Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

The nature of life is stress. The absence of all stress will mean death. Just as full enlightenment suggests victory over the dance between yin and yang that is life.
Of course, full enlightenment and the understanding of the Oneness of creation would be the ideal. Our manifestation within this physical world suggests each of us has not reached that state. The struggle between the yin and the yang is life, and our victory over the stress that is caused by this struggle, will one day be the means by which we gain enlightenment.

In the meantime, the children need to get off to school, the puppy needs to be house-trained, and we must make it into work on time, after braving the traffic. How to learn to best dance this yin and yang is the question.

Mindfulness based stress reduction will not be developed in the midst of every-day turmoil. This is the reason for dedication to meditation. The practice of remembering oneself is most effectively accomplished in the calm and quiet moments of one’s life. If we think we don’t have the time, the alternative is a painful and reactive approach to situations. This is stress at its most harmful level.

If one has taken the time in a quiet moment to practice letting go of stress and in noticing the reactive nature of the mind, one may have a chance of remembering this when it is most needed. Stress isn’t necessarily a bad thing; rather our reaction to stress can cause our problems.

Stress is the reason we remember to pick up our child after school. Stress is the reason we don’t walk into the road in front of the car. Stress becomes harmful when it becomes our master.

Mindfulness based stress reduction is the practice of recalling to let stress go. Use stress to your advantage, then let it go. Remember that labeling stress as harmful, is what creates the harm. This reaction becomes obsessive, and the obsession is the limiting issue, not the stress.

The consideration of how you choose to live your life, is the first step. Putting in place a technique to remember this in your preoccupied moments, is the second step. To bring your attention back to this in a stressful moment, is a victory. The continuation of this technique over time, will result in the first tentative steps toward peace.

The dance between yin and yang will continue as long as we are alive. This is not particular to anyone, it is just life. Stress is that that reminds us of something. The quiet and attentive mind can then most effectively deal with the life event.

Watching the breath is an age-old tool that works because the breath is always with us. Paying attention to the breath in a stressful moment, will remind us of the gift of life we have been given, within which we can practice the dance toward enlightenment.