The Art of Relaxation

Relaxing and unwinding sounds simple and necessary, however, in this fast paced world of ours, we seem to always be in a hurry, never taking time to take it easy.   Projects, work, obligations, and even celebrations, often cause us physical symptoms of tightness, tenseness, anxiety, and stress, which may lead to physical illness.  When we don't relax and take breaks, our bodies get physically tired.  Hard work is rewarding, but at the expense of our health?  It is necessary to strive to manage body, mind, heart, and spirit as efficiently as we do our work. The object is to have balance in our lives, and if we don't keep proper perspectives and set priorities we won't have balance.  When we take a few moments to remind ourselves of what is important, we will find that we are more present and more moment oriented. We also need to relax our minds.  Probably the most effective kind of relaxing is in silence and solitude where we can become calm, think thoughts of tranquility, and have moments of inner serenity and clarity.  There are so many benefits of relaxation. Two are that we get a better perspective on our lives and a feel a sense of universal connectivity.  We relax and loosen up in different ways:  listening to music, watching television, having a massage, walking in nature, or even smiling and not taking ourselves so seriously.  While making relaxation part of our routine, we can ask ourselves what would be pleasant to look forward to.  We may find that vacations become more important. When we come back from vacation, even if we didn't go anywhere, we will almost always feel a sense of renewal. We will have more enthusiasm, and new ideas, perspectives, and plans. If we don't take some time for "rest and relaxation," we "will....forget there are such things as brooks that babble and birds that sing," from a poem by Harry Hidgon.  When we relax and pamper ourselves we see the world around us differently.  Ovid, a Roman poet who was born in 43 B.C. and influenced Shakespeare, said this.  "Take a rest, a field that has rested gives a beautiful crop."