Relaxation sounds quite simple, but not so many people can relax when they need to. I think it is because most of us don’t learn how to relax and never practice it. Some may advise you to take a long bath, have a good massage, or sit in a zen garden with a cup of tea, but many of us have an experience that that’s not enough. We cannot relax even on a holiday beach if we have an unnecessary intelligent question in our mind. Is there a way to relax when we want to?
I remember an answer from my meditation teacher. A stock market trader attended a meditation class and asked my teacher if he could teach him a meditation method to help him relax when stressed. My teacher’s answer was simple: “Too late.” All students laughed, but it was a correct answer. It means “it’s too late to meditate if one is already stressed.”
If we are not trained to do something, it is impossible to perform it. If one doesn’t know how to swim and somebody pushes him into the water, how could he save his own life? He would be in a panic, and things would get worse if he tried to swim, which he never did. So, we need to practice in advance. Then, what is the practice?
We first teach our body and mind what the relaxed state is using meditation methods. If the body and mind experience it multiple times, it becomes a memory and a habit in the end. Then, we keep practicing to go to a relaxed state every day effortlessly. You know both the stressed and relaxed. When you realize you are going to excess stress, you use the relaxation method to return to the relaxed state. You have the control; external events cannot control you.
A 15 min practice will save your life
Some of my students found that they could fix even shoulder aches and headaches by this relaxation practice. The body and mind are programmed to repeat our habits. If you make a positive habit, it brings us a positive result, if you make a negative habit, then it brings us a negative result. You may be able to resolve issues simply by learning how to relax. On top of that, once it becomes your habit, you don’t even have to make an effort to do it; your body and mind will naturally do it. I think it is worth practicing, isn’t it?
Which exact practice should we do? Yes, it is the Zen alignment.