How learning Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) helped me manage stress & balance demands of daily life

In today’s modern world there is no shortage of stresses and demands placed upon us in our daily lives. This leaves many people searching for ways that can help them manage and reduce these everyday pressures. From my personal life journey & experiences, learning the self-cultivation practice of Falun Gong has made a great impact on my mental well-being. Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) helped me manage stress in tangible ways.

Learning Falun Gong From My Father

I first learned of Falun Gong from my father who started the practice just a year or two after I was born. When I was child, he would often read me some of the text of Falun Gong before I went to bed and occasionally, we would do the exercises together in the mornings. However, I only chose to take up the practice myself a couple of years ago, not long after I had graduated high school. 

Shortly after I had graduated from high school, I began working at our family flooring company as the assistant manager. I was placed in charge of the Finance division running a small team of people while being the assistant to our general manager, handling different staff & customer issues. I had assumed this role unexpectantly & without any training due to some of our previous staff having abruptly left the company.

This was quite a big role to take on straight out of high school at just 17 years old and at times was very stressful with challenges that sometimes seemed overwhelming. I was frequently staying at our office late and working 6 days a week trying to keep on top of everything. I even ended up with hand tremors, constantly stressing over how to manage our companies finances and if the decision I was making were correct.

I started falling into bad sleeping habits, frequently staying up late and not looking after myself. This also started to have an impact on my family as I was constantly late home for dinners and wasn’t joining weekend activity due to working.

However, after I decided to take up the practice of Falun Gong, I managed to slowly make changes to these habits and emotions I had built up. I started by implementing some simple routines in my daily life. I began by setting aside some time every day in the evening to study Zhuan Falun (the main text of Falun Gong). Then a little while later I also decided to get up a little earlier each morning so I could do the Falun Gong exercises and meditation each day before I went to work.

Stress Subsided After I Truly Practiced

As I gradually started to understand the principles & teachings of Falun Gong, I was able to begin letting go of the stress from the challenges arising at work. I found when I started my day with the meditation exercises, I could manage my tasks in the day better and no longer felt overwhelmed even if my tasks started to pile up.

I also took note each day to leave on time and even stopped working on Saturdays, leaving more time to spend with my family and doing personal activities. 

Even though I was now working less, I had actually started to achieve greater results in my job and get more done. The hand tremors I used to have slowly subsided until they were gone completely and I went from feeling overwhelmed by challenges to really enjoying them. I started to look forward to them knowing there would be a great feeling at the end of them, and I would be strengthening my mind & will while figuring them out.

(photos courtesy of Harrison Hutchison)

When handling delicate customer & staff situations previously I used to get terribly nervous and try to find excuses or reasons to get other people to deal with them as I didn’t like having these difficult conversations. This was also something I began to no longer fear. I started to see these situations as opportunities to improve my people skills and learn new management techniques.

Reducing ‘Doom Scrolling’ On My Phone

Another greatly positive impact that learning Falun Gong had on my life was helping me to vastly reduce the time I was spending on my phone each day scrolling through different social media platforms. So many people today find themselves stuck “doom scrolling” as people call it and I was definitely guilty of it as well. It was only after studying the texts and doing the exercises for a few months, I was able to drop these habits and have a much clearer mind. This simple improvement alone has given me back over an hour of time each day, reducing my distractions and allowing me to increase my focus on the things that truly matter.

After seeing how learning Falun Gong has helped me to grow and thrive in my own daily life, I would strongly encourage others to join the online Falun Gong classes and experience the benefits of this wonderful practice for themselves.

~~

We hope you enjoyed reading this post.

Falun Dafa volunteers are currently holding free online classes where you can learn the exercises from the comfort of your own home. Register for a free Falun Dafa online exercise class here or for the Falun Dafa 9-Day Lecture Series here.

‘Learn Falun Gong—Australia’ is a website run by Australian Falun Dafa volunteers for the benefit of the general public. Falun Dafa is always taught free of charge.

Views expressed in this article represent the author’s own opinions or understandings.