Free The Tao of Stress: How to Calm, Balance, and Simplify Your Life by Robert G. Santee Page A

which then help create and maintain chronic stress. Removing these behaviors helps ease stress and also has the benefit of decreasing our behavioral options. This simplifies our behavioral choices, and therefore simplifies life.
    Eating, Drinking, Sleeping, and
    Exercising Behavior
    The Taoist path is focused on making life as stress- free as possible by behaving in a simple and straightforward manner. Four basic areas that are often compromised by problematic behavior that results in chronic stress are eating, drinking, sleeping, and exercise. There are numerous Taoist texts that address these areas (Kohn 2012). Because these aspects of life are so important to overall well- being, I also discussed them in chapter 5, in the context of noninterference, and in chapter 6, in the context of desires.
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    The Tao of Stress
    Taoism has long been aware that how we eat and drink, what we eat
    and drink, and how much or how little we eat and drink can have a significant impact on our overall health. Within Taoism, certain foods and beverages are considered to be medicinal and beneficial for our overall well- being (Kohn 2010; Saso 1994). The Neiye (Guanzi 2012) is quite clear that excessive or deficient eating and drinking compromise the flow of qi and are detrimental to your well- being. The Yangxing Yanming Lu ( Nourishing Your Nature and Extending Your Life ), a seventh- century text on health and longevity, attributes much of illness and unnatural death to what we eat and drink (Tao Hongming 2013). In other words your diet can lead to chronic stress and thus harm you.
    Likewise, Taoism recognizes that we all need consistent, restful sleep and advocates going to bed early and rising early in the morning ( Neijing 2007). Inadequate or poor- quality sleep compromises physical and psychological health, energy levels, and performance in general. From the perspective of Taoism, problems getting to sleep or staying asleep, not getting enough sleep, or sleeping too much are seen as usually being due to problematic behavior prior to going to bed. This problematic behavior causes stress, which in turn compromises sleep, which leads to further stress due to lack of adequate restful sleep. This creates a vicious cycle that leads to chronic stress.
    Finally, Taoism also has a long history of using exercise as a way curing and preventing illness and disease. The Neijing (2007) indicates the importance of stretching, walking, and then cooling down. The
    Taiqing Daoyin Yangsheng Jing ( The Great Clarity Scripture of Guiding and Stretching to Nourish Life ) is a foundational text in this area (Baike 2007).
    This seventh- century Taoist text presents specific, organized exercise sequences that focus on guiding qi, stretching and relaxing the body and mind, and thereby establishing health and well- being (Kohn 2008a).
    Daoyin and yangsheng , both first mentioned in the Zhuangzi , are ancient names for practices concerned with health, well- being, and longevity.
    The term we use today for these practices is “qigong.”
    The Yangxing Yanming Lu clearly presents the Taoist holistic approach to healing, health, and well- being. It integrates guidelines on numerous behaviors— diet, sleep, exercise, meditation, breathing exercises, and sex— not only as a way of taking care of one’s body and mind, extending one’s life, and eliminating what we now call chronic stress, but also as a precursor to spiritual development and discovery.
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    Emilio’s Story
    Emilio, a sophomore in college, had problems with his digestion.
    He always seemed to have heartburn, stomachaches, gas, and
    problems with constipation or diarrhea. He couldn’t understand
    why. One day at lunch in the college cafeteria, he didn’t see any of his friends, so he sat at a table where an unfamiliar student was
    eating his lunch. Emilio said a cursory hello to his tablemate, and then he pulled out his phone, made a call, and talked to a