To properly understand relaxation, we need to understand “the who” that is relaxing. The different personas that we have adopted and are identified with cannot relax. They are attached to performance-based model, to “the right way” to be, or to the pursuit of emotional satisfaction. Attachment to any persona will never allow you to relax. These personas are never at ease with what is and they are never satisfied with non-intervention.
Relaxation is a natural state. It is active in all actions and it is active in non-action. Relaxation is a state of mind, where there are no more threats, no more achievements, no more expectations, no justifications, no excuses and no mental conversations.
True relaxation challenges the ego, the imagined self and the constructed self. Changing from action to non-action confronts our habits, and our sense that “if I keep doing, I will find my value, my worth” in which we seek to find imagined safety. Non-action is as seen far-off, impossible and threatening.
Five Steps to Integrate Non-action and Action:
- In any action you take, observe if there is inner effort. Inner conversations like “I should”, or “I need to” or “I have to”, imply inner effort. These types of phrases are an imposition on your actions.
- Check the facts: Ask yourself if the urgency of your statement is actually valid or real. Be sincere and honest with yourself.
- Stop and take a breath: Reset your mind with what is real. See that there is a part of you that is enslaving you with excess action or apathy.
- Confirm to yourself that what you thought about your actions/inaction was just an invention of the mind.
- Discover the present; explore the unknown. Life is full of moments of relaxation, with endless wonders, inventions and creativity. These attributes contribute to your relaxation. Look for the new in what you already know.
Once you have realized that your concepts of action and inaction are not mutually exclusive, you can welcome a deep inner relaxation into your life. This great sense of centering bathes you in a fountain of vitality, inspiration and strength