It would not be an overstatement to say that stress is today's public enemy number one. This is what leaders in stress research have to say, "Stress reaction is predicted to be the leading occupational disease of the 21st century, responsible for more days lost than any other single factor."
Almost everyone is adversely affected by stress to some degree. The good news is that there is something that we can do about it. There are many techniques that can be used in stress reduction such as yoga, meditation, sports etc... but there is one very simple and effective technique that is almost completely overlooked and that is, Present Time Consciousness or PTC.
PTC, though highly effective, is incredibly simple, and that may be its outdoing. People find it hard to believe that something so simple and easy to learn an use can so effective. PTC is a discipline where the practitioner strive to keep his mind focused on the present. Thus the appellation, Present Time Consciousness.
With PTC, the practitioner will not let his mind wanders unto the future. As soon as thoughts of what could happen in the future enter the mind, a conscious effort is made to get back to whatever the person is doing in the present.
The reason for that is simple. Most of the time, we don't fear what is happening now. We are dealing with it, so it is not the cause of great concern or stress. But, on the other hand, what could result from whatever is happening in the present can bring frightening scenarios of gloom and doom. And that is where most of the stress comes in.
PTC, like any other skill gets better with practice. At first, staying focused in the here and now can seem like an impossible task. However, after we have made a reasonable amount of effort to develop that skill, we get to be increasingly effective at it.
It is relatively easy to maintain Present Time Consciousness when we are involved in activities that require concentration. It is more difficult when we are involved in more mundane activities such getting dressed, doing some cleaning or mowing the grass. However, these are the best activities to practice PTC. And the way that it can be done is by caring about what we are doing.
When we care about something, we feel that it is important and we give it all our attention. So the secret is to threat everything that we do as if it was important. A disciplined mind can find as much satisfaction from cleaning pots and pans as it will solving an important problem. And the best part of that is that if we can care about menial tasks we will be even better at caring while involved in more complex endeavors.
So, to recapitulate, the best way to combat stress is to mentally stay in the present moment and the best way to stay focused in the present moment is really care about whatever it is that we are doing. The formula would then be: "Caring = Focus = No Stress".
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