What is Stress and how do we cope with it?

I believe it should go without saying that 2020 hasn’t been the best year for everyone, and 2021, isn’t exactly going swimmingly either. Stressful would be the right term to describe the year, what with transitioning in and out of lock downs in a span of months. Whether you’re in the office, or working from home, or preparing to return to the office, it’s really quite a stressful thing having to cope with all these changes.

That brings us to our topic of the day; Stress. It is real, and it can cause real harm to us and the people around us too if not handled properly. According to a Cigna 360 well-being survey, a staggering 92% of working Singaporeans are stressed. That’s a solid 8% higher than the global average of 84%. To some of you, this news may come as a surprise, and to some others, it’s not really surprising. What with cost of living constantly increasing, work targets getting more and more impossible to reach, concerns about when you’ll be able to find the right One, and even just having constant clashes with your partner at home too. We deal with stress every day, and it is pertinent that we understand how to deal with it constructively lest it could lead to the end of us.

Working from home may seem like an ideal for many people, but from what we’ve seen and experienced from our clients, working from home has been the root of many of their stresses. We’ve seen rising trends during the WFH period of 2 very specific issues. With over 50 of our cases being related to divorce resolutions, unfortunately, and over 100 cases in Bazi addressing work stress.

Before we can learn how to properly manage stress, it is important to first understand what exactly stress is, and what it means in Bazi.

Put plainly, in one’s Bazi chart (as seen below) a person’s stress is the element that, surprise, surprise, destroys (殺) their own element. I.e., If you are of the Fire element, your stress will stem from the Water element.

Now that we understand what causes stress in one’s Bazi, the next thing we have to take note of is whether an individual is capable of handling stress. Every one copes with stress differently, and while some may crack from the pressure, others actually thrive off of stress to produce stunning results.

The key factor of determining how well a person can handle stress will be by determining whether their Bazi chart is a strong or weak chart.

How Stress Affects Different Bazi Charts

As seen in the chart below, if one has a weak chart, then one will need the element between their Daymaster and their destructive element (stress) in order to prevent the destruction of themselves. I.e., If you are of the Fire element, you will need more Wood element to prevent you from being destroyed by your stress.

You may refer to the chart below for a quick guide on what element you will need based on your own Daymaster.

Fire -> Wood

Earth -> Fire

Metal -> Earth

Water -> Metal

Wood -> Water

But what about strong charts? Well, a strong chart will be identical to a weak chart except for in one crucial detail. Where a weak chart requires the element between their destructive element and their Daymaster to cope with stress, a strong chart must NOT have that element lest it may cause them to self-destruct from stress.

Fire -/> Wood

Earth -/> Fire

Metal -/> Earth

Water -/> Metal

Wood -/> Water

Control Your Stress Before It Controls You

Now that we’ve understood what stress means to each chart, now comes the question of what you can do to manage your stress well. As we’ve mentioned before, the first step in solving an issue will be to first understand it. Understanding your own chart, by discovering your element and knowing about your personality traits will allow you to know how best to cope with stress. As well as to help you understand how well you can cope with stress, and how you can avoid unnecessary stresses too.

Stress comes in many forms and mediums, from the physical such as sleeplessness, loss of appetite and restlessness to the emotional and mental such as being irritable, and being unable to concentrate and focus. The sources of stress can stem from just as many places too, from work, to studies, to familial stress, to individual emotional stress as well. Being able to manage all of these forms of stress are essential for better living.

Before we end off, there’s more to managing and understanding stress than knowing about one’s own Bazi chart. Having good home fengshui is pertinent in reinforcing better stress management, as you can see in our previous article here, addressing the potential health ramifications of poor home fengshui. If you wish to find out more, do feel free to WhatsApp us @ 8415 3359.