Let Stress Strengthen Your Body, Mind and Soul

There is a principle that integrates physical and spiritual health, that so essential, the moment you grasp it, your life changes in indescribable ways. So, I hope you keep reading.

Just as physical stress is essential for physical growth and well-being, emotional stress plays a vital role in fostering spiritual health.

In the same way that our bodies require exposure to minor illnesses to build a robust immune system, one cannot become fortified against life's challenges without actively engaging in its complexities.

When you retreat from life's discomforts by stuffing emotions, judging others, and letting bitterness and anger fester within you, you end up constantly vulnerable to the common stressed of everyday like—the kind we all encounter. These are the things people do and say, the events in the world, that upset you.

Engaging in distractions to escape negative emotions might bring temporary relief, but it also weakens your ability to adapt to the daily stressors we all face. The comforts of food, sex, drugs, even work or hobbies become obsessions. And you become less resilient in handling life's challenges.

Perhaps you've heard of hormesis. Hormesis underscores the idea that certain stimuli, when encountered in moderation, yield beneficial effects, but an excess of the same can be detrimental. In the realm of survival, those who thrive are the ones adept at adaptation.

Exercise is a good example of this. Physical activity, especially moderate exercise, induces stress on the body by challenging muscles, cardiovascular systems, and other physiological processes. In response, the body adapts and becomes stronger, leading to improved cardiovascular health, increased muscle mass, and enhanced overall fitness.

This principle goes far beyond the physical and into the realm of spiritual well-being. The synthesis of physical and spiritual health is intrinsically linked to stress. Just as physical stress is indispensable for physical growth and health, spiritual stress, that unless meet with resilience, manifests as emotional turmoil. It plays a crucial role in nurturing spiritual well-being.

Emotions are intricately tied to the dichotomy of love and hate. And the way we meet the stresses of daily living evoke or extinguish spiritual vitality—depending on how resilient we are.

This is where Non-Contemplative Meditation comes in. It exercises our conscious awareness, to strengthen our capacity for meeting stress without the emotional tumult. We develop resilience to pressure—eventually even immunity.

In the same way that physical activity challenges the body with induced stress on muscles and physiological processes, Non-Contemplative Meditation strengthens the psyche. It's an exercise where you practicing stepping back out of the stream of thinking where negativity arises. You rise above the bitter emotionality that negatively alters behavior and physiology.

I implore you to practice staying present this way to develop resilience that will guide you through all daily stressful encounters.

In navigating the stream of life, meeting stress, both physical and spiritual, especially the little things, becomes a transformative journey toward resilience and flourishing—it is a matter of life or death.