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I left the school at the end of 2019. I needed to make a break with the new head of the school - as I had found just avoiding him was not enough. His critical voice was in my head and I felt I needed to end any relationship or connection with him. This was hard as it also meant leaving many friends and fellow students (a large part of my life), but I know now that it was indeed a necessary thing.
As some background... The school was very traditional, and in my view authoritarian. There was one right way of doing things and it was whatever the head instructor said. Novelty was not encouraged, experimentation was not encouraged. This is to explain that I probably would never have started the Essenes course if I was still with that school.
I started the Essenes in summer 2020. I was skeptical at first, but soon began to find real value in the principles and practices. The Essenes teach that there is a subconscious self that exists in all the cells of our bodies. That we can strengthen that connection and work with it for improved health, happiness, and success in life.
In fall of 2020, I applied these principles to my working life and accomplished more than I would have thought possible. My main goal at that time was to change my relationship with deep work - so where previously I would close off in thought and get irritated with interruptions - now I would embrace the requests of others with kindness and enthusiasm. This was indeed possible and it was a good if challenging time.
When the year rolled around, this changed. For many years, my feelings about software and technology have been mixed at best. I question whether the modern hi-tech lives we lead are either sustainable or wise, with the disconnection from nature and the soul. I am however quite good at it so it pays the bills. And when I have clear goals and the latitude to do things as I see best, it is a mostly rewarding pastime.
That has been less the case recently, with days full of politics, unrealistic expectations, and groupthink. Along with this have been other misfortunes large and small. My personality is such that chronic problems without any clear resolution weigh on me, I tend to brood on them. This is especially true with problems facing those I love... I think part of me associates worrying with caring.
The Essenes flatly advise against worry. In their view, worry is sending bad messages to the cells, causing them to brew poisons, which in turn work contrary to health, happiness, and success. Sadly my recent experiences have confirmed this theory to my satisfaction. In recent weeks, I have witnessed a period of worry causing illness, digestive problems, and debilitation. I have concluded that worry is an addiction... and one I can no longer afford.
A person in a state of worry lacks a state of health and equilibrium needed to find solutions - to the degree solutions can be found. It is not a useful state of mind. Furthermore, I have a suspicion that that door swings both ways. In working with the Essenes to more effectively send beneficial messages to the self, opening the channel if you will, are not the negative worry messages going to be amplified as well? I don’t think the instructions have mentioned this but it seems logical and a risk that needs to be managed.
In the old days, Steve said that everyone feels stress, but that tai chi allows you to decouple the stress from the harmful effects on the body. This always seemed nice in theory, but I never realized it in practice. I believe now that we need to actively use the tools we have to avoid falling into a state of worry, which is a unadaptive response to stress.
Currently, I view stress as a pressure or weight that contracts the self. The worry builds as the self contracts. The Essenes provide many tools that can be used to counter this contractive force, including posture, positive thinking, and especially the breathing. The breathing method presented early in the course is very good for this. It is effectively creating an expansive counter-pressure against the contractive force that results in an equilibrium state. I have found combining this with the reverse breathing to be very effective, and I believe also relates to the tai chi concept of shielding. In my mind, I think of this technique as the Iron Shirt, as it feels like one is wearing an actual second skin.
I mentioned previously that worry seems to be an addiction and I believe this is literally true. I am making a conscious choice to remove worry from my life and use the tools given to me to achieve this. Living in a worry-free state of equilibrium needs to be my bare minimum and I will work humbly to achieve this.
As some background... The school was very traditional, and in my view authoritarian. There was one right way of doing things and it was whatever the head instructor said. Novelty was not encouraged, experimentation was not encouraged. This is to explain that I probably would never have started the Essenes course if I was still with that school.
I started the Essenes in summer 2020. I was skeptical at first, but soon began to find real value in the principles and practices. The Essenes teach that there is a subconscious self that exists in all the cells of our bodies. That we can strengthen that connection and work with it for improved health, happiness, and success in life.
In fall of 2020, I applied these principles to my working life and accomplished more than I would have thought possible. My main goal at that time was to change my relationship with deep work - so where previously I would close off in thought and get irritated with interruptions - now I would embrace the requests of others with kindness and enthusiasm. This was indeed possible and it was a good if challenging time.
When the year rolled around, this changed. For many years, my feelings about software and technology have been mixed at best. I question whether the modern hi-tech lives we lead are either sustainable or wise, with the disconnection from nature and the soul. I am however quite good at it so it pays the bills. And when I have clear goals and the latitude to do things as I see best, it is a mostly rewarding pastime.
That has been less the case recently, with days full of politics, unrealistic expectations, and groupthink. Along with this have been other misfortunes large and small. My personality is such that chronic problems without any clear resolution weigh on me, I tend to brood on them. This is especially true with problems facing those I love... I think part of me associates worrying with caring.
The Essenes flatly advise against worry. In their view, worry is sending bad messages to the cells, causing them to brew poisons, which in turn work contrary to health, happiness, and success. Sadly my recent experiences have confirmed this theory to my satisfaction. In recent weeks, I have witnessed a period of worry causing illness, digestive problems, and debilitation. I have concluded that worry is an addiction... and one I can no longer afford.
A person in a state of worry lacks a state of health and equilibrium needed to find solutions - to the degree solutions can be found. It is not a useful state of mind. Furthermore, I have a suspicion that that door swings both ways. In working with the Essenes to more effectively send beneficial messages to the self, opening the channel if you will, are not the negative worry messages going to be amplified as well? I don’t think the instructions have mentioned this but it seems logical and a risk that needs to be managed.
In the old days, Steve said that everyone feels stress, but that tai chi allows you to decouple the stress from the harmful effects on the body. This always seemed nice in theory, but I never realized it in practice. I believe now that we need to actively use the tools we have to avoid falling into a state of worry, which is a unadaptive response to stress.
Currently, I view stress as a pressure or weight that contracts the self. The worry builds as the self contracts. The Essenes provide many tools that can be used to counter this contractive force, including posture, positive thinking, and especially the breathing. The breathing method presented early in the course is very good for this. It is effectively creating an expansive counter-pressure against the contractive force that results in an equilibrium state. I have found combining this with the reverse breathing to be very effective, and I believe also relates to the tai chi concept of shielding. In my mind, I think of this technique as the Iron Shirt, as it feels like one is wearing an actual second skin.
I mentioned previously that worry seems to be an addiction and I believe this is literally true. I am making a conscious choice to remove worry from my life and use the tools given to me to achieve this. Living in a worry-free state of equilibrium needs to be my bare minimum and I will work humbly to achieve this.
