”If you won’t be needing me...”

In Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, the anxious, excitable droid C3PO tells Luke, “Sir, if you won’t be needing me, I’ll close down for a while.”  If only my anxious, excitable mind had an “off” switch!

Doing a puzzle or reading an engrossing book are terrific ways to divert the mind, but this is not the same as finding serenity.  Progressive relaxation (systematically tensing, then relaxing, muscle groups) is effective when practiced consistently.  I learned to teach progressive relaxation as a component of therapy for individuals striving to overcome fears.  Relaxing all the muscles from head to toe, one can achieve deep relaxation.  Or fall asleep!

Hatha yoga practice taught me something new.  Only one pose, Shavasana, involves relaxing all the muscles. Holding the other poses requires keeping certain muscles active.  The trick is to isolate these muscles.  When I began, my instructors constantly told me to release my shoulders. Evidently I was accustomed to holding my shoulders so high, they might as well have been earrings.  Yet I believed, and felt, they were at rest. 

The challenge is to hold a pose with the minimum energy needed. The necessary muscles should be active, but not white-knuckle tense.  The unnecessary muscles chill out, take a break.  Accomplishing this requires focus, awareness, and effort to unlock established patterns of posture.  This can be a struggle. Smooth, steady, deep breathing builds equanimity. 

After sorting the large muscles, the small ones come into focus.  I don’t need to clench my jaw to stand on one foot!  Do I always press my tongue so tightly to my palate?

Perhaps you practice, too. What are we learning? Discernment, and conservation of energy.  To use the metaphor from my last post, we are training the puppy.  As the body learns sense and discrimination, the mind follows.