I don’t think it counts if he doesn’t have a chair

My dad often says that he attributes his good health in old age to his two legs. For over forty years he walked 20 minutes to work almost everyday, and spent much of his day as a professor standing, rather than sitting at a desk. There’s a lot of people out there who would agree with him. Many say that most of the physical degeneration of office workers comes from sitting. The human body isn’t meant to sit for extended periods of time. Sitting ruins the spinal alignment, circulation, and atrophies the muscles of the lower body. The Shaolin monks in China almost never sit. They spend their entire days on their feet. They even stand while eating. Studies are showing great benefits to those who stand more at work.

1. You are burning more calories just by activating your stability muscles to stand.
2. Activation of the hips and glutes. Getting rid of your chair might not automatically give you a nice butt, but it will prevent those derriere muscles from atrophying.
3. Better posture. Sitting causes the hip flexors to shorten. This makes your hips tip forward when you stand. The hips house the bottom of your spinal column. If you tip the base, the entire column will misalign. That’s why many office workers develop hunchbacks.

Standing at work is becoming easier. Many furniture manufacturers have created standing desks, and many companies are investing in them for the long term health of their employees. Ergonomics, the study of designing equipment and devices that fit the human body, is one of the hottest topics in business and engineering.

You don’t have to wait for your boss to buy you a standing desk. You can rework your space by propping up your computer of finding a ledge that’s elbow height (see picture left.) We as a species are moving towards body alignment and evolving out of the “office mole people.” Do your body a favor. Get up! Stand up!

Let’s review our last few posts on getting overloaded:

1. Identify the stressor
2. Figure out your “tumescent type”
3. Get the sensation down quickly, if necessary
4. Increase your capacity

Now it’s time to turn this tumescence into something positive. That’s right. We’re going to make feeling overwhelmed into a good thing. I mentioned before that what causes you to feel overwhelmed is simply sensation. We get stressed when the sensation goes beyond what we can handle. You can try to numb yourself by perhaps watching useless TV or eating junk food, but that’s not good for you. You can increase how much you can handle by say meditating, but that takes time and is a slow-gain practice. What if you just change how you view the sensation?

The King turned his tumescence into power

Look at stage fright. Imagine a young man who is about to play guitar and sing a song in front of a large crowd for the first time. Butterflies are rock and rolling in his stomach. His voice is trembling. His knees are knocking and he can’t stop his legs from shaking. We call this “stage fright.” Something for kids and inexperienced performers, right? What if I told you I was talking about the great Elvis Presley? That’s right. Elvis was so nervous during his performances that he couldn’t help his legs from shaking. Instead of fighting the fear, he went along with it and creating his signature hip gyration. Many of the greatest performers like Freddie Mercury and Jim Morrison were known for intense stage fright.

They turned “being overwhelmed” into a power. They used their high sensation into beautiful expression. Ok, so maybe you won’t go write a rock opera just because there is work piled on your desk. Maybe you won’t win a Grammy just because your kids keep getting sick. But used can certainly turn anxiety into excitement. All you have to do is go along with it. It’s not as Zen as you think. Stress is a neutral feeling. The difference between distress and eustress is how you perceive it. Next time you feel overwhelmed, just observe yourself. Stop trying to fix it, and just approve of the feeling. You’ll be amazed at how you gyrate. Thank you, thank you very much.

All through last week, we went over “tumescence,” also known as overstimulation, having too much sensation, or being overwhelmed. The first step was to identify when you get fall into this state and what typically causes it. The second step was to figure out what “type” of stressor you are so you can apply the proper antidote. The third thing we learned was quick ways to get the sensation down when it feels like too much. Today we’re going to learn how to be able to take on more so that we can take on more without feeling like it’s too much.

The overload of

Is this you?

sensation is not good or bad in itself. All it is, is a lot of sensation. Whether it’s good or bad is simply our perception. Our perception is based on our capacity for sensation. Imagine it as a container or a tank. As long as there is space in the tank, the liquid can be contained. But when the tank is full, the liquid spills and makes a mess. Each person has a different sized container. Some people fall into a blind rage from a little traffic on the way home from work. Some people can sit in traffic for hours in a Zen like state of relaxation. The only difference is how much a person can handle. Follow these steps to be able to take on more so you will feel overwhelmed less often.

1. Empty your tank whenever possible. Think again of the guy who get’s a temper tantrum from little inconveniences like traffic. He probably keeps taking on troubles without ever letting it out. His container is always almost full so the slightest addition makes him tip. 
2. Increase your capacity by taking it slow. Zen masters spend years perfecting the art of simple tasks like pouring tea. They will place so much attention on tea pouring that eventually they can pour it perfectly every single time. If you can learn to appreciate little things, it’s easier to
3. Get in touch with your body. Anxiety is caused by the mind. Your body knows how to relax. You can increase your capacity for sensation with activities that open you up physically like yoga or dancing.

Next post will be on alchemizing your stress lead into gold!

By now you should know what sets you in overload, and what your tumescent type is. Now its time to manage it. Tumescence, what we usually refer to as being “over-stimulated” isn’t necessarily a bad sensation, it’s just a high amount of sensation. Everyone has a different “capacity for sensation.” What overwhelms me, might underwhelm you. We feel “tumesced” rather than excited, when our sensation goes beyond whatever our capacity is. It the next post we’ll go over how to transmute tumescence into something positive by increasing our capacity, but for now, let’s just get it down.

We’re already familiar with most de-stimulators. When you get into an argument, or you have too much work to do, many of us have a go-to. Here’s a list of some quick, effective de-stressors. Many of them are not good for you, but they work. Make sure you don’t over do any of them.

1. Eating. Yes, most of us are familiar with stress-eating. Here’s a tip. Keep a healthy munchy food near your workstation, car, or wherever you experience the most stress. If you have a bag of raw almonds to get you back down to feeling normal. 
   
2. Punching a pillow or punching bag. Yes we all love to get violent when we’re having a bad day. When you feel this way, don’t suppress it. That’s how people end up going postal. Do yourself, your family, friends, and co-workers a huge favor and go hit something soft and inanimate. It’s better you punch a punching bag once a week than punching person ever.
3. Reading or watching TV. This is most common for the dissipated types who just want to check out. Just be sure you do it because you want to or have to.
4. Exercise (walking, running, lifting.) It’s great for the hyper-volatile types who need to boogey when stressed.
5. Spending quality time with the friends and family. We need connection. A lot the time our capacity for how much we can take on is reduced, simply because we feel disconnected from other people. Humans are social animals. Make sure you are getting your daily dose. This is the most healthy thing on the list, so don’t worry about overdoing this one