Relaxation is not an action. It is the absence of action. “You need to relax!” As soon as I need to do anything it causes me stress. How do me “make” our beings or our being’s parts relax??? We can’t make relaxation happen. We must allow it to happen to us. Because we cannot actively relax, we must take action away in order to find the non-action of relaxation. Wow! That is enough to make anyone tense. So, what is the answer? As far as general relaxation of the mind, there are countless ways to meditate. Quiet the mind and allow the body to follow. This area of relaxation is certainly not my expertise. Still at this point in my life, the only way I have found to quiet my very busy mind is to overload it or my body so much that my mind has no choice but to short out. For this type of relaxation, I will refer you to a meditation class or workshop. I would not advise you to follow me.
However, our parts!!! In order to take stress out of an area of the body, we need to redistribute the work load. Delegate, delegate, delegate. Let’s take a common malfunction, tense neck and shoulders. So, overactive Upper Trapezius. Probably misalignment of the shoulder joint. Weakness in the Later rotator cuff, shoddy neck alignment etc. etc.…. blah blah blah. What do we do about it? What action do we take or not take to relax? I suggest we listen to the bones. Take the action out of the muscle and let the skeleton dictate proper alignment. The bones will tell us what muscles they need to recruit to maintain their support and freedom of movement. So, allow the head of the arm bones (shoulders) to float up and back. Feel the bottom tips of the shoulder blades dropping down towards the low back and butt. Soften the Sternum and let it be heavy. The front body, (across the collar bones) should be at ease and equally as wide as the back body, (across the shoulder blades). Let the jaw bone and ears float back over the shoulders. And think Bobble Head!! Yes, I said Bobble Head. Your head should not be held on your shoulders by a stiff neck. It should be buoyant and mobile as if attached loosely by a large spring. I invite you to try that image on and wear it around for a bit. But please try not to over think it. Let the bones guide you. They are great teachers. Relax!!!