Perception

Stress is encountered when we perceive things to be stressful. Particularly,  some minor issues can end up being stressful when they need not be.

In practice, each task becomes a lifestyle issue, a way to live meditatively.

Thus, we need to cultivate having a clearer perception of the world and its stressors by looking freshly at them without many of the pre-judgements, biases and habitual thought (s) we carry around. Become an outsider looking in and ask yourselves: are we getting things out of perspective by making mountains out of molehills?

When we see something through the mind’s eye, we also see with it habitual past thoughts, opinions and feelings. So, if those thoughts and feelings are negative then we experience stress and avoidance, as illustrated by the following example: if two people see a mouse, one person might perceive it as monster and jump onto a chair or faint, whereas another might be very interested in it or wish to hold it. We can also see that the thoughts that we hold about mice are the cause of the response, not the mouse itself. Put another way, it is not the object which looks fearful; the fear arises from the fearful thoughts we dress the object in. Removing these obscuring thoughts and feelings first requires that we see them, so the relaxation exercise will help in being aware and letting them go, or washing them out of the 'mind’s eye'’ Eventually, as we come to perceive more clearly and thereby respond more effectively, we can come to be at peace in the most surprising situations.

Good luck and keep practicing.

If you have any queries or you would like to book into a personal- or group-based meditation and lifestyle stress management program, please contact Dr. Robert Kaldawi directly on 0412399876 or write to us through the contact page.