“Like our noticing, like our trust in the support of the ground,like our breath,releasing tension is not something we do.It’s something we allow.”
This quote is written by Jillian Pransky and shared in her book, Deep Listening: A Healing Practice to Calm Your Body, Clear Your Mind, and Open Your Heart.
Most of us believe the way to relax is step away from our everyday events and zone out. We find ourselves doing this by watching TV, shopping, drinking alcohol, eating too much, doing drugs or any other numbing activity you decide to participate in.
Relaxing and releasing tension is the act of consciously making space for whatever it is we’re holding. When we make space and relax, we are letting go of how we’re holding ourselves up. To experience our own spaciousness, we don’t have to be better and do more. We have to be here and do less.
When I practiced Savasana for the first time after a 90-min. yoga class, tears streamed down my cheeks onto my mat. I didn’t understand why at first. But later on I learned that I was releasing how I was holding tension in my mind and body. Tension was released and I felt safe, relaxed, at ease, peaceful, and in a practice that was for me – NOT for anyone else.
Practicing conscious relaxation in Savasana or meditation or Yoga Nidra invites us to “let things be” instead of “let things go.” We can create an environment that allows us to simply loosen our grip. We don’t have to fix anything.
I invite you to make space.