A project?

Stress comes from everywhere.  Even going from sitting to standing is a slight stress on the adrenal glands.  It can be witness in rise in heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing.  How many times per day do we move from sitting to standing?  Never mind driving, driving while on a cell phone, deadlines, household chores, bills, the future, work, money, the government, the state of the nation, the state of the world, the planet.... You get the idea.  We are surrounded by everyday (often what seem mundane) stressors.  These all have an effect on our internal biological state.

The idea here is not to specifically address stress.  My idea is to emphasize all the effects that stress can have on a lot of different aspects of life, health, and well-being.  To minimize stress is then not only to improve our own well-being but the well-being of those around us by way of the more positive, productive energy we can emit to the world around us.  The 50 most common effects of stress can be found at http://www.stress.org/topic-effects.htm .  The list is pretty amazing and resonates through most corners of life.  The effects of stress can range from problems in communication and sharing to chest pain and palpitations; from little interest in appearance or punctuality to constipation and diarrhea.

Often reducing stress mean being brave enough to have an open heart.  Leaving stress behind frees up room for other emotions like love and compassion for the world around us.  Our true nature at our heart's center is essentially bliss.  This bliss that allows love and compassion to shine is often covered up by ego, by fear, anxiety, worry - all emotions that result from stress.

Sometimes in order to uncover our true nature, we need a different way of thinking of the world in order to leave fear behind.  Our perception of our current situation often delivers that situation to us.  If we can begin to shift our thinking we can break out of the holding pattern that stress can have over the emotions that will eventually set us free.  Those emotions being love and bliss.

"     In classical Tantric philosophy, the yogi seeks to perceive all things as they really are: a manifestation of the [] Light of Conciousness.  In this process, you learn to go beyond the artificial preferences of your mind and gradually come to see all things as equally beautiful.  This sense of wonder, a kind of aesthetic rapture, derives from a profound inner realization of the miracle by which the [] Light expresses its innate beauty in an infinity of different ways while never reliquishing its essential nature in any of them.  You can cultivate your capacity to see yourself and all of reality in this way by holding the awareness of innate beauty shining through all that you do.  As you go about your day, silently repeat to yourself with everything that you see, 'Beauty is seeing beauty'; with everyone you meet, 'Beauty is greeting beauty'; with everything you touch, 'Beauty is touching beauty'; and so on.  In this way, you will expand  your capacity to see all things as beautiful. "  ~Christopher Wallis, Yoga Journal, October 2010

Seeing beauty with childlike wonder and gently reminding ourselves of the good and magic in the world around us can profoundly affect our relationships with those we love.

"     When we bond at the level of spirit or essence, we start to taste the sweetness of unity and joy.  We feel safe enough to merge with each other, creating a shared body of love that gives us a glimpse into the magnificent oneness of the universe.  At this spiritual level of connection we are not only equal, we are the same energy.  Our tenderness for our beloved becomes a caress of our own heart. "  ~Charlotte Kasl, Ph.D., author of If the Buddha Dated 

This may mean finding joy and happiness within ourselves in order to extend that out to other beings.  Its also may mean taking the time to explore how you bond with those you love.  And, furthermore, taking the time to do and express your (and listen to their) feelings and emotions.  This is where communication without pride is essential.  If words flow freely with the intention of love, then love is created.

Finally on an energetic level I would like to describe what the heart with all its love, compassion, bliss, and truth means.  We are energetic beings.  It has been proven that we radiate electromagnetic waves from our bodies our into the world around us.  One representation of this field is shown:

Recreated from The Subtle Body, by Cyndi Dale

This field is based on the theory of assemblage points.  These are specific points and can be thought of as strings where energy enters and exits our body based on our biological state (remember the effect of stress).  The point where the "strings" enter and exit the body can be measured on the skin with an infrared thermometer and are less than one centimeter in diameter.  The change in skin temperature at the point where the "string" of energy passes is roughly 0.2 degrees centigrade.  Negative situations affect and shift this point which can negatively affect our physical and emotional state.  I think the most important thing to notice about these strings of energy is that the emanate from the heart.  The heart has the strongest biomagnetic field of any organ and can be measured up to 15 feet away.  If we are an oscillating field of energy and the epicenter is at our heart, what does this mean?

(Source of information on assemblage points:  Dale, Cyndi. The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy. Boulder: Sounds True, Inc., 2009)

"I can touch you with my eyes
And know you in my soul,
I don't care what you done or where you've been
I don't need no explanation, no name, no rank, no role
To open up my heart and let you in."