Relaxation
No matter where we live, today’s world is stressful. We are bombarded with stimuli, perhaps pressured by money problems, insecure in our jobs, overworked, underpaid, controlled by the system, anxious about the future. You could say we are overloaded as we struggle to keep up with the pace of living in the 21st century.
As a result of all these pressures, we spend most of our time in a state of mental and physical tension. We clench our jaws, frown, hold our breath, and tighten our muscles. The consistent contraction of our muscles drains our energy, causing fatigue. We suffer from bad backs, headaches, poor digestion, heart problems, and a string of stress-related illnesses.
We need to learn to let go, to breathe out, and relax. The art of total relaxation is a gift that you can offer yourself.
Relaxation is an essential part of yoga practice. Most people find it difficult to relax because they have never learned how to do it. To relax the body and focus the mind, you need to be either lying down or sitting up with your back and neck properly aligned. This allows the neuroelectric system and blood circulation to function efficiently.
Tension causes contraction of the muscles and contraction causes constriction, which leads to energy becoming blocked in the body. Once you consciously start to release the tension – the tightness, the holding on to protect yourself – you will begin to experience yourself expanding both mentally and physically. Relaxation is our natural state of being and the more familiar you become with being relaxed, the more it will spill out into your everyday life. You will start to become more aware of situations and circumstances that cause you to contract and close down and you will no longer wish to be at the mercy of your environment.
Once your body is relaxed, you need to relax your mind by letting go of all your preoccupations, fears, worries, and anxieties by paying attention to your breath. Slower, deeper breathing will lead you to a calm and centered space. Allow yourself to let go, relax and enjoy the sensation of surrender.
As the body starts to relax, certain physiological changes will occur – the pulse rate will drop and tension will be released. Relaxation will bring mind and body into balance, reduce fatigue, release and expel toxins and revitalize the entire system. When you truly start to experience yourself in stillness, you will feel calm and peaceful and you will begin to open up to a new awareness of who you really are. A few minutes of deep relaxation will be more effective in reducing tiredness than a whole night of restless sleep.
Even when lying down, we can hold onto body tension. Make yourself as comfortable as possible – a folded towel under the head helps relieve tension in the neck – then simply allow the ground to support you.
A yoga session should always begin with a period of relaxation. The body will also need to rest between postures to recover from the exertions of the exercise and to give the mind space to prepare for the next pose.