Stress Well Managed – The French Spiderman and More

The picture above of yours truly was taken when I was in the Himalaya region of Northern Pakistan just outside Passu. Here about a 100 km from the border to China there was just the two of us (my lady and I) back packing. We felt we managed our stress of heavy packs (28 & 23 kilos), traveling without a guide and the issues of no guarantee of water and food very well. But now I know we had no stress compared to the following three people who manage all kinds of stresses very well indeed.

Alain Robert Alias The French Spiderman

I met Alain Robert Alias The French Spiderman when he was speaking at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival in 2006. He told me he is amazingly at peace when he climbs with his bare hands free style high buildings like the Sears Tower in Chicago (443 meters) for the joy and as an expression of who he is. You can learn more about his amazing adventures and his film called L’homme araignée (the human spider) on Alain’s Site here and more about Alain in his book called With Bare Hands: The True Story of Alain Robert, the Real-life Spiderman

Philippe Petit Man on Wire

Philippe Petit is a French High Wire Artist who become well known after his high wire walk between the Twin Towers of The World Trade Center in New York in 1974. There is a great film on this adventure called Man on Wire
and you can check out details about it here.  To do what he did and does and do it so joyfully shows he has truly managed to control stress in his life and remain healthy and happy. In the film there is a classic scene when he is crossing between the twin towers and he lies down on the wire teasing the police as they watch him from the edge of one tower.

William Trubridge World Record Holding Free Diver

I have always been inspired by Free Divers since I saw the film The Big Blue: Le Grand Bleu about the life of Jacques Mayol. Recently I read an article by Zack McDuffie based on his time with William TruBridge who a world record holding free diver. Read the article here. William has the incredible ability to manage his mind and body so he can go down to 90 meters below sea level and hold his breath for over three and a half minutes. You can see the amazing video of William’s decent to 88 meters here. Note: I had to let the 4 minute video of William’s decent load a bit before playing so I could watch it in its entirety. You can see the harmony William expresses in what he does throughout this video. William’s website is  www.verticalblue.net

I can learn a lot from how these three people manage their minds and bodies.

Enjoy the links and a wonderful day,

David

Stones on the Beach in Nice - Photo copyright David Hennessey

Judy, one of our readers just shared with me one of her family traditions. I believe for those of us like myself who live close to the sea this can be a wonderful practice to take on.

Judy wrote: Alex and I agreed that we would like to create traditions within our family without necessarily being too rigid or concerned about what those traditions looked like.  Alex came up with collecting rocks from the beach and then returning them the following year.  For me the rock represents all that I am intending for this year and it is a simple way for me to stop and be present.  I really enjoy the ceremonial experience of releasing the rock a year later and completing what happened and what didn’t happen.  Then to choose a special symbol of the year to come and use it as a reminder of what’s possible.  Certainly incorporating nature is important to me too.

I think Judy and Alex’s idea is a great idea. Whether you are single, a couple or a family you could follow their idea as long as you live close to a lake, a river, an ocean or a sea. For a starting day, you could choose perhaps January 1st or your birthday or an anniversary of a special event or why not even today and just make the return of the stones one year from now.

All in all the stones you pick can be a contant reminder and reinforcement of the goals you want to achieve within the next twelve months.

Enjoy a wonderful day!, David

Good News: I expanded on this article and it is now located here in my blog as Powerful Ways to Kick the Stress Habit

Enjoy a wonderful day!

David