Relaxation

Allow yourself to be lazy - It's okay to "do" nothing.

This is something I struggle with - not because I don't know how to be lazy, but rather I find that enjoying that state of "non-doing" is difficult for me. I can't seem to relax enough - not mentally. I'm always thinking about something even if I'm not physically doing anything. I'm thinking about what I OUGHT to be doing instead of relaxing... therefore I do not relax and now I HAVE actually wasted possibly productive time.

It's something I am consciously working on- taking the time to slow down and enjoy myself, these moments - this LIFE...

But as with anything else, there must be balance. Too much time spent ruminating can be dangerous... and there is something to be said for the relaxation evoked by a run or a game of soccer.. what I find most interesting is that sometimes in order to relax we must use great focus - this fascinates me...

Perhaps relaxation is simply synonymous with present moment appreciation.. and maybe this is why I find it difficult. I am conflicted in the messages I receive about where my attention should be focused. Without appreciation of the past we are doomed to recreate our unpleasant experiences - so a degree of acknowledgement is not only appropriate, it is intelligent.

I read that life is a series of present moments... the ones that have happened are behind us and the ones yet to come are in front of us - how we engage in and respond to the moments we have now determines our "future". So too, the present and future both can be determined by our present actions - should we choose. If we look at it this way the future is merely comprised of present and past moments...

If we live each moment fully, how can we have regrets? BE HERE NOW, yes. But also realize that you are coming from, and going to somewhere, too.

See.. clearly I have trouble relaxing... maybe if I look at relaxation as an activity and focus on it, I will relax... ?

"We're not asking people to do nothing, but to practice non-doing. In this culture we are busy doing all the time, and most of it is pretty automatic and unconscious. I'm suggesting that if we focused a little more on present-moment experience and the domain of being, we could develop a far broader and deeper repertoire of what it means to be human" - Jon Kabat-Zinn

I'd like to develop a far broader and deeper repertoire of what it means to be human. What have I got to lose?

Love,

M