which makes us feel low, pressurised and anxious, actually harms and hurts our health, is called bad stress or distress. Stress-related diseases kill more people in the world than any other illness. It is imperative that governments and people across the world take the fight against stress in society on a war footing.
Doctors tell us that many chronic heart diseases and other ailments are caused only because of our hectic lifestyle, and we must therefore slow down. More than medicines, what we need is change in our lifestyle – in the type of food we eat, our exercise regimen and our sleeping habits. We gobble down our food to save time. Often, we are not even aware of what we eat. Also, several external factors like traffic jams, climatic conditions, etc. can cause stress, but since we are unable to change them, wisdom dictates that we accept, and move on.
Our lifestyle has become sedentary. Young people work ten to fourteen hours at the computer. We have to adapt ourselves to our own body and lifestyle after proper stocktaking and analysis. Exercise is a must. Also, simple and satvic diet with plenty of fresh vegetables and less of oily, spicy or stale food will provide us with more life energy.
On an average, we think 60,000 thoughts a day. The mind gets stressed when we do not control the quality and quantity of our thoughts. Lesser the number of thoughts, greater is the peace of mind. We have so many thoughts because we take everything personally and brood over it. If we live selflessly and without conflict, the number of thoughts in the mind will automatically reduce. There are six enemies of the mind: selfishness, anger, greed, delusion, pride and jealousy. The root cause of all of them is selfishness. The more selfless we are, the stronger we become, and our stress is reduced automatically.
Advertisements of food, consumer durables, clothing, etc. bombard us with many tempting alternatives. Faced with innumerable choices, we are unable to decide and the indecision invariably causes stress. If we study scientific and spiritual literature, our thinking becomes deeper. We get a wider perspective, a macro picture of life, and do not get swayed easily. Also, absence of a goal creates stress, which we may not even be aware of. If we have a goal, our energy gets harnessed, when there is no goal, our energy is dissipated. Let us take the example of water. When it is flowing freely, energy cannot be generated, but when a dam is built, all that energy gets harnessed. Above all, we need moral clarity – what is right and what is wrong. Irrespective of who we are in society, all have to be honest at all times, in order to avoid stress.
