Leo, How Do You Deal with Stress?

[SQAAD]

Leo, how do you deal with the stress of Contemplating?

When you contemplate about stuff all sorts of hell breaks loose. You face all kinds of fears, thoughts and stress.

The most difficult for me is stress because i know that prolonged stress is not good for the human body.

If there was zero stress i would be going a lot harder on many things. And when the stress levels are too high i get frightened and also have to over eat to bring the stress down.

How do you cope with stress in your life? Any advice?

 

Edited April 19 by SQAAD

[Leo Gura]

I have never found contemplation stressful. Exhausting, yes.

Stress is dealt with by scaling back and minimizing your activities so that you have lots of free time in your day. Stress comes from packing your day full of endless stuff to do.

What's stressful is survival. Like a rat running endlessly in a wheel and getting nowhere.

Existential contemplation is actually a reprieve from that.

Try to make contemplation enjoyable. Thinking about reality is enjoyable.

Edited April 19 by Leo Gura

[Cred]

Contemplating something external is usually not stressful. If you do experience stress in such moments, it was likely already present—you’re just becoming aware of it because the stillness has brought it to your attention. In that case, I would go with Leo’s advice.

However, stress triggered by deep existential fear—as a direct result of contemplating the self or engaging in open, objectless awareness—is something I’ve personally felt and witnessed in others. It surprises me that Leo hasn’t experienced this. For me, it helps explain why people can go insane while meditating. I have a theory that psychosis and personality disorders are rooted in the sense of self.

After all, when you deeply contemplate the self, your very sense of being can shift drastically. It can feel like the ground is falling out from beneath you. One random association I had during meditation was that it felt like being snapped away by Thanos—like I was witnessing myself disappear.

I believe that overcoming and affirming that sense of death is one of the cornerstones of spiritual growth. Since the fear of death can be seen as the root of all fear, liberation arises as a result of facing it.

 

You should be cautious when experiencing stress during meditation. At worst, it could be dangerous or lead to an aversion to the practice. On the other hand, stress and anxiety during meditation can be signs of genuine progress—evidence that you're actively confronting your own death.

When this happens, try to observe changes in your breath. Since learning about and practicing Buteyko, I’ve come to believe that all forms of stress manifest as increased breath volume. The brain induces the stress response through the breath by increasing the volume of exhaled air, thereby lowering CO₂ levels in the body. The goal, then, is to counteract this by acively calming and reducing your breath.

[Sugarcoat]

Something that helped me is developing a tougher mindset so reframing the negative into a challenge, something more positive. Having your mind be active about this new mindset you have formed like an ongoing mantra kind of. It works for me like it calms me down and prepares me for the challenges of life. Also not being too engaged with the outside world learn to bring your attention back to yourself and disengaging a little from the outside world, also getting to a point where you can do your tasks on autopilot so you don’t have to think so much . Simplify your life. 

Edited April 19 by Sugarcoat

[Sugarcoat]

Stress is internal. It’s putting a lot of importance into things. If you could lessen the importance of things. If it’s survival things that you can’t lessen the importance of then it’s just a matter of getting those handled then you can relax afterwards 

Edited April 19 by Sugarcoat

[Jacko]

Take it easy on yourself. Maybe do some guided relaxations like Progressive Muscle Relaxation, Yoga Nidra, breathwork, time in nature, kick back and do nothing sometimes. Try and get a nice balance and flow going in your life. 
 

I also like a book called Destressifying by Davidji

Edited April 19 by Jacko

[Sandhu]

@Cred your profile picture is disturbing

[LordFall]

@SQAAD I like to watch some anime, escape to a simpler world with pretty girls and a great quest. 
 

Right now facing a lot of financial stress so I tend to work hard during the day and then unwind by making pasta and watching anime. I love pasta I think I’ve been eating it for easily 30 days in a row. I like to treat myself with some Brie cheese as a guilty pleasure as well. 
 

I also don’t find contemplation to be stressful more like painful but it was painful the whole time anyway because at lease for me when I contemplate on the short comings I’ve been avoiding I knew them the whole time just was escaping from them. 

[Natasha Tori Maru]

I have a different way of dealing with stress.

Previously, I required structure. Stress/anxiety fueled my tasks. I had to ensure time to decompress and disconnect. I allowed lots of free time to be used in this way.

I no longer require any sort of disconnection to be able to handle stress.

When I have a very full and extreme day, I always mentally list the items over and over. As I do this, I visualize and attempt to embody the feeling of already having accomplished the thing. I start the day & immediately begin this visualization process. When I can see within my mind the thing I am trying to accomplish (it helps I work in construction, as this can be seeing the rough in complete/structural steel erected/slab poured). The feeling of accomplishment (dopamine really) is so strong, I use this energy to fuel the focus I need to perform without anxiety and force, no stress.

This requires a lot of organization & trust within yourself. So, to enable this process without stress, I would format structure: Plan/Prioritize > Schedule > Task > Visualize > Action. This is repeated for each action item on your agenda. I often visualize and swim in the feeling of each small action finished. The feeling of sitting on the couch at the end of the day, eating a great meal. It feels like daydreaming. Take a breath, imagine you doing the thing, release & execute. In this way you bring your entire being into the task. It no longer feels like effort. You fall in love with the act.

Visualizing assists as it lowers the stress and anxiety of intensely focused tasks, as you are essentially brainwashing yourself into thinking tasks are done.

I used to utilize anxiety & stress to accomplish what I needed throughout the day. The downside to this method was I needed to 'disconnect'. 

I have more presence, coherence & clarity with the visualization method. 

Energy is conserved, focus is like a laser

[SQAAD]

@Leo Gura

On 4/19/2025 at 9:44 AM, Leo Gura said:

I have never found contemplation stressful. Exhausting, yes.

Stress is dealt with by scaling back and minimizing your activities so that you have lots of free time in your day. Stress comes from packing your day full of endless stuff to do.

What's stressful is survival. Like a rat running endlessly in a wheel and getting nowhere.

Existential contemplation is actually a reprieve from that.

Try to make contemplation enjoyable. Thinking about reality is enjoyable.

Good advice. When i Contemplate about deep stuff , my mind is like: "What if this means something bad? What if it means that or the other?"

Also, when i contemplate about who i really am, not knowing or not being sure  seems scary..

Lastly, yes survival is stressful but also thinking deeply about stuff is stressful. You are releasing glucocorticoids hormones in your bloodstream. It's not like you are sitting with no mind or no care in the world.

 

Edited April 20 by SQAAD

[integral]

@SQAAD omg is this how most people feel when they have to think????

If this is true, it’s no wonder mankind is so the self deceived, if facing the truth makes them feel bad they’re never gonna do it.

In competitive chess, there is a very high importance in emotional mastery, because whenever you get emotional, either positive or negative it has a strong impact on your thinking process and the quality of the next move you’re going to play

So you learn through repetition to always come back to a calm middle point and to be disciplined with it

I suggest when you’re confronted with a difficult truth, remind yourself that there is no rush and that you could take your time and no one is chasing you, just sit there with it and be with it and explore it. Take your time. No one is chasing you, you have all the time in the world. 

Edited April 20 by integral

[SQAAD]

@Cred

21 hours ago, Cred said:

Contemplating something external is usually not stressful. If you do experience stress in such moments, it was likely already present—you’re just becoming aware of it because the stillness has brought it to your attention. In that case, I would go with Leo’s advice.

However, stress triggered by deep existential fear—as a direct result of contemplating the self or engaging in open, objectless awareness—is something I’ve personally felt and witnessed in others. It surprises me that Leo hasn’t experienced this. For me, it helps explain why people can go insane while meditating. I have a theory that psychosis and personality disorders are rooted in the sense of self.

After all, when you deeply contemplate the self, your very sense of being can shift drastically. It can feel like the ground is falling out from beneath you. One random association I had during meditation was that it felt like being snapped away by Thanos—like I was witnessing myself disappear.

I believe that overcoming and affirming that sense of death is one of the cornerstones of spiritual growth. Since the fear of death can be seen as the root of all fear, liberation arises as a result of facing it.

 

You should be cautious when experiencing stress during meditation. At worst, it could be dangerous or lead to an aversion to the practice. On the other hand, stress and anxiety during meditation can be signs of genuine progress—evidence that you're actively confronting your own death.

When this happens, try to observe changes in your breath. Since learning about and practicing Buteyko, I’ve come to believe that all forms of stress manifest as increased breath volume. The brain induces the stress response through the breath by increasing the volume of exhaled air, thereby lowering CO₂ levels in the body. The goal, then, is to counteract this by acively calming and reducing your breath.

My mind everytime is gets a piece of data is like "What if this means that or the other? What if it means something negative?"

And if it thinks it might mean something negative , stress comes up in the surface.

Also, my mind almost never feels sure about anything. 

Edited April 20 by SQAAD

[integral]

You could also stop sub vocalizing, because doing that tends to stimulate a lot and stir up emotions because it’s high energy. It’s like sprinting.

Think silently without words

Edited April 20 by integral

[SQAAD]

@integral

12 minutes ago, integral said:

@SQAAD omg is this how most people feel when they have to think????

If this is true, it’s no wonder mankind is so the self deceived, if facing the truth makes them feel bad they’re never gonna do it.

In competitive chess, there is a very high importance in emotional mastery, because whenever you get emotional, either positive or negative it has a strong impact on your thinking process and the quality of the next move you’re going to play

So you learn through repetition to always come back to a calm middle point and to be disciplined with it

I suggest when you’re confronted with a difficult truth, remind yourself that there is no rush and that you could take your time and no one is chasing you, just sit there with it and be with it and explore it. Take your time. No one is chasing you, you have all the time in the world. 

You can almost never feel sure about anything. This uncertainty can drive anxiety. Especially if it threatens your survival.

You make it sound like it's nothing. 

When the mind gets overwhelmed with data and possible negative ramifications, it gets stressed out.

Let me ask you this, if you plan a trip abroad, won't you feel at least a little bit stressed out?

 

Edited April 20 by SQAAD

[Leo Gura]

42 minutes ago, SQAAD said:

When i Contemplate about deep stuff , my mind is like: "What if this means something bad? What if it means that or the other?"

Also, when i contemplate about who i really am, not knowing or not being sure  seems scary..

That is solved by actually loving truth.

[Applegarden8]

@Leo Gura @SQAAD I have found many times that contemplation is stressful, especially that I have to break some conditioning that I have relied on for years. It always hurts. Not having an answer also could be stressful. After a while it becomes blissful and life-changing yes. It's also stressful that you have to accept some scenarios as the outcome of your life before they happen, while others live blissfully unaware.

[gettoefl]

Stress is a mind deluded that it must serve sauce rather than source.

Ease is self-prioritization self-care self-halt.

[SQAAD]

@Leo Gura

On 4/20/2025 at 10:20 AM, Leo Gura said:

That is solved by actually loving truth.

How do you do that?

[Leo Gura]

1 hour ago, SQAAD said:

@Leo Gura

How do you do that?

Why don't you love truth?

[AION]

Bio energetic grounding does wonders for stress. You can do it while meditating or contemplating on an insight. You can’t love shit if your body is on lock. Even on 5 MeO.