About relaxation
Tai Chi Chuan:
the art of doing things one by one.
the art of leaving things undone.
the art of elimination of the non essentials.
Relaxation is a state of relative freedom
from both anxiety and muscle skeletal tension.
It is easy to become frustrated in a culture that embraced selfishness as the way of life
There are a vast number of escapes,
All predicated on the beliefs that life is too hard and that it demands relief.
People desperately think of relaxation as a way out,
as a retreat from the pain and pressures of our lives.
That’s nonsense.
True relaxation embraces life, does not declare 'time out' from it.
Some people fight against their own life;
To fight is to perpetuate conflict,
to 'try to relax', to 'do' is not to relax.
Relaxation is accomplished by doing nothing at all.
Make time to do nothing at all. Pamper yourself.
The art of story telling
Human beings have two ears but only one tongue
probably so that we have to listen twice as much as we speak.
Many people make the mistake of confusing information with knowledge. They are not the same thing.
Knowledge involves interpretation, it involves listening. Listening, like other skills, can be
developed or lost if not used regularly.
Good listeners focus on what they are hearing. They ask questions because they want to know the answers,
not just to keep the conversation going. Are we losing the art of listening? Perhaps we lost the ability
to listen to ideas that we don't agree with.
To sit on a river on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden.
In the Taoistic sense it can be said that the mark of
a successful man is one that spent an entire day on the bank
of a river without feeling guilty about it.
How beautiful it is to do nothing and then to rest afterward.
There's never enough time to do all the nothing a
successful man wants to do.
Deep relaxation is always multidimensional:
surrender, acceptance, without ego, trust, freedom,
joy, union with existence...
Life will have the quality of dance to it.
Your martial applications will have the quality of dance to it.
If the body is relaxed, mind also listen but we cannot start with the mind.
When the mind is relaxed, heart also listen but we cannot start with the heart
Relax into the spine.
The cardinal principle in Tai Chi Chuan is relaxation.
All Tai Chi forms, especially more martial forms cultivate real and deep relaxation.
If they did not, what purpose did they serve?
For serious students relaxation must flow through all dimensions of live.
Relaxation
Relaxation is not the goal of Tai Chi Chuan.
It is the condition.
The goal of Tai Chi Chuan is practicing Tai Chi Chuan.
Erle Montaigue:
"Tai Chi is an all inclusive concept. If we practice Tai Chi Chuan only for relaxation,
we lose the relaxation benefits of the art. If we practice only for meditation, we lose
the meditation benefits of the art. If we practice for the martial part, we lose the martial
benefits of the art. If we practice only for the healing part, we lose the healing benefits".
Deep relaxation produces patterns that combine. Relax the body, and the mind will follow. Relax
the mind, the heart will follow. Relax the heart, and... the world around us will follow.
Relaxation must flow trough all dimensions of life.
What's the use of our stress?
Our stress is an ignorant state, it believes that everything is an emergency.
Nothing is permanent, not even our stress. Not even our troubles..
Our monkey mind is always looking for trouble.
Trouble comes:
-when we focus on expectations,
-when we expect 'the world' to treat us fairly,
-when we expect that relaxation may work consistently,
-when we expect that if we had more time then relaxation would be sure to follow,
-when we expect that if we had more money then relaxation would be sure to follow.
In many regards, society values run completely opposite to the philosophy of the Tao.
Maybe I'm wrong, however, the whole relaxation business must be capitalism at its finest:
the freedom to bay our own relaxation the way we want. Relaxation cannot occur when planned,
pressing to relax will guarantee inability to relax. Relaxation comes when we trade expectations
for acceptance, hope for everything, but expect nothing, In Tai Chi Chuan nothing you want is ever
going to happen.
Patience seems to be a lost virtue, learning to wait and to take turns are the most important
elements of learning Tai Chi Chuan.
Repulse monkey
Monkey mind cleaning & monkey management.
Chinese call a mind that is unfocused and restless 'monkey mind'. Everyone has a free and empty mind,
and everyone has a monkey mind, it's part of being human. The modern mind is in much hurry, it wants
instant methods for relaxation, instant skills for cleaning the mind room.
Many people ignore what their body is telling them, the key for successful Tai Chi people is to
learn recognize monkey mind trouble. Just being aware helps understand and refocus. What happens when
your monkey mind is your guide and coach, what happens when you hear a voice : I'll never have enough time?
What happens when you hear this voice : It's entirely their fault ?
The monkey mind is one of the reasons we avoid a conflict instead of dealing with it when it's still manageable.
We're always looking for an excuse to feed the monkey, but all these excuses are forms of monkey mind thinking.
The monkey mind, he's very clever, he likes artifices, he plays with words, he says I'm in the center of the
Universe and that sounds well. But, he's a layer, always running away searching for more bananas. Sometimes
he needs some education, In Tai Chi there is a posture: 'repulse monkey'.
In a relaxed state we are using less energy, less effort.
We don't feel relaxed when we are doing something to relax.
When you sit down to relax, you won't feel relaxed.
Allow yourself to feel your tension and restlessness, and you will start to feel calmer
and more relaxed. Give time, nothing is permanent. Relaxation will happen as we allow
ourselves to "simply be".
Close your eyes and clear your mind, simply being without the doing. Don't take yourself
too seriously, laugh at yourself, and life suddenly becomes a lot less stressful.
Have a good sleep and stay away from cupcakes.
Life is a cosmic game; we have to play the game.
A Taoistic advice will help: "Don't think, just relax and enjoy the game".
In Tai Chi the important thing is the rest we take between two deep breaths.
Chinese philosophers about stress: