Our minds are occupied with so many useless thoughts that cause tension. When we try to relax we aren't even aware of how to go about releasing the tension that we are gripping, because we don't fully understand why it is there. It happens to all of us. Stress and tension are complicated physically and psychologically. Soothing pictures of sunsets, calming music, and meditation won't help much unless it points us in the direction of understanding our obsession with activity, the cause of our tension.
Have you ever been in an argument with someone who told you to relax in a raised tone of voice? It seems like the most ridiculous command in the moment. You can't yell at someone to relax and expect a calm, steady, and in-the-moment result. The same happens when we tell ourselves to relax. We tense up even more.
When I can't relax I'm usually obsessed with the outcome of a project, or tense about finishing a deadline. When I get really wound up my mind has a hard time focusing on the tasks I need to finish. Room for creativity shrinks and I'm left with a pile of energy that is useless to me. I've learned from reading and listening to the Dalai Lama, Ram Dass, Krishna Dass, and other great teachers that all that stuff will get done because you are doing it. You can drop the stress. I've also learned that this lifetime, this moment, this second, is so fast and it's best to enjoy it and be thankful for what you have, and not to worry about what you don't. Worrying won't make it happen, or make you happy when you get or don't get it.
We have the ability to put everything in perspective, reconnect with ourselves, our compassion, and our ability to help others instead of being worried about our wants and desires all the time. Putting your attention toward helping others, by the way, is a great relaxation technique. Deep thoughts aside, tension is in the way of our efficiency. We don't have to relax the tension, we just have to drop it. Let it go. Use what you need. Rest what you don't.
If you're relaxed on your day off it's probably not because you are sitting around commanding yourself to relax. It's probably because you have given your mind and body a break, a necessary activity for recharging and allowing inspiration to surface.
All that tension is like a clogged drain, keeping what we don't need from dropping away, standing in the way of our potential. We need to dig out all the sludge. Take a good long look at it, learn from how it got there in the first place, put a proper filter on the drain, and let it go. Of course the sludge will probably come back. But with the new filter in place, we have the proper tools for dealing with it.
Don't let the sludge take over your life. Get a filter.
This routine is designed to chill you out and release tension in the hips, hamstrings, and spine. Try it out whenever your drain is clogged and hopefully you'll be feeling nice and relaxed soon.
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Yeah, telling someone to relax in a raised voice is absurd.. I know I've done it and heard it said to me. I'm only in those situation in the first place because I'm forgetting to chill out myself and I'm living in an ego state at the moment. It's just so hard to pull away when I'm stressed or tense. And yes, like you, i find I'm in that state when I have external matters pressing and there are time constraint
best wishes.
little brother
Thank you everyone for your thoughts. Good words to reflect on.
"Have you ever been in an argument with someone who told you to relax in a raised tone of voice? It seems like the most ridiculous command in the moment. You can't yell at someone to relax and expect a calm, steady, and in-the-mom
So after reading this, what does it make me think of?
George Costanza's father yelling "SERENITY NOW!" :-)
Well 2.
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The soul is the cause of activity but does nothing. The Lord moves the body and external sense objects according to our desires and merits. The Sikhs have a phrase, "Karta Purkh," meaning "God as the doer of all things." It is like that.
"BG 3.5: Everyone is forced to act helplessly according to the qualities he has acquired from the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment." http://ved
As everyone who has tried to sit and meditate knows, it does not work. Thoughts arise again, and you get up to satisfy them!
"BG 3.6: One who restrains the senses of action but whose mind dwells on sense objects certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender.
For those who are serious and ready to stop pretending
Finally learned how to do it well.
I used to do that a lot,.....t
Kick back and look at the sky.Go to the beach (if you can) and take a walk. That is my favorite way to do nothing. Walk the beach.
So I joined a health club with a lap pool and a separate warm water therapy pool. That therapy pool does it for me. I can float in the 7-foot deep water and completely do nothing. The water is my friend and there's no struggle to stay afloat.
About time the last remaining control freak on earth realizes this. By the time we're done with the carbon footprints
Some global warming going on there, right in our central nervous systems.
And change is unavoidabl
So, the key is not how to avoid stress, because death is the only door out of that room, but how to manage stress rather than letting it manage you.
Tara Styles has some good suggestion
Be here and be now. Such a good slogan. An even better goal.
But there's still an extra amount of stress which is 'home-made
I don't know whether they can be limited at all. That's why I stated my suggestion in a ... well, let's say 'nonbindin
Learning to relax takes inclinatio
If one is too busy to afford 20 minutes per day to walk this path, you are not walking your path.
Your path is walking you.
If you feel you have no time to yourself because your life is too full, remember,
you must put something down at times, in order to pick up something else.
It's immutable.