Abandon/Relaxation

Relaxation, on one level, means looseness (relaxed muscles & joints), but this is just a beginning level. Ultimately relaxation means letting go and giving oneself completely to the work at hand. If this work is strenuous then clearly the muscles cannot be relaxed because they must work very hard, but they can be totally on and with the task, and in this sense they are relaxed – energy will flow through them. When we manage to relax into work in this manner then the work itself sparks the spirit which in turn opens the joints which in turn stimulates (demands) the energy to flow. This principle is an aspect of Central Equilibrium (if one thing exists then its opposite also exists in the same place at the same time) – we relax most usefully when we work whole-heartedly. Letting go (totally) is enormously difficult and requires years (decades) of work to locate and work through the countless tensions in the body and mind.