Reducing Stress

How to reduce stress?

I read the solution in one Yoga book.It is as follows.

The major reason for stress is your I-sense.I-Sense means your image/persona about yourself which is created by what you think are your qualities,drawbacks,education,house,cars,relatives,friends and all other assets which you have.You think you are so good,you have such good education,you have such good friends/family…all that makes your image/I-sense/ego.

This gives you happiness as well as pains.

Say for example let’s say you go to your friend’s house in your Red Car.You are chatting with your friend and suddenly a watchman comes to the door and gives a message that, “A tree fell on the red car below”.You immediately panic,spring from your seat and rush out of the door to see your car.And suddenly the watchman says,” Oh no.Sorry sir.It’s not red but yellow car on which the tree fell.”

And you take a sigh of relief.Now you are relaxed and go back in your friend’s house and continue chatting with him.

So your problem was not that a tree fell on a car.Your problem was that a tree fell on YOUR car.The problem that a tree fell on a car is still the same.But you are relaxed because that’s not your problem because it is not YOUR car that is damaged.

So the moment we believe that this is my car,my house,my son,my daughter,my money,my family, we have all the problems attached with all of them.The more we have,the more burden we have.

But if you start believing that you have nothing,you can not have any problems either.If you believe that this is not my car,my house,my family,you will be free from their problems as well.

Yogis and sanyasis have this attitude.

Though for a normal person this attitude is impractical to implement fully.But it can help one combat stress when one is in a situation which is not under one’s control.

Cheers !

Hitesh.