Meditation
From Lowering Stress Naturally
50 Years in Managerial Positions
I have a wonderful natural cure for stress for everyone who wants to avoid prescription drugs. We all have some level of stress in our daily lives, but at some point it can become so severe that we begin to exhibit physical symptoms. That's when it's time to do something.
I have spent 50 years in managerial and executive positions in multi-million dollar companies. I was still in my twenties when stress began to take its toll. At first I had no idea what was happening. I felt as though I couldn't get enough air. All day I felt like I was fighting to breathe deeply enough. It was horrible and very frightening. By morning I felt better, but it didn't last long. By the time I got to the office it was back.
Finally I went to our family doctor and tried to explain to him what I was experiencing. He gave me a good exam and, to his credit, correctly diagnosed my problem as stress. But his solution was a prescription for a little green tablet containing phenobarbital and belladonna. His "bedside manner" was excellent. I still remember him telling me how some of the top executives in our city were having just the same problem with stress, though theirs was exhibiting itself in different ways. He explained that the nervous system can't tell us when it's hurting, so it tries to tell us by causing some physical symptom to occur that will get our attention. For me it was shortness of breath. When I objected to taking drugs, fearing that they might interfere with the mental sharpness I needed to keep the business running, he said that even Mahatma Gandhi used to chew belladonna to calm him. In the next few weeks I learned why the British government couldn't get much of a rise out of Gandhi. I felt like a zombie. The heck with that business!
By the end of that Summer I needed a higher dose to keep me calm. Then more. I knew by then that drugs were not the answer.
As a Christian I knew that prayer could work wonders, and I had been praying my heart out that the Lord would show me some way to cope with stress without drugs. The answer came in a most unexpected way.
In the Summer of 1962 my beautiful young wife became pregnant with our first child. She told our family doctor, the same one I'd been going to for stress, that she wanted to have the baby without anesthesia -- something uncommon in that era. She wasn't just beautiful, she was tough! He gave her a recording to play each day that would help her to reach a stage of deep relaxation necessary to endure the pain of childbirth without anesthesia. Each evening she would lie on the floor of our living room on her back and play the recording. I will never forget the thunderbolt that hit me that first night I saw her doing this. Here was the answer to my problem! I quickly joined her and concentrated on what the soft gentle voice was saying.
Here was the answer to my stress problem. It has worked for me ever since. No doctors. No drugs of any kind.
Try it. Lie flat on your back on a mat or soft carpet. Be sure the temperature of the room is comfortable. Use a blanket if you need to. You can't reach a deep level of relaxation if you're cold. Begin by relaxing your face muscles, then your neck and shoulders, then your chest and midsection, then your hips and thighs, and finally your calves and feet.
Lie quietly and picture yourself in in a warm pleasant place of your choice. Your own private sanctuary. Now picture a wave sweeping over you from head to toe, sweeping away all your tension and relaxing you still further. Look around you at the beauty of your imaginary surroundings. Then imagine another wave, once more sweeping over you beginning at your head and carrying away all the stress and tension in your body.
Continue with wave after wave as long as you wish. Keep your mind focused on your quiet peaceful setting, never allowing any thought to interfere. When you are completely relaxed enjoy the wonderful feeling for a while, then begin to come back to your present surroundings.
Be sure to take the time every day to repeat this process. Believe me it is worth it. Don't worry if you do miss a day occasionally, but don't give up. It works! And it will break even the most severe stress.
God Bless You, Jim