NAMA, NAMASMARAN AND TOTAL STRESS MANAGEMENT (PART 10) DR SHRINIWAS J. KASHALIKAR

Student: I never imagined earlier; that stress could be so
vast! No wonder, I am getting drowned in this ocean of
stress! Can you briefly explain stress as well as Total Stress
Management; in nutshell; if that may help me; with some
analogies; to make it simpler?

Teacher: Yes! That will surely help you to conquer your
stress!
Stress is like a horse! But it would never leave us at any
cost! So there is no lasting escape from it. There are only few
options.
A) Getting dragged after it,
B) Getting bitten or beaten by it,
C) Carrying it on our head,
D) Beating or killing the horse,
E) Learning to “ride” the horse with delight
The last option is the same as Total Stress Management
(TSM).

Student: Can we give the analogy of river? Because MAYA
is compared to river!

Teacher: Yes! MAYA is called BHAVANADI a river! Stress
also is like a river, in which we are born! There are only two
options; either to get drowned, or to learn to swim to the bank.
Learning to swim to the bank is Total Stress Management.
Analogy of traffic jam also helps! It is not an exact analogy but
helps in understanding stress and Total Stress Management
and even this understanding also is useful in reducing stress!
1. The Causes of stress; called stressors are like excess
number of vehicles coming from all directions.
2. The individual under stress is like a square where the
signals or the traffic police are not working.
3. The signs and symptoms of stress are like the excess
crowding, anxiety due to inability to reach destinations,
quarrels amongst the drivers, excessive blowing of horns,
chemical pollution etc.
4. The pathology is inability of the vehicles to move and
reach their destinations.
5. The Relaxation Techniques prevalent today; are like
arbitrary and isolated efforts to calm down the drivers and
prohibit the blowing of horns.
6. The relaxation techniques therefore can bring about
temporary peace (temporary symptomatic relief) but cannot
help the vehicles to reach their destinations (cannot effectively
remove the pathological changes and handle the stressors
effectively).
7. Total Stress Management is re-establishing the functioningof the signals and re-instituting the traffic police (perception)
so that the crowding, jam (homeostatic disturbances or
affect), blowing of horns, quarrels (symptoms and signs) and
the reaching of the destinations (handling the stressors and
rectification of the pathological changes), are made possible.

Student: Now I seem to have got some idea about stress
and Total Stress Management.
How would you define stress physiologically?

Teacher: Stress is an interaction between “self” and the
environment inside and outside body! The effects of stress;
means variable acute or chronic changes; in the internal (also
external) environment of the body. The normal stress such
as moderate exercise is useful. But when we talk of “stress”
we actually mean harmful stress or distress, which causes
adverse effects on almost every cell of the body; making life
miserable in several ways.

Student: What is this internal environment of the body?

Teacher: The body cells contain fluid within them and they
themselves are present in a fluid medium. Generally the fluid,
by which they are surrounded, is called internal environment.
But recently some authorities consider the fluid which they
contain; also forms the internal environment