Making friends with stress

  

I often am asked to give talks on stress management. A few years ago I began to provide a handout that listed stress busters for each day of the month. 

I find December to be especially stressful--holidays, too much junk food, managing money, the skies turn gray...even with the very much appreciated merriment of friends and tinsel, I really have to take time to be in touch with my stress and make friends with it.

Here are two de-stressers, one for December 1 and the other for December 2. Look for one a day throughout the whole month!

December 1: Stress is a part of life. Today, give it a name, an identity. Let it know that it has a home, but not free reign. Set rules for stress. Make it a respectful friend. You don’t need to love it; just get along.

December 2: Throw off regrets. Stress often talks us into believing that life would be better if we had made different choices. Maybe so; maybe not. For now, you only have this moment. Put regrets into a box and out of the way. Embrace today.

Re-Centering; Taking Another Breath

Wherever I am, my inner strength is present.
Whoever comes my way is part of my learning curve.
I have the power to change how I think.

Appreciating the journey of everyone is what gives my own journey purpose.
Peaceful feelings follow peaceful actions.

I need not be attracted to the chaos of others.
No argument demands my attention, nor participation.

Acting, rather than reacting, is blissful. To witness another's journey is all I ever have to do.
My teachers are everywhere. Silence may be the best response I can make in myriad situations.

There are two kinds of business: your business and none of your business.

Taking no hostages is the surest way to peace.

Adapted from "let go now: embracing detachment"

Meditation

There is nothing more rewarding, nor challenging than sitting in the silence of nature.

Meditation

Life is bigger
It's bigger than you
And you are not me
The lengths that I will go to
The distance in your eyes
Oh no I've said too much
I set it up

That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no I've said too much
I haven't said enough
I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

Every whisper
Of every waking hour I'm
Choosing my confessions
Trying to keep an eye on you
Like a hurt lost and blinded fool
Oh no I've said too much
I set it up

Consider this
The hint of the century
Consider this
The slip that brought me
To my knees failed
What if all these fantasies
Come flailing around
Now I've said too much
I thought that I heard you laughing
I thought that I heard you sing
I think I thought I saw you try

But that was just a dream
That was just a dream

Warm Welcome to You!

Be quiet, look within and enjoy the healing power of silence. Let go of your sorrow and attachments. Your inner core and wisdom heart remain untouched either by insult or by praise. So have faith in your heart and trust yourself.

Sit free from fear and worries. Rely on your true and sincere heart for your meditation. Pay attention and concentrate on your breath. Let peace and happiness prevail and spread through you. Remember that your life is intimately connected with all other life.

May all being benefit from your presence as a living embodiment of peace and happiness.

Venerable Samu Sunim

Meditation for a healing friend

Develop a mind that is vast like the water, where experiences both pleasant and unpleasant can appear and disappear without conflict, struggle, or harm. Rest in a mind like vast water.

Buddha

When our body experiences pain, that pain cannot be partitioned off neatly. While pain is physical, and suffering, mental--any type of pain is holistic. Whether we have burned our fingers while cooking, or are healing from a major surgery, our mind, soul, social relationships, and mind intermingle striving to make sense of the pain--to give reason to a complex experience that transcends explanation. This meditation allows you to fully be in your experience, letting go of any search for reason or desire for an end to pain.

Breathe deeply. Be with your breath and embrace all the sensations within your being; accept your pain, fear, anger, and hope. Know that many of your friends and family experience your pain, although in ways different than you. Take a moment to expand your experience to include your imaginations of the hope, friendship, love, and support others wish for you. Slowly say the name of each family member or friend who you know is wishing you peace; thank them. As your experience expands, stay with your breath. As you breathe in, say, “this moment is mine, but I am not alone; I am bringing life to my experience.” As you breathe out, say, “I am allowing fear to move through and out of my body; I am learning from my experience.” Allow your breath to move as it does, whether that be easily or more labored; observe your breathing and give yourself permission to be fully in each moment.