Now that the holidays have come and pass, you are probably feeling more stressed out than ever. Not only are you tired from all the shopping, buying, gift wrapping, exchanging, returning, cooking, serving, and entertaining, but you are probably also stressed out that “vacation” is now over…and it is time again to get your ass back to work!
There are plenty of things to be concerned about. The economy continues to hurt, and this new hole in our wallets doesn’t help. On top of this, life’s daily burdens are always there to add fuel to the fire.
That is why it is important we set aside time for relaxation.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have been coaching some people who have various concerns about stress and anxiety.
Some folks are just tired from obligations with work and family, and they want to feel more at ease. Others get nervous in certain situations, like speaking in public or approaching a certain girl; they want to know how to overcome these worries.
Whatever the situation may be, my method for dealing with stress and anxiety is fairly simple but effective when practiced consistently. Here are some of the fundamentals to know so that you can begin on your own. You will find these concepts especially helpful to integrate into your new year workload. Here is to a more productive, more free, more spontaneous, and much more easy-going 2010!
Start With The Breath
When times get difficult, the breath is always there to draw attention to. I remember when I would lose my temper as a child and my parents would always tell me to “take 10 deep breaths.” At the time, I absolutely hated the advice, and it would only make me more angry. But overtime I have realized the power of turning our attention to our own breathing.
No matter how we are feeling, there is always a rhythm to the breath. It is consistent, it is always there, and that is what makes it such a reliable object of meditation.
The more consistent you are at bringing your awareness back to the breath, the more centered you will be throughout your day. This means you will have less of a dependency on certain outcomes: you will be able to let go of the things you can’t control, and dedicate more energy to the things you can control. In my article “How Stress Ruins Everything…” I mention how important this “control factor” can be in the accumulation of daily stress. And even when there are many situations where we don’t have much much control, we can always shift our focus to areas where we do have control, and by doing that we can maintain a healthy mind.
When I tell people to bring their attention to their breath, I tell them to pay attention to its subtle sensations: the feeling of cool and fresh air coming in and the feeling of warm and stale air coming out. I tell them to feel the sensations of air filling up their lungs. I then suggest they make notes of the motions of the breath, how it is steady and rhythmic like the waves of a calm sea.
The Black Cloud Of Tension
The next step I usually take is a visual exercise. I have the person imagine all their stresses, anxieties, worries, and concerns in the form of an ugly cloud. I usually have the individual choose how the cloud looks. I personally like mine to be a mixture of green and brown, like some kind of sludge from a raw sewage system. Others like to picture a thick black cloud as if it were from a burning building.
Whatever kind of cloud you may imagine, make it detailed and meaningful, and be sure it symbolizes all of your stresses and worries. Imagine the cloud coming from the exhalation of your breath and through the pores of your skin as it accumulates above you. Imagine yourself feeling lighter and more relaxed with each breath and moment that passes. Then let the cloud drift slowly away from you. Take your time with this process, feel the changes as they happen, and then allow yourself to go into a deeper state of relaxation.
Pay Attention To The Feelings
There is a difference between thinking about relaxation and actually being relaxed. We can imagine ourselves on a nice summer day, tanning at the beach, with a glass of lemonade and a good book. And like the black cloud example above, these visualizations will help. But it is just as important to pay attention to the subtle sensations that make up these experiences.
When you set aside time to be relaxed, make sure you feel your muscles stretching out and become less tense. Feel the little, nagging ache in your head dissipate. Feel light, more comfortable, rejuvenated, and fresh! Focus on these feelings. Become familiar with them, and that will help you re-create these states in the future.
When you are visualizing a relaxing scenario, associate yourself fully into the experience. Imagine what it would be like to have a black cloud of tension actually lift above you. What it would feel like? How does it change your physiology? What about if you were at a beach, or some other scenario where you find yourself comfortable and relaxed? Pay attention to the feelings.
Relaxation And Productivity
Allotting time towards feeling these states of deep relaxation can have tremendous benefits in our own productivity. Just like when we don’t get enough sleep, not enough relaxation can keep us in a drowsy and zombified state. That is why it is important to monitor and manage our energy, not just at night before bed, but throughout the day as well.
Bradley Whitwell, a Brain and Mind Research Institute senior research fellow, says that allowing employees to have mid-workday naps can help them become more alert and productive in the workplace. Other states of deep relaxation, like those found in a disciplined meditation practice, should yield similar result.
However, there are a couple of benefits deep relaxation techniques have over napping. To start, you don’t have to worry about waking up mid-REM when you consciously practice relaxation. You probably have had some experiences in the past waking up mid-REM, especially those naps where you end up feeling more tired and out-of-sync then you were beforehand.
Another benefit of consciously practicing relaxation is that you can better choose what times you spend to relax. You may only have 15-20 minutes before your next business meeting. A power nap could be risky, but spending that extra time focusing on your breathing can accomplish a just-as-desirable state without having to re-boot yourself completely. In this way, “conscious relaxation,” as I have been calling it, is of much greater convenience than your typical afternoon nap.
Type-A Personality And Health Implications
Being stressed and busy-minded is easy. Despite how little we may enjoy it, we can drain ourselves fairly “effortlessly” just by going through our daily motions. We get so easily caught in worrying about little things like, “What am I going to make for dinner?” or “Did I forget to take out the trash again last night?” that we forget to take a step back to catch our breath.
Maybe this tendency towards busy-ness is because we find it more natural to overexert ourselves then to just sit and be comfortable? There are so many societal pressures to multi-task and be productive, rather than to spend time sitting in leisure without being called a bum. This doesn’t make either more important.
I think we should find a balance. Despite how much we have been conditioned to see virtue in this busy lifestyle, especially those of us like me who live near a major industrialized city, relaxation can help both our quality and quantity of life. Sure, having a Type-A personality may get you a few extra thousand dollars a year, but the stresses could just as well take off ten or more years of your life. One 9-year study with over 9,000 men, aged 35-59, found that Type A personalities were more than twice as likely to have coronary heart disease.
Meanwhile, a report by BBC News illustrates that countries who take part in afternoon rests (or siestas) are less likely to suffer from heart disease and other similar risks.
Don’t be someone to work your entire life towards material gains but never have the time to enjoy any of it.
Relaxation Takes Practice
Without practice, sitting with the intent of relaxing can prove to be much more difficult than we first imagine. Sometimes with all of our worries and concerns it can even make us more anxious and uneasy. That is why I tell people “relaxation takes practice.”
One of the most common hurdles to relaxing is that we get too wrapped up in our thoughts. We begin thinking about how we need to get X, Y, and Z done before next week, or we can’t stop re-playing in our heads that stupid thing we said to our girlfriend earlier that morning. I won’t say that these concerns are a waste of time. There may be a time and place for them – but not during relaxation.
For now when we devote time to being relaxed, we need to let our thoughts pass without putting too much emphasis or energy into them. If you are focused enough on the process of relaxing, then you won’t have the energy to mind these thoughts and worries. They will arise, but they will pass. Just stay in-tune to your own state of rest and comfort. That is what you are doing now, while you are relaxing. So be fully aware and concentrated on that.
But this concentration will take practice. Most likely you will get distracted during the first few times you try to cultivate these states. It is okay and normal, but be aware that it is up to your own time, effort and dedication to make this practice work. It is not just about reading this post, but setting aside the time to do it.
One Last Thing
In summary, I want you to focus on relaxation as a valuable endeavor. No matter what point of your life you may be, there are probably stresses and anxieties you are dealing with. Therefore I want you to practice these tools, become familiar with them, and integrate them into your daily routine. There is a great benefit to being able to relax, replenish your energy, and re-direct it in a more alert and focused state of being.
The main question you need to ask whenever you hear about an outcome of “government spending” is: Instead of what?! The cost of any economic decision is never simply “What were the outcomes?” but also ‘What were the potential outcomes?” – what was the opportunity cost? What could have been achieved if I invested my time and capital differently?
Today President Obama announced that 1 million jobs were saved due to the $787 billion dollar stimulus plan he initiated earlier this year. I ask, “Instead of what?”
At first glance this may sound like a great headline for Obama, but only if you make an all-too-often economic fallacy about the nature of government spending. When we are on the receiving end, it is all too easy to forget that governments do not have their own source of wealth; they only absorb wealth from their citizens through taxes and monetary inflation. In this sense there is no such thing as government spending, only redistribution. As argued by many intellectuals throughout the past century, this kind of economic planning often comes with disastrous effects. Yet politicians refuse to listen, often only citing Keynesian economists – who justify increased government spending even when it is in contradiction with the most basic laws of the free market.
In this article I will argue that almost all government spending “for the sake of the economy” – no matter the intentions – is bad. I will argue that it doesn’t matter which way the money flows; it is the principle of the action that hurts the economy and undermines the intelligence of the market. And in the end we all lose out as a result of government meddling in the economy.
Government spending vs. Market spending
I find the best way to frame the battle between markets and governments is as follows,
When individuals are given the chance to keep their earnings (private property) and spend it as they see fit (voluntary contracts) – does this lead to better outcomes than when governments decide where money should be spent?
ARGUMENT 1: Fallacy Of Intentions (The Belief In A “Benevolent Government”)
One argument in favor of government is what I call the fallacy of intentions. This is the general belief that a benevolent government can provide for society better than self-interested individuals.
The underlying premise is that individuals are greedy and we can not expect greed to serve the general welfare of the people. As John Maynard Keynes once said, “Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.”
But this is a fallacy. Governments, like markets, are also a conglomeration of individual humans; humans that have the same potential for greed as anyone else. One of my favorite rebuttals to this fallacy is a quote by Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises, in which he states:
“If one rejects laissez faire on account of mans fallibility and moral weakness, one must for the same reasons also reject every kind of government action.”
A Keynesian might then counter this point by arguing that in a democracy – since the people elect their representatives – greed could therefore be limited.
But certainly “greedy individuals” are just as capable of organizing campaigns and becoming elected officials as “benevolent individuals”? America is already a great example of how money seems to be the best predictor of government power.
However we cannot blame this on capitalism, we can only blame government for not following its original constitutional foundation. This is why it is my belief that a constitutional republic, one which concentrates government power closest towards the individual, is one that best serves a free society. A constitution is necessary in order to define the purpose of government and to limit it from breaking these restrictions.
ARGUMENT 2: The Intelligence Of Governments Versus Markets.
Another argument in favor of government is that government can better allocate resources than the free market can. It is believed that under laissez-faire capitalism self-interested individuals will only act in a way that maximizes profit for themselves and consequently not provide for the needs of others.
However, economic activity is not a zero-sum game; everyone reaps benefits from voluntary trade. If individuals didn’t see benefit in an action they simply wouldn’t do it. As Adam Smith once famously wrote in his influential book “The Wealth of Nations” (1776):
“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.”
Adam Smith later named these market forces the invisible hand. Ludwig von Mises claimed that Smith believed that the invisible hand was that of God. He did not mean this as a criticism, since he held that secular reasoning leads to similar conclusions.
Mises’ contrasted the invisible hand of the market with central economic planning, claiming the the latter was not only undesirable but impossible. In his theory of the “economic calculation problem” which was later expounded by Nobel laureate Friedrich Hayek, Mises argues that governments cannot possibly have the knowledge to know what is good for the economy. Mises believed that only the voluntary actions of consenting adults could properly allocate resources throughout the market. Hayek expanded on this idea by stating the efficient exchange and use of resources can be maintained only through the price mechanisms possible through free markets.
When governments legislate price and wage limits, the market is inhibited from reacting properly when changes occur in supply and demand. Due to the uncertainty of the economy, government can not possibly have enough knowledge to benefit society through massive spending. In fact, they almost always undermine a “natural market” solution from taking place. The more you give individuals a chance to act freely the better each individual’s needs will be met.
Of course the market isn’t perfect or Utopian. Individuals do not always make the right decisions for themselves and economies will fall into recessions during bad economic times. But this is true for any aspect of life. Just because half of American marriages end in a divorce doesn’t mean we want the government to make decisions on who we should marry. Life is filled with mistakes; it is how we learn, and it is a part of freedom.
So, yes, it sounds nice when we hear that Obama created X amount of jobs or saved Y. But how would this solution compare to a market solution? How do we know Obama is “creating” or “saving” jobs that really serve the American people? Yes, governments can help the unemployment rate by starting wars, or even by having everyone build pyramids, but is this really signs of a growing economy? Is this really an efficient allocation of resources? When Obama and Bush “bailout” companies that the market has already chosen to fail, then they are only delaying the inevitable destruction of these jobs. The people have already chosen another product. People losing jobs is a necessary function of a healthy market.
Note on GDP as a measure of economic growth
Like unemployment rates, GDP is another statistic that can be easily manipulated by government. The government reported this week that the economy grew 3.5 percent from July through September. But since government spending is a part of GDP, no wonder the “economy grew” with all this stimulus spending.
For many of us who already understand the unintended consequences of the “War On Drugs” this video covers most of the main arguments; however, it puts it in a way that I think almost any rational thinking person could understand.
At the very least those who are still for the WODs must acknowledge that it hasn’t come without its fair share of consequences. In fact, it would be hard to prove that the WODs has been working at all. It certainly hasn’t succeeded in deterring others from experimenting with drugs and, if anything, it has only added more dangers to society by creating a black market and an environment susceptible to gangs, violence, and other criminal behavior.
One could of course make an argument for WOD reform, but it isn’t nearly as compelling as the argument to just get rid of prohibition entirely. America’s past history with alcohol prohibition is the best example anyone will ever need that drug prohibition simply doesn’t work: it doesn’t make people safer, and it doesn’t get people to make healthier decisions.
We are going to need to change our approach if we have any desire to build a better society.
“G. Edward Griffin (born November 7, 1931) is an American film producer, author, and political lecturer. Starting as a child actor, he became a radio station manager before age 20. He then began a career of producing documentaries and books on often-debated topics like cancer, Noah’s ark, and the Federal Reserve, as well as on right-libertarian views of the U.S. Supreme Court, terrorism, subversion, and foreign policy. He has opposed the Federal Reserve since the 1960s, saying it constitutes a banking cartel and an instrument of war and totalitarianism.”
This is the third time within the last couple of weeks that Judge Napolitano’s show “Freedom Watch” has covered the War On Drugs, and its utter failure as a government motive to protect its citizens from substance abuse. Even though I already reported on one of these segments at Legalize It? Director of NORML on Marijuana Prohibition, because this is a topic I find very interesting, I decided to report on this latest update as well.
Jacob Hornberger, the founder and president of the Future of Freedom Foundation , a non-profit libertarian educational facility, says Nobel Prize economist Milton Friedman predicted the failure of the War On Drugs back in the 1970s, back when then-President Richard Nixon first defined the movement. Since then, Hornberger argues, the WOD has proved itself to be a failed war. He claims the best way to fix this mess is to do the same thing we did with alcohol prohibition – end it!
Napolitano agrees with Hornberger; he believes the War On Drugs is unconstitutional, a waste of time, and a waste of the American people’s money and resources. As a result of some of these laws, innocent people’s lives have been ruined by the hands of the state.
NAPOLITANO: Is it controversial for people in the public eye to come out in favor of the legalization of the private use of recreational drugs?
HORNBERGER: Well when I was bringing this up 20 years ago on radio talk shows I could light up the phone calls. People were just shocked at the possibility that drugs could be legalized. Twenty years later it is now a legitimate position…What do the drug warriors have left? All they have is their good intentions, and that is not enough. They have made the situation worse.
According to Hornberger it is not uncommon today to see police officers, federal judges, prosecutors, and lawyers against the War On Drugs.
HORNBERGER: We have argued for 30 years now, Judge, that the free market would put these drug dealers and drug cartels out of business instantaneously. And the article to which you are referring, where the private sector is having these marijuana farms, is proving that. These cartels are having a difficult time competing against these legitimate marijuana farms. Which leads us to believe that if you legalize the whole market, [then] these drug gangs and cartels would go out of business overnight.
According to this CNN poll conducted earlier this year 95% were in favor of marijuana legalization.
Is it time politicians start listening to the American people? Can we ever return to a society that respects the individual’s freedom to choose his own pursuit of happiness, as long as it does not undermine the liberties of another? What is stopping legislators from legalizing drugs like marijuana and regulating it similarly to how we regulate alcohol? Over the last decade I have noticed a surge in people speaking up on this issue – hopefully we can come to our senses sooner rather than later. America, let your voice be heard!