Relaxation sounds quite simple, but not so many people can relax when they need it. 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?
YES! We can.
I remember an answer from my meditation teacher. A stock market trader came to a meditation class and asked my teacher if he could teach him a meditation method to relax when stressed. My teacher’s answer was simple, “too late.” All students laughed, but it was a correct and appropriate 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 get worse. So, we need to practice in advance. Then, what is the practice?
We first teach our body and mind what is the relaxed state using meditation methods. If the body and mind experience it several times, they remember. Then, we keep practicing to go to the relaxed state every day. You know both the stressed and relaxed. If you feel you are going to excess stress, you use the relaxation method to return to the relaxed one. 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 shoulder ache and headache by this relaxation practice. The body and mind repeats 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 solve issues just 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 to practice, isn’t it? So, let’s practice.