The Art of Relaxation Part 1

We were watching the tv series The Alienist last night, and my husband asked me a question, one I have often thought of while watching period films, "I wonder what it would have been like living in the 1880s". With the beautiful flowing dresses, clean air, clean food and apparent simple life, I can imagine there was also a lot of unpleasant things.

I can imagine the stress levels that people faced in their lives a century ago were very different from the stressors we face today, 2020 aside. During the last few centuries, our daily lives have changed greatly. I cannot imagine what my great-grandmother would think if she saw how women live today on a daily basis.

We have a whole host of different diseases and chronic illnesses that have surfaced over the past few centuries that didn't exist before. There are many factors that contribute to these new problems we are dealing with, including diet, lifestyle and our ability to control and manage the tension and stress in our lives. Illnesses such as hypertension, migraines, ulcers, digestive disorders and skin issues arise from the tension we are carrying in our bodies and our minds.

When I think of tension in my body, I think of the tight shoulders or clenched jaw. What I don't think of is how the tension affects my entire body. If my mind is tense, my stomach will be tense, and if my stomach is tense, my entire circulatory system will also be tense. Tension puts us in a vicious cycle, when added to our fight or flight stressors, we are in an never ending cycle of mental, physical and emotional tension on a daily basis.

When you think of relaxation, you may think of laying down on the couch at the end of a long day, or taking a hot bath to try and relax. While these may be good options for our physical tension and stress, they sometimes fail us emotionally and mentally, our minds can continue even as our bodies relax.

True relaxation is being free from physical, mental and emotional tension. Relief from all three of these tensions can be obtained during the practice of Yoga Nidra or Restorative Yoga.