The Art of Relaxing

Are you able to Relax?

For many, it’s not so easy.

How many times you were just chilling and feeling you were being lazy and unproductive?

How many times have you felt you were meant to do something productive instead?

If your household was anything like mine, you might have heard comments like

‘Go do something useful’

‘Don’t you have anything else to do?’

‘Don’t you feel like you’re wasting your time?’

We are deeply conditioned to think that we always have to do, and we often identify with our busyness.

Ask yourself: Who are you once you stop doing?

For some of us, it can be a tricky question.

The act of ‘not doing’ can bring shame and unsettling feelings.

We have to learn that relaxation is safe. Stillness is part of productivity. Honouring our own pace is crucial.

Most of us spend our life in tunnel vision, just looking for the following item to tick out of our to-do list.

‘Stresslaxing’, as defined by the Urban Dictionary, kind of becomes our default state 🙃

When programmed in a stresslaxed mode, relaxing becomes an upstream effort.

We need to intentionally make space for that.

We have to learn that relaxation is safe. Stillness is part of productivity. Honouring our own pace is crucial.

If you catch yourself unable to relax, do this:

  • Sit in a comfortable posture somewhere quiet. If it feels comfortable, you can close your eyes.
  • Recognize that you’re experiencing stress & willing to relax at the same time, even if relaxation is not accessible to you right now. Allow the experience to be present as it is. Make space for both truths.

  • Pay attention to how this feels in the body right now: shallow breath? tension? tightness? in which area requires your attention the most?
  • Rest your focus on that area and make space for anything that is arising. What does this area need from you right now? Allow some time for silent reflection.
  • Bring the awareness back to the sensations across the body. Has anything shifted?

You can go through these queues every time you get caught up in stress.

It might require a few rounds and a lot of self-love to internalise this ❤️

Let me know if you have any questions or if I can help in any way.

Thank you for reading until here.

Much love,
Maria