The Tao of Stress by Robert G. Santee

Name of the Book: The Tao of Stress: How to Calm, Balance, and Simplify Your Life

Name of the Author: Robert G. Santee, PhD

Publisher: New Harbinger Publications; 1 edition (November 1, 2013)

ISBN-10: 1608827801

ISBN-13: 978-1608827800

Disclaimer: I have recieved this book from the author via Netgalley inexchage of my honest review.

The Review

This book has been a wealth of information regarding the battling against stress. It teaches you how to reduce stress and by following the various methods told in this book, you can eradicate stress out of your life. This would create not only harmony within yourself but also with those who live around us. The author uses short stories to convey his teachings and practices, which I found very entertaining and interesting.

This book has been divided into four parts. It covers the basic of stress and Taoism and is based on the components of Zuowanglun. It teaches you about simplifying your life, behaviour and how to interact with others. It also focuses on desires - how to reduce your desire so that you can reduce your stress.

The Tao of Stress deals with maintaining your vital energy (qi). This keeps the mind, body and environment in harmony. It touches every aspect of our lives whether eating, drinking, sleeping, exercising, and also chronic stress. How each of this if not properly done, can change the energy within us, causing us chronic stress. The author tells that maintaining a journal is very important in recording our stress level. I found this particular statement very intriguing. Whether it is weight loss or letting go of her habit - we are always advised to keep a journal which records even a slight change in our habits. Similarly, making a note at various stages of our daily life can show us where a stress is coming from or what stresses us out the most. The author states that to have a bit of normal stress, is not a problem. In fact, normal stress allows us to find solutions to different problems.

This book has loads of information. So, if you’re planning to glance through this book, it is of no use. You have to make a habit of reading this book daily, to understand the practices and the teachings of Taoism. There are exercises given by the author, which if practiced properly, shows you the right part of Taoism.

One of the best features I like about this book was not only its teaching, but also how it tried to show the readers about the negative aspects affecting our lives. It is so easy to complain, whine, criticise or even mock others. But all these are negative feelings which prevents from finding solutions to all our problems. All these negative feelings makes us lose our centre and focus in life and disbalances the cosmic forces of yin and yang within us.

By following The Taoist path, we not only simplify our lives, reduce the desire but also eliminate negative thoughts from our mind.

Rating

Reasoning

This book hits you with lots of information regarding the path of Taoism. I needed to give my full concentration while reading this book - even a slight diversion which took me away from my reading caused me to flip back few pages to again catch the grip of the flow. You have to be a serious follower of Taoism to really appreciate what the author wants to tell us with his teachings.

It not only taught me how to keep my thoughts clean, but also my actions clean. As a layman to Taoism I would have preferred to some extent, certain simplicity in the terms and easy understanding. But that does not mean that a reader who’s not well versed with Taoism will not benefit from this book.

Would I recommend this book to my readers? Definitely. If you want to enrich your life with positive thinking, doing the right thing with meditation and reducing the wants and desires of life which has a direct effect on the stress of your life - then this book is definitely worth reading.

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