Relaxation everyday

Amrit Sadhana, December 7

It is a fallacy to think that relaxation is something opposite of daily routine. True relaxation is only possible while doing your daily chores.

You can't set aside a separate time for relaxation and then get ready to be tense again, can you? In fact,  if you cannot relax in your everyday life you can't hope to relax on a vacation. Because your body and mind have forgotten the art of relaxing. You will carry your stress along with your baggage even on the vacation.

Relaxation is not an activity, it is a result of dropping unnecessary confusion and stress of the mind. The body is naturally relaxed but the mind is in such a turmoil that it infects the body with some of its tension. 

Include relaxation in your daily dose of vitamin supplements because it is much more healthy than any of the  vitamins. If you are relaxed at work it creates measurable changes in the body, such as a reduction in the heart and respiratory rate, blood pressure, blood cortisol levels, and muscle tension, and an increase in the production in the brain of serotonin which leads to feelings of calmness and well-being. 

Is it easy to learn it? By all means. Osho suggests a simple method of watchfulness. Start with watching your breathing. As you start watching, the breathing slows down. Then include the sounds in your watchfulness ... telephones ringing, a car passing by, people typing on the keyboards, the whistle of the train or the cooker. This all-inclusive watchfulness is the key to relaxed awareness. You accept everything around you.

Relaxing within yourself simply means not going outwards, withdrawing all your energy which generally goes on moving outwards.  Even if you have tension, include it in your awareness.

Just try walking very slowly, and you will be surprised -- a new quality of awareness starts happening in the body. Eat slowly, and you will be surprised -- there is great relaxation.

Osho says: "First the body has to become utterly relaxed, like a small child, then only start with the mind. Then take another step, a little deeper; tell the mind to relax. And if the body listens, mind also listens, but you cannot start with the mind -- you have to start from the beginning.

Move scientifically: first the simplest, then the complex, then the more complex. And then only can you relax at the ultimate core."