Crum - Three deep breaths: finding power and purpose in a stressed-out world

The World Health Organization has called stress a worldwide epidemic. Surveys show that 75 to 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related conditions! Job stress alone is costing us a fortune. According to a report from the American Institute of Stress, U.S. businesses pay 300 billion dollars a year in job-related stress costs and that figure is expected to rise in the future.

Science says that stress occurs whenever a significant change happens in your mind or body, or in the environment in which you live. It could have a positive or negative sourcegoing on a vacation or having a fight with a colleague, buying a new home or being late for an appointment. Lets face it. In this ever-changing world of increased complexity, information overload, new technologies, time crunches, and relationship strugglesthere will be stress. As you will discover in this parable about a man crazed by the complexity of modern life, we have a choice. We can allow stress to gnaw at our minds and bodies all the way to the doctors office, or we can see it as an opportunity to become wiser, stronger, and more flexible, like an elite athlete stressing his body in daily workouts.

Once we know we have a choice, the direction we take is obvious: health over illness, joy over frustration. A thirty-year study at Johns Hopkins University involving one thousand men found that those who got upset over everyday stresses were about three times more likely to have a heart attack and six times more likely to have a stroke than those who took life in stride. As Epictetus says, Man is troubled not by events themselves, but by the views he takes of them.

So, how do we take a stressful life in stride? We know it cant be done just intellectually: when we are under stress or in conflict, everything is involvedour emotions, our bodies, our minds, our spirits. Our choices must be of a mind/ body/spirit nature. Our choices must include the whole being.

Enter Tom Crum.

I first learned for myself about Tom when I heard him speak at the National Speakers Association. His unique and brilliant thinking, his energetic aikido demonstration, and his pureness of intention wowed my soul. I recognized that he was a world changer and dedicated to doing immense amounts of good. I knew from his history that he had been singer John Denvers bodyguard, mentor, and best friend. I became an instant fan, friend, student, and reader of everything that Tom did.

Tom is a seminar leader, aikido expert, and the author of two books, The Magic of Conflict and Journey to Center. Tom Crum helps people develop the total mind/body/spirit approach needed to turn stress into power and purpose.

Aikido is a Japanese form of self-defense that focuses on the energy of an attacking opponent to render his attack harmless, without doing harm, even to the attacker. If

someone goes to punch you, Tom teaches, dont try to block the punch. When you do that, you are using resistanceyour own power and strength against the attackers. That sets up a win/lose confrontation. Tom shows people how to step aside with an accepting and pivoting movement, using the attackers energy to throw the person or to apply a neutralizing technique. The key to all this, as Tom teaches, is to learn how to be centered and to see the bigger picturethe needs and wants of bothso that you can move to higher ground, where true solutions can be found. I have often heard Tom say, You would not get in front of a fast-moving train. When someone comes at you in anger, step aside and try to figure out where the energy is coming from. That is one of the keys to his Magic of Conflict approach that he has shared with thousands throughout the world. Conflict isnt bad; its an opportunity, a reminder for us to seek our higher selves.

My first real contact with Tom was participating in one of his Magic of Skiing programs. Living in Aspen, Colorado, he applies the Magic of Conflict approach to this wonderful sport. Tom teaches that skiing and snowboarding can be a magical opportunity to move to higher ground, even without the chairlifts. When you go skiing, you learn to take any challenging conditions (such as stormy weather, icy conditions, rental equipment) and turn them into a great day. He encourages you to choose your criteria for success: its a great day because youre learning; or its a great day because you are with friends; or its a great day because youre breathing. I love to ski but I was really cautious and stuck in skiing as a beginner on the green slopes. Tom got me to realize that skiing was all about the use of energy. Where is the energy going on the mountain? he would ask. Down the hill, everybody would answer. Then thats where you have to send your energy. If you turn downhill but your energy is holding back, you are fighting the mountain. Instead of fighting the mountain, become one with it. Relax and go with the energy of the mountain. Tom got me breathing in as I approached a turn and breathing out as I finished a turn. I was amazed at how easily I could go down the mountain when I was concentrating on breathing and awareness, not just techniques.