yOUR BODY KNOWING WHAT YOU CAN HANDLE

Articles In This Section:

· GETTING RELAXED WITH YOGA

· YOUR BODY ISN'T MADE TO DILL WITH THE STESSES

· OBSERVING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAN AND BEAST

· YOU AND TENSION

· BEST YOGA POSITION FOR DEEP RELAXATION

· MASTERING THE BASICS OF YOGA

· yOUR BODY KNOWING WHAT YOU CAN HANDLE

As for the correct time at which to terminate the exercise— your own body will tell you when it is ready to get back into action. Remember, however, never to get up hastily or jerkily, or you will be undoing the benefits of the asana, The proper way to end a period of Deep Relaxation is to work your way down the muscles of the body one final time; but now you must reverse the process: Instead of relaxing, restore tone control to each muscle group. Contract or stretch it, then go on to another group until you have tensed them all. Conclude with one final, luxurious, cat-like stretch.

Much later, after these techniques have become automatic and you have mastered greater control of your mental processes as well, you will be able to relax with people around you. You will be able to practice relaxation sitting down. And while this latter routine can never completely take the place of Deep Relaxation in the Death Pose, since no matter how comfortably seated you may be the very act of sitting up involves a certain amount of tension of spine and neck muscles, it still is an invaluable adjunct to resting. Once you have learned to divorce yourself at will from the world of action around you, merely sitting still a few moments with the eyes closed and the mind more or less a blank can be a wonderful weapon against nervous fatigue and exhaustion.

A great many persons make the mistake of assuming that if a period of relaxation is good, an equivalent amount of time spent napping must be better. As a matter of scientific fact, the opposite is true. Sleep, whether at night or during catnaps, is a fine way to rest the body. But it is the rare man or woman who relaxes thoroughly in sleep. Most of us toss and turn, and so continue tensing our muscles all night long.

Deep Relaxation, on the other hand, since it is based on immobility, ensures total rest. It is a conscious, willed process, controlled by the mind which, in turn, relaxes thoroughly as the muscles begin to sag. In sleep we are likely to be fatigued by the dreams which plague our subconscious, for we all do dream, whether or not we remember our dreams. But resting while awake, after having emptied the mind of worrisome thoughts, means reaching a state of true mental repose. Thus a half hour of deepest relaxation can refresh an exhausted person as hours of fitful sleep never would.

This is how the Yogis sum it all up:

Peaceful repose is derived in two ways: from Ananda, the bliss of sleep, which comes to everyone in a healthy state; and from Samadhi, or relaxation. And the difference between the two is that in the former there is a veil of ignorance, whereas in the latter there is no veil: therefore, Samadhi is superior to Ananda.

Moreover, to master Deep Relaxation is the first step toward the more advanced stages of Yoga practice, Concentration and Meditation. And the difference between them is that in Relaxation the mind is made passive and you allow thoughts to flow in; whereas in Concentration and Meditation the mind is made to fix upon some central point and shut out all thoughts but the one upon which the attention is turned by choice.

However, these higher stages cannot be achieved without first passing through the first one.

Deep Relaxation, then, is the first step toward serenity of spirit and health of body.