A couple of days ago I was assisting to my yoga class, and during relaxation phase, that comes at the end of any class, my attention got focused on the words of the master. He uses to suggest techniques to obtain muscles relaxation in a better and faster way, so he drives our thoughts to better understand the body and the possibilities to have good mental and physical balance.

This is a very grateful moment, yoga training can be quite intense, so it’s lovely to have such a 15 minutes long prize at the end of  the session. During this final part of the session, he suggested to focus attention on any part of the body; then he started mentioning muscles one by one, speaking slowly and softly. This one technique is good to relax the single muscle, because according to him:

“When there is conscience, there cannot be tension. Where you can find tension, there is no conscience.”

It simply means that if you project the attention to a specific part of your body and simply observe it, it will get relaxed. No action or active movement is needed, on the contrary, all unintentional tensions and contractions will abandon the muscle at the time that perception is moved to it, immediately and automatically.

According to me this is a very simple and effective method that should be applied the whole day long. I, as much people, work sitting the whole day in front of a computer; then I realize that as time in front of the pc passes by, my shoulders start to stiffen up unconsciously while they should stay away from the neck, released and relaxed.

Try to think about it and move your attention to your shoulders, I am sure you will notice that they are rigid and provoke your chest get more contracted and your back leaning towards the screen. The result of contraction is that you will get tired more easily and you’ll feel your head heavier. Then try to concentrate on different parts of your body. Try it in your bed.

Does this concept apply to thoughts in your mind too? Does conscience and observation of your thoughts help release nervousness?
Yes it does, I’ll write down some idea soon.