At most of my workshops, I am normally asked to provide solutions to stress caused by hardships/inabilities to meet individual and team targets on time. With deadlines looming large like the proverbial Damocles’ sword hanging overhead, life certainly gets far from easy. The very cause of stress is the meeting of corporate goals and targets within a tight timeframe.

Most participants do confide in their inability to cope with target-generated stress. The intensity of stress is directly proportional to approach of the deadline. The price one pays to meet deadlines is quite heavy. A heavy and constant dose of stress tends to cause imbalance in the way our physical body functions, leading to malfunctioning of its various organs.

Stress is inevitable. But, coping with stress is something that can be achieved with relative ease. Stress is a great energy sapper. At any given point in time we have a certain amount of energy to manage our affairs. Stress, however, draws heavily on the limited energy resource, leaving the individual panting for more energy. When a demand for extra energy is made to meet our targets, we generate stress energies to deal with the energy shortfall. It is akin to creating a liability (such as a loan) to meet a sudden expense.

Looking For Solutions

We do know how to create this liability (read stress energy), but getting rid of it is something most individuals are not adept at.

Stress is a form of energy that dwells as part of our aura. Being negative in nature, stress energies create blockages in the invisible energy channels. The resultant weakening of the aura causes irritability, anger, frustration etc. It has been seen that people under stress have weak energy bodies (aura). When an individual is short on energies, it most likely affects his/her performance vis-à-vis team and corporate goals.

The solution to coping with stress is simple. Certain proven practices to relax the mind and body allow the release of stress energies. And, strengthening and building the aura through “energizing” practices provide a constant flow of energy needed to achieve targets on time.

We are engaged, at all times, in relationships of different hues and kinds. And, these relationships give us a wealth of experiences - some good and some not-so-good. As humans, we tend to have a very special storage space in our sub-conscious for the not-so-good experiences. And, we love to re-live these experiences by pondering over them over and over again.

In terms of energy, we generate loads of negative energies every time we re-live those not-so-good experiences, resulting in a huge build up of negative energies in our aura. The resultant blockages that these energies create in the energy channels (naadis) deprive our organs of fresh energies required for their day-to-day functioning.

In many terminal illnesses, it has been observed that the patient has very strong ill-will towards a certain person or group of persons. The intensity of the negative feeling is strong enough to cause internal destruction. Such pent up feelings generally have an imploding affect.

Forgive and Forget

The best way to initiate a cure is through the virtue of forgiveness. When we genuinely forgive people, a huge load of negative energy blockage is released from our aura. This paves the way for fresh energies in reaching their destination and strengthening the related organ/s.

Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Visualise all those who might have caused you hurt. Forgive them all and bless them with good things in life including goodness and kindness. Remember to perform this exercise with genuine feeling. It will work wonders! 

We undergo various experiences - both good and sad. Dwelling on those experiences strengthens them. So, thinking about or reliving the good experiences makes us feel happy. While, conversely, reliving the sad experiences makes us sad.

It is human nature to dwell on the negative or sad experiences for longer than normal periods. Let us try and understand the phenomenon from the energy viewpoint. When we have a sad experience, negative energies are generated, which are deposited in our aura. The aura grows smaller to the extent of the intensity of that experience. Reduction in the size of the aura is the reason that makes us feel unpleasant and sad.

Every time that we think about or relive the sad experience, we generate more negative energies, which deposit themselves in the aura, making the aura smaller and us sadder. As is our wont, we do not easily forget our sad experiences and continue to relive them for years together. And in the bargain we continue to give strength to that particular experience.

The stronger the negative energies grow, greater is the hold that they start exercising on our thinking pattern. We start to predominantly think negatively. The aura starts to hold more negative energies than positive, which leads to mental and physical ill health. That is the reason we are told to think positive. Positive thinking helps generate positive energies so essential for our mental and physical well being. 

Forgetting Sad Experiences

The way to rid ourselves of sad experiences and the resultant accumulation of negative energies is to ‘let go’ of the experience right away. There is no point in hanging around something that is no longer required. So, close your eyes, take a few slow deep breaths, think about the sad experience one last time and ‘let go’. Letting go involves the release of the experience from your system. Just relax yourself and visualise the whole episode being released from your system. After the final goodbye, resolve not to think about it again.

Letting go is the key to good mental and physical health

Who would deny the fact that we are under constant stress at work? We had not heard much about job burnout until about a decade and a half back. The alarming pace at which job burnout is taking place has not only made the corporate world to sit up and take notice of the malady, but also take remedial measures to deal with it.

Coping with job burnout begins with work conditions at office. Work environments need to be worker-friendly so that workers do not feel a strain on their energies. When it comes to deadlines, there is a heavy demand on individual or team energy. Such consistent demands normally lead to stress, and then gradually to work related burnout. A work environment where collective and individual energies are under constant pressure to deliver, individual careers and health are seriously affected.

Symptoms of Job Burnout
· Constant feeling of listlessness and being tired
· Frequent bouts of forgetfulness
· Not wanting to get up in the morning
· Unexplained anger and irritability
· Losing temper on trivial matters
· Losing control over things at work and home
· Remaining under constant stress
· Lack of initiative coupled with lethargy
· Questioning your career and being indecisive about it
· Going through the motions without much focus on personal and team goals
· Suffering from constant or frequent bouts of headaches, chest pain, and/or hypertension
· Feeling of plain helplessness

If an individual shows any three or above of these symptoms persistently, chances are that he or she is heading towards serious job burnout.

The Way Out
Stress is an energy guzzler. People suffering from high stress or burnout invariably have a weak energy body. With low vitality levels, how can they be expected to work towards achieving organizational goals? No organization that has invested in training and nurturing its workforce can afford to lose people to stress and burnout.

The remedy lies in building up strong energy and vitality levels in individuals, which can be achieved through energy build-up processes propagated thousands of years ago by exponents of that era. People suffering from burnout have shown a complete turn around in a short span following the energy and vitality building techniques, since these are easy to learn and practice.

This is a poser from Raj Chanani. Well Raj, you are right when you say that we are always connected to the universal source of energy (universal mind, as you prefer calling it) even when we think that we are not. Even when one does not believe that gravity exists, the fact is that gravity exists. We are connected to the universal source of energy through the energy cord called Antakharana. Its existence can be proved. We can scan the Antakharana with our own hands and feel the downpour of energies on the crown. This is proof enough of its existence.

The next part of your query, how one accesses the universal energy, is explained here. The mind is divided into two – the logical mind and the intuitive mind. The logical mind represents human intelligence, which is very limited. The depletion of the ozone layer and global warming that are threatening our very existence are contributions of the logical mind. These are just two of the innumerable examples that scientific and logical thinking has led us to.

The intuitive mind connects us to the universal energy through our higher self. No one can disagree that universal intelligence is infinitesimally superior to human intelligence. If there is order in the universe, it is because of universal intelligence. To give a little example, how else could this intelligence bind all the planets and heavenly bodies together, had it not made them revolve round and round through the interaction of gravitational and centrifugal forces. Think of the innumerable species living on earth, all with different systems, shapes, sizes, and appearance. Aren’t they proof of the existence of an overwhelmingly superior intelligence at work?

Accessing Universal Energy
Our access to universal energy is through the intuitive mind. The gut feeling that we talk about is linked to the intuitive mind. The best way to access universal intelligence or energy is through the process of meditation. It is important for mankind to progress using the logical mind in conjunction with the intuitive mind. When we meditate, our intuitive mind is activated and we start accessing various layers of universal intelligence stored in the form of energies. These energies, according to their degree of superiority, vibrate at different frequencies. As our own energies start refining through meditation, we start laying access to higher forms of universal intelligent energies. These intelligent energies start flowing into us and provide us with answers that we seek. We can find better solutions using universal intelligence in tandem with human intelligence.

We should love our self. We will then definitely love others. Friendship and compassion will flow from us and our ego will be washed away.

Love is simplicity. Love is humility in practice.

If we do not hear the Truth, how will we know it? The chance of “Shravan” comes after many lives of good and meritorious deeds.

Adherence to “Dharma” will make one’s day-to-day life more fulfilling and blissful.

We must practice concentrating on the Truth that the Lord abides in all, in every being, situation and object. Then acceptance of the world will become easy.

Revered Ma

Here are some more gems from Vivekachoodamani written by Adi Shankracharya, one of the greatest saints India has produced.

The Major part of the work depends upon our own effort to rehabilitate ourselves. Thus, it is said that the individual should try to live the deep significances of the precept of the Master.
- Vivekachoodamani – 5-8

Practices such as these may somewhat help the individual, but he can lift himself from the mire of his inner weakness only by dint of sustained self-effort.
- Vivekachoodamani – 5-9

Any attempt of the mind to rise from the low values of its present existence to a healthier and diviner scheme of living is yoga. To get established in yoga is to make it a habit to strive sincerely to rise above one’s known weakness in order to attain the ideal.
- Vivekachoodamani – 5-10

In its subtler implication mumuksutva indicates an immediate benefit, which is directly proportional to the amount of effort invested.
- Vivekachoodamani – 5-18

All sense-thoughts are to be weeded out and spiritual ideals must be planted. When the sense-thoughts rise up, immediately pluck them out. This attention to the ‘garden of thought’ must be a continuous job. There should not be any break in it until you realize the infinitude. Destroy this ego completely. There is no time for any slackening anywhere during this limited span of life.
- Vivekachoodamani – 57-313

Clara, here is my reply to your query. In my article Are You Connected to the Source?, I had mentioned that a developed antakharana ensured stronger flows of divine energies, which could help reduce our struggles. That is true in a broader sense. We all need energies not only to conduct our routine worldly affairs, but also to ensure that the mind and body function properly. We do have other sources of energies besides the antakharana. The air that we breathe and our dietary intake are the other sources of energy on the physical plane, while the chakras located on our energy body, working from a different plane, constantly supply energies to the physical body too.

All these sources together provide the requisite energies to the body. Our energy body has a network of invisible channels through which energies flow. Over time, blockages, as can be seen in the image as black spots, start occurring in the energy channels restricting the flow of energies. This weakens the body and its organs. Stress is the result of a weak energy body. We are given to the feelings of irritation, anger, frustration, and listlessness associated with stress because we are low on energies. If during this period, someone brings you the news that you won the jackpot, got the promotion, or your child got good grades at school, your stress just vanishes. The heavy dose of fresh energies that good news brings strengthens your aura, and suddenly you are a changed person from a few moments earlier, where you were struggling with stress and life in general. What if the good news turns out to be a hoax? Your aura will immediately be deflated of the fresh dose of energy you just received, and you will be back to your struggling self. I hope that you understand the magical effects of energies on the aura, and your person through the aura. 

A strong and well-developed antakharana strengthens your aura. The gush of divine energies it supplies to your aura sweeps away all the blockages, and all your struggles with it. Although we are connected to the primary source of energy at all times, it is important to strengthen that bond by improving the flow of divine energies through meditation. The discussion does not end here. Karma is the basis of what we are going through. We’ll leave that discussion for some other day.

The antakharana, also known as the divine cord, is a link that connects the atma (soul) with the Paramatma (supreme soul) through one’s higher self and various other Divine Beings. Divine energy flows through the antakharana, which is connected with the sahasrara chakra placed atop the crown of the head. At the point where the antakharana meets the sahasrara chakra, there is a flare of divine light, which is normally seen as a halo behind our heads. Trained eyes can see the halo of an ordinary person.

Most pictures of enlightened souls like the Buddha, Jesus, Krishna and others are depicted with a light around their head. The halo found in those pictures is not a mere figment of imagination of the artist, but a reality. Since their divine energies were so strong, the halo was easily visible to ordinary people. We all have halos, since we all have antakharanas. If that is the case, then why are our halos not visible to the untrained eye? The reason is very simple. Ordinary people, who are spiritually not advanced, have very thin antakharanas, through which a limited amount of divine energies flow, although continuously. With highly developed spiritual souls, the antakharana is well developed and thick, through which a gush of divine energies keeps flowing continuously. That is the reason why their halos are visible.

Non-believers can consider the antakharana just another source of energy, while for believers, it is an important source of divine energy. Even a small prayer can enhance the flow of divine energies. People, who are trained to literally experience the flow, can easily feel the difference a prayer makes to the thickness of the antakharana. Another method to improve the flow of divine energy, by developing the antakharana, is through the process of regular meditation. Meditation not only strengthens the antakharana, but also revitalizes the entire energy body. People with a developed antakharana have not only denser energy fields, but also have a refined energy body, and a stronger and bigger aura. Such people do not tire easily because of their strong energy reserves and well-developed energy recouping channels.

The chakras are situated on the astral body and attached to the sushumna naadi, which is the subtle energy counterpart of the spinal cord. Each chakra controls and energizes different sets of organs in the physical body. There are seven main chakras, which are situated on the sushumna naadi.

1 Muladhara Chakra   The muladhara chakra is located at the base of the spinal cord. It is placed in the space between the reproductive organ and the anus. The muladhara chakra is also known as the base chakra. Four important naadis originate from the muladhara chakra, which appear as petals of the lotus flower. It is at the muladhara chakra that the kundalini lies dormant.

2  Swadisthana Chakra    The swadisthana chakra is placed at the base of the reproductive organ. It controls and energizes the reproductive organs and the urinary system. It is from this chakra that six naadis emanate, which give it the appearance of a six-petal flower.

3  Manipura Chakra   The manipura chakra is located on the navel region. It controls and energizes the liver, stomach, small and large intestines. It has ten petals, which indicates that ten naadis originate from this chakra.