Stressed out?
“Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are,” is an old Chinese proverb I came across recently. I even made it my Facebook status.
Tension comes from stress. Stress is a part of our lives, but our handling of stress leads to tension and from a Tai Chi point of view is where our problems start. Compromise and repression may help us deal with the stressors, but the tension we feel is usually not dealt with at all, and everything from heart disease to diabetes to simple ailments can often be linked back to tension.
Where’s that knot of tension sitting right now? Mine’s usually under my left shoulder blade, and the more stressed I get the further that discomfort is carried down my left arm.
Qi (pronounced Chee) flows through the various meridian lines of our bodies. It nourishes our organs and cells in ways we’re only beginning to understand in western science. When people go to see an acupuncturist regarding a pain or problem in one area of their body, they’re often surprised to find him or her treating them in a different location. That’s because the flow of Qi is blocked at that point and its inability to move past that blockage has literally starved the affected area of its energy.
Bill taught us “all disease or dis-ease is caused by an interruption of the flow of energy through your body.” Whenever stress causes us to tense up, we block the Qi flow and get sick because of it. How often can you trace an illness you’ve suffered back to a stressful moment in your day when the tension seemed overwhelming, and just like that, you had the flu? I can link every case of the flu that I’ve suffered in my adult life to a moment just like I described.
So how do you cease tension? Like the quote states “Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.” We live in a state of tension, but the body’s natural state is one of relaxation. It wants to go there whenever it can, and we don’t let it. Once you understand that about yourself, it gets easier.
First off you want to understand both your tension and relaxation, specifically what do they feel like? In Yoga we use Corpse pose and Nidra to find that state of relaxation, in Taijiquan we work toward achieving “Sung,” a state of relaxation. In both ways the method is like “returning home,” finding you way back to a state you once achieved easily as a child, but have forgotten as an adult.
When we compromise away stress, we look at ourselves as “letting go” of what we need just to get the job done. But that need is often locked into our muscles as tension. It’s important to recognize that and let it go as well. Swami Sivananda said, “Crave for a thing, you will get it. Renounce the craving, the object will follow you by itself.” When we human beings don’t get what we want, we feel badly and we store those bad feelings in our muscles as tension. When we can learn to let go of cravings(‘renounce’ as Sivananda said), we find that those things we want flow to us with no need to feel bad for what we don’t get. Naturally, when you are able to successfully renounce your cravings, those things you want will change. You’ll become more aware of what it is you really do want, and those things often come easier than material possessions.
Right now, take a nice deep breath, so deep you feel your diaphragm expand down into your stomach. Feel that sweet feeling of the breath coming in… now push it out in an exhale, and lift your stomach a bit to move the diaphragm back up. As you breathe in, think: “I am relaxing my body.” As you breathe out, imagine any tension just flowing out with the breath and think: “I am smiling from my heart,” and at the end of the exhale, smile. Repeat as necessary,
Namasté