How The Samurai Dealt With Stress And Anxiety
Stress management techniques from ancient warriors.
“Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.”
— Miyamoto Musashi, “A Book Of Five Rings”
Many things change over the course of history, but one thing hasn’t — stress. Humans have been dealing with stress well before modern society and psychology. Stress management is a cottage industry today with a market size of $7 billion according to Grand View Research. It’s not hard to find a study pointing to the endless stresses we modern people face today.
But what did people in stressful times do previously to make it through the day? We may think our current age is stressful, however, it’s minor league compared to things our ancestors lived through. One group in particular lived with the constant threat of a horrific death every day of their life. Strangely, this profession seemed to be a pretty calm group.
Samurai were the warrior class of Japan and were expected to die in the service of their employer — talk about a stressful career path. Yet these characters kept a relatively serene appearance. In fact, their whole ethos revolved around a calm and composed nature. While they often trained for battle with others, they ultimately struggled…
