Working Class: Stress Management

Stress is often accepted as a natural part of modern Life — but is it truly necessary? In this powerful guided meditation, Elliott invites you to explore the deeper roots of stress and how it arises not from circumstances, but from the inability to manage our inner system. You will learn how to shift your experience by changing the context rather than the content of your Life.

Through intentional breathwork, clear insight, and a grounded energy of truth, this session guides you to reclaim your clarity, recalibrate your perspective, and rediscover a sense of calm. Join this exploration of what it means to master stress, not by fighting it, but by no longer needing it. This is part of Elliott’s “Working Class” series, which you can find more of on InsightTimer. Accompanied by soothing music. No ending bell is included. Artist and producer: Elliott Treves.

Transcript

This meditation is part of the working class series entitled Stress Management.

What is stress?

Everyone seems to talk about stress.

Everyone seems to be dealing with it and interested in learning how to manage it better in their lives.

It's discussed at work,

At school,

At home,

Everywhere.

We only manage stress related to things which are precious to us.

Our work,

Our money,

Our family,

Our house,

Our body,

Our relationships,

Our children,

Even our own health.

Is stress management just something already inherited to us?

Is stress curable or unavoidable?

Is stress truly necessary in your life?

Is just a little bit of stress okay?

Is it something that's automatically attached to what you do before you succeed?

Or when you believe you've failed at a task?

The president is stressed.

The athlete is stressed.

The waitress is stressed.

The artist is stressed.

The teacher and student are stressed.

Even the unemployed are stressed.

What purpose does stress serve in our lives?

What is it here for?

And if unavoidable,

Why would anyone learn to manage it?

Why would anyone allow stress to be a part of their life?

What's the secret behind someone's well-managed,

Wonderful,

Joyous,

Stress-free life?

Breathe in relaxation and breathe out stress.

Feel your body becoming lighter with each word I release.

Notice your mind becoming clearer and increasingly open to receive truth and only truth.

No BS with each message I'm sending to you now.

Take a deep breath in through the nose and then out through the nose.

Pay attention to the breath and focus on releasing stress with each exhalation.

So many people have concluded that stress is just a part of their life.

They know stress exists because they feel it,

Because they know it has played a role in their life and so they believe in stress.

The role of stress in life for many people then is an epic misunderstanding.

Sure,

Stress can be natural as it appears due to resistance of the natural system of our being.

Without resistance,

There's no stress.

It presents itself to you to show you something,

But the body and mind are capable of managing it just as fast as it appeared.

The role of stress in your life is completely up to you.

It's your responsibility to show stress what role it can play in your life.

How you deal with stress is your business.

Let's go deeper into the breath now,

Allowing the outside world to fade away as you focus on the expansion and contraction of your lungs.

Feel the cool air upon entering your nostrils.

Feel the body being flooded with oxygen and the basic goodness of life.

Notice how the air leaving your nostrils is warmer than when it entered.

Your breath is your anchor.

Your body is relaxed.

Your mind is ready,

But patient and calm.

Breathe in relaxation and breathe out stress.

Stress is the inability to manage your own system.

Stress is not a threat and therefore something to be managed unless we allow it.

Unless we give permission for it to take control in our daily work,

In our life,

In this very moment,

Stress has no place to flourish.

Stress is not about your job or any other part of your life.

It's just that you don't know how to manage your body,

Your mind,

Your emotions,

Your energy,

Your chemistry.

If stress is in complete control,

You don't know how to manage anything.

You're happening by accident,

So everything is stressful for you.

Your life feels like you're in the passenger seat of a car without a steering wheel and it's heading off the road.

In life,

You want to go somewhere or do something meaningful,

But then stress appears.

You wake up in the morning and you say to yourself,

I want to go this way today.

I want to accomplish this goal,

But things don't go to plan and suddenly your day has gone in a different direction.

You want to be able to manage your day without truly knowing anything about the mechanics of your system.

Everything is happening just by chance.

You don't need to use force.

You need to learn your own system.

Stress is not because of the nature of the circumstance.

In other words,

Stress is not situational.

It's just the inability to manage the inner situation,

Not the outer situation.

Essentially,

Stress comes from our inability to manage the quality of our lives.

Life is change and transformation.

When we feel fine and stress free and then something changes and we're stressed out,

What changed?

What has actually taken place?

Stress is not from the content in your life.

Stress is from the context in which you apply to your life.

Someone who is living a beautiful and inspirational life is not made any different from someone who is riddled with stress and unable to manage their life.

They both do the same things.

They wake up,

Brush their teeth,

Eat meals,

Go to the toilet,

Perform work,

Maintain relationships,

Accept responsibilities.

Yet one of them sees everything as magical and beautiful still.

They are free.

They are masters of something that we cannot explicitly see.

That's because of the context.

When people fall in love,

Suddenly everything is different.

Then they fall out of love and everything is different again.

They were doing the same things,

Yet everything felt different.

There was someone new in their life and everything felt different.

The content was very similar,

But the context changed and they become happy,

Then miserable.

They were happy when the person was in their life and then unhappy when it didn't work out the way they wanted.

The context of their life was completely dependent on this relationship.

This shows a weak mind and a weak system.

So how do we change the context by which we live through?

How do we replace the lens we see the world through?

How do we go within ourselves to better manage stress?

How do we rediscover the ability to master the management of our inner situation?

Breathe in and breathe out gently and fully.

If your body can be just 10% more comfortable right now,

Please take a moment to readjust your position.

Listen to what your body is telling you.

By focusing on your breath,

The mind takes the back seats and you have clarity in your constant exchange of energy coming in and out of you.

You are still.

You are here.

You are calm,

Simply a witness to everything.

You don't need to participate in anything.

Just allow the natural breath to take place.

Breathe in.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Hold.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathe out.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Changing the context is voluntary.

It's something you can do willfully.

Changing the content may not be possible.

Even as you willfully change as much of the content in your life as possible,

You move to another place.

You start a new job.

You meet new people.

You live in a new house.

You have new clothes.

You have a new partner.

You change your hair.

You make a new profile.

Whatever it is,

You are still faced with the context in which you experience life in each situation.

There's no sense in controlling the content because it always changes.

But the context is your responsibility.

Only you can manage how you see the outer world.

Only you can manage how your inner world is handled.

People who allow the outer world to control their sight are easily blinded by their emotions,

Their mind,

Their body.

It is the context in which they meet each situation that truly rules their life.

If we don't take responsibility for our own context in which we manage what life offers us,

We cannot live our life to its potential.

We cannot be a master of our own system.

We will be a slave to the outer world.

If we want real change,

We must change the context because to change the content,

You need permission from the situation.

To change the context,

You need no one else's permission.

Live in,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Hold,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Release,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

One day,

Three men were working at the same location.

Another man came by and asked the first man,

What are you doing here?

This man looked up and said,

Can't you see?

I'm shaping the stone and preparing cement.

Are you blind?

The man went to the second man and asked him what he was doing.

The second man said to him,

Something to fill my belly.

I'm here to do whatever they ask me to do and it helps me fill my belly.

That's all.

He went to the third man and asked the third man,

What are you doing here?

The third man jumped up in great joy and said,

I'm building a beautiful temple here.

All of them are doing the same thing,

But their experience of what they're doing is worlds apart.

Every human being,

Every moment of his or her life could be doing whatever in any three of these contexts and that will determine the quality of their life.

Not what he or she is actually doing,

Not the content.

How simple or complex an activity does not change the quality of life.

Changing the context of what you're doing is what changes the experience,

The quality,

The level of fulfillment.

One simple step that we can make to improve the quality of our lives is to volunteer for living a stressless life.

Disengage from your mind.

Focus on your breath.

Take a few breaths following my count.

Breathe in,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Hold,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathe out,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathe in,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Hold,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathe out,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Allow your mind to accept the idea that stress is not a necessary part of life.

It has no control over you.

Allow your body to relax in the fact that our experience of any situation is governed by the context of your life.

We can prepare our body,

Mind,

And emotional charge to particular situation or towards anything life presents us.

Through disciplining the mind and body,

You can manage your stress and improve the quality of your life.

Release your attention from your thoughts and rest your focus with your breath.

Breathe in,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Hold,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathe out,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Now let go of your outside world.

Let go of your work.

Let go of your position.

Let go of your coworkers.

Let go of your commute.

Let go of your expectations.

Let go of money.

Feel your tension melt away.

Give permission for all your stresses to fade away.

Your thoughts,

Your emotions,

And ultimately your perception of a situation is entirely responsible for stress since without our senses,

We wouldn't be able to stress at all.

So therefore,

We must take full responsibility for our thoughts,

Our emotions,

Our perception,

And the context.

Once you volunteer to live with wonder and magic and beauty in every moment,

You can begin to contextualize your perception of any situation in order to minimize stress and maximize your joy.

Maximize your ability to love.

Maximize your ability to turn even a supposed tragedy into inspiration.

Reviews

I truly appreciate how this approach is designed to cater to the needs of the working class and those just starting out. It shows a deep understanding of their situations and challenges.

BE-ing Stress-Free is not for those who are unable to change their inner lens/context during their sacred life!

What a remarkable ‘BEcoming’ mindset talk for my BE-ing to see the light of fulfilment. It is a divine talk which has allowed my ‘BEcoming’ to cultivate a stress-free inner system. I need to work harder towards these fine & infinite wise words as action is key to living a joyful & purpiseful existence 🤍🕊️

The soundtrack and the flute complimented the ambience of such a powerful & nourishing talk.

Elliott, you are a divine bright light shining on my spiritual journey and I AM following you/it! 🔆 🌅✨

Thank you 🙏🏻. Love n light, my dear friend/mentor/spiritual teacher 💜🔆❣️

🌻

Very enlightening. Thank you.

I needed this. Namaste

One of the best talks and meditations I’ve heard on Insight Timer. Quite simplistic and with a powerful message. Will be listing again and recommending to people.
Thank you 😊

Very interesting as usual thanks for normalizing and giving perspective to stess

Very relaxing. Thank you

Spot on explanation of why we experience stress and how we can exercise a choice to experience a situation as stressful or as opportunity for something positive. Proof that situations are neutral are all around us. I suggest this is an important talk to reflect on and return to from time to time.

Loved it!! I will try it again in the near future....

Brilliant concept

Just what I needed. I'm going to listen to it again and again until I relax.

So beneficial - So grateful. Thanks

Wonderful. Thank you.

Amazing! Thank you

One of the best speeches I've heard in a long time. I will share this one with my friends and family.

This help put a lot in perspective for me thank you

As a stressed student this was very good for me! It I was just a really good fit for people in careers where they might move cities a lot

Uplifting, de-stressor!

Thank you for this lesson. Namaste.

Wow! Thank You for the ideals presented here; they really helped.