How to Manage Stress

First of all: What is “stress,”?  The Latin word for “stress,” is “strictus,” which means, “drawn tight.”  “drawing tight,” is “experiencing tight.”[1]  We experience through Consciousness, and “experiencing tight,” simply means “tightening our Consciousness,” or “narrowing our Consciousness.” Interestingly enough, we now know enough about the science of Consciousness to say that we cannot “tighten,” or “narrow,” Consciousness. However, what we can do is experience the “tightening” or the “narrowing,” of our own Consciousness. In other words, while Consciousness cannot ever be tightened or narrowed down, we can experience it being tightened or narrowed down, and live such experience as part of our self-created reality. Just as it has now been made clear to us in the Neuroscience of Consciousness[2], there is One Reality, which is defined as “that which does not change.” And, the self-created reality may or not be the same as Reality, depending on whether it emanates from Defense-Based-Thinking (DBT) or Consciousness-Based-Thinking (CBT).

What is Defense-Based-Thinking?

Defense-Based-Thinking is the type of thinking that is based on beliefs that we hold; that we inherited from our parents, grandparents, or ancestors; and that is prevalent and pervasive around us.  We hold these beliefs so close that anything else is absurd to us. Of course, little did we know that it’s totally the opposite. Little did we know that the Reality of the world we live in follows an inside-out paradigm, while the vast majority of us believe it follows an outside-in pattern [3]. No wonder there is so much suffering in the world, so much stress; and regardless of what we do, it simply leads to more suffering, more stress, just in different forms.

Let us now take a look at a list of beliefs that are related to Defense-Based-Thinking.  

Let’s start with these 20 pervasive beliefs:

1. Things happen to us
2. The world is dangerous
3. We have neither control nor responsibility for our destiny
4. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. It’s the system. It’ll always be like that. And it is what it is
5. Rich people are evil and selfish
6. To have a lot of money, you have to sell your soul
7. Helping others means sacrificing ourselves
8. We are victims of our circumstances
9. Our neighborhoods, family background, ethnicity, and race determine who we become
10. All that CEOs and bosses think about is the bottom line, and there is nothing we can ever do about that
11. The only way we can get rich is by winning the lottery
12. One never gets over a loss
13. One never really gets over the past
14. One never really gets over a breakup
15. There is not enough for everyone in this world
16. People are rich because they are greedy and never think of sharing their wealth
17. If I were not so generous I would probably have more money by now
18. People are out to get us, we’d better get them first
19. We are just commodities to our bosses. They don’t care about us and they never will
20. The world is a mess. There is nothing for us to do, and it has nothing to do with our thought or perception. Everyone around me is reacting the same way. So, it really is the situation that is really bad.

Out of these 20 beliefs, some of them will speak more to you, your loved ones, or your patients, than others. Regardless of which ones do, they are examples of beliefs related to Defense-Based-Thinking, which will lead to stress, maintaining stress, and preventing stress from dissipating.

What to do? How to manage stress? Shift from Defense-Based-Thinking to Consciousness-Based Thinking. Consciousness-Based-Thinking is not based on beliefs. Rather, it is based on what is, what has always been, and what will always be. It is based on that which does not change, that which cannot be threatened, and that which cannot be destroyed. Consciousness-Based-Thinking needs not be defended, needs not be believed, and needs not be understood. Just like gravity, it works regardless of how well we understand it or not. Of course with a better understanding, we get to harness it better; we get to create around it better, and we get to live better by using it for our benefit. However, all of this is irrelevant to its existence. It just is.

What are some examples of what Consciousness-Based-Thinking? Here’s a list of 35

1.  Love
2. Oneness
3. Wholeness
4. Forgiveness
5. Health
6. Wealth
7. Abundance
8. Prosperity
9. Fulfillment
10. Actualization
11. Realization
12. Inspiration
13. Vision
14. Contemplation
15. Unity
16. Harmony
17. Presence
18. Ease
19. Comfort
20. Wellness
21. Well-being
22. Flexibility
23. Resilience
24. Endurance
25. Vitality
26. Aliveness
27. Life
28. Strength
29. Power
30. Freedom
31. Peace
32. Joy
33. Authentic Happiness
34. Authentic Success
35. Self-expression  

 Now:

1. What are your thoughts? What do you see? What do you hear? What comes to mind?
2. Which of the above examples of Consciousness-Based-Thinking are you most able to identify with?
3. How much stress would ever persist if you decided to shift to Consciousness-Based-Thinking?

Welcome to a stress-free life. Welcome to living. Welcome to a new way of being in the world.

With Love,
Karen and Mardoche

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[1] UKEssays. (November 2018). .

[2] Wu, Wayne. “The Neuroscience of Consciousness.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 9 Oct. 2018.

[3] Neill, Michael. The inside out Revolution: The Only Thing You Need to Know to Change Your Life Forever. Hay House, 2013.