Being straight without strain

When one goes for a massage, the masseuse usually can sense the knot in the muscle and press down hard on it to release the much needed tension and provide a rewarding relief.

And most often, somewhere during that painful process of him/her squeezing away that ball of pain, we hear him asking us to relax and not tighten our muscles further, thereby augmenting his already busy hands.

It's quite tough actually - to be relaxed when one is weighing down on your already tight muscles. The simple act of what we thought would be a soothing massage with some nice Japanese music therapy is turned in to a fantastical fusion of orgasmic 'aah's with hurtful 'aaahs'. 

But the act of kneading, although causing immense momentary pain, feels awfully wonderful later on. 

It's in this dance of one's tightening and relaxing of the muscles during a massage that got me thinking of something quite strange.

The idea of being straight and tall and erect needs some constriction of the muscle. Whether sitting or standing. And so, when we are trying to sit down to meditate in those strangely peaceful yogic seats, we find ourselves often tightening up to sit straight, tall, back erect and all. 

On first look, it may look grand. Even for those sitting, it may feel great - at first. Soon enough, on will find oneself loosening and what stood as tall as the Everest has melted away to a stooping weak hill. 

Every once in a while, being conscious of one's posture, there is a quick correction. The back gets straight, the chin forward and as quick as that came, so quickly does the stoop return. 

Thing is, sitting in that upright position demanded a lot of one's physical and mental attention. And in that mid trance-like moment where one is not fully conscious or is lost in the mid realm of awareness and loss of self, the body collapses. 

But somehow, this never happens to those who practice Yoga or the rishis we have seen depicted in pictures. 

The simple yet herculean solution is that of being in a relaxed state of mind and letting that dictate the body. 

A relaxed body is not necessarily a body that is in a stooping, unaware, drooping or sleepy state. A relaxed body is one that is ready to act when it needs to. It's conscious, just relaxed. Much like a state of mind. A relaxed mind isn't a sleepy one, but where consciousness lives but isn't active or tensed.

Look at the great martial artists or even the athletes in global platforms who perform at peak levels. There's a certain relaxed-ness in their movements. A poise. A quiet confidence. A form that shines even when out of bed. It's not natural. This is developed with years and years of practice. 

Observe a 100 mt race and one can see that even though the race is demanding a high level of physical effort, the body seems calm, composed with muscles swaying almost as if when relaxed. Cheeks bounce, lips vibrate, chest is rhythmically responding to every thump the feet make. The legs when in the air, for a fraction of a second, seem totally in control and relaxed. This is FLOW in motion.

This is demanding, but possible.

And that's the ideal state in which to sit for meditation. 

It is tough no doubt and may take time to master but once one gets the hang of it, it is quite therapeutic and game changing. Because the mind has now one less thing to worry about.

Once one can get to a sitting position where one is straight yet relaxed, is a joy not only to experience oneself but is a easily spotted too. Because the relaxed body has a calming effect on the face too. Same with what we observe in top level sports. 

No more forced closing of the eyes, no more trying to consciously set oneself straight again and again and lose track of one's thoughts. It's a mastery that is highly rewarding.

Being in a relaxed state at all times is the ultimate task for me. 

The idea of being able to meditate in a state of FLOW is idealistic but something that I try to work towards. Which is what got me from being able to sit for just 5 minutes now to over 30 minutes without a strain on the body.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear Kobe

Dear Kobe, Like many others, i came to know of the news on my way back from Pondy to Bangalore. The journey was bad, the news made it worse. I reached home at 430 and was consuming the news and processing it all. For an hour, i was in disbelief. I was hoping for a scam report and your magical emergence. Then,  the stage of disbelief left and i swallowed the reality and tossed and turned for hours instead of catching some sleep. I was in a shocked stage and for the first time in my life, was i having a lump in my throat in telling a colleague about your sudden demise and accident.  I never felt that with anyone else.  The loss of my mother is the only other death that tears me up. Yours was second. Frankly,  i didn't know you well enough growing up. I was a huge MJ fan as any pre 90's kid. I understood his airness only later on,  but the naive and heartfelt admiration existed even then. I fell in love with sports but more focused in basketball a little lat...
Read more

The power of persuasion - lessons from kids

We assume that we have a lot to teach kids. Reality is that they learn 90% of the things themselves - and the 10% comes from what we tell and teach them. We have a lot to learn from them instead. One such thing is the art of persuasion.  And they have some really compelling lesson for media strategists, agencies and marketers. Kids have 2 ways to get their way. The first is the irritating power of pester.  They eat into your skin and sink deep into the vicissitudes of your rational mind and push your possible patience to a threshold limit until you give up. They nag you, ask you the same question again, and again, and again, and again, and again and again.... until you cave. Ýou'd do anything to shut them up from further embarassing yourself in the environment and to, most importantly - get them off your back, your skin, your now throbbing head. The other way they ask for something is in their ever sweet, high potent cuteness and purposeful innocence. They know you can't resis...
Read more

Ads you need to hear - not just see

Image
Ad films are meant to be highly engaging. Created to make people lean in and and avoid that skip button or resist the temptation of thumb scrolling to the next video on Facebook or Instagram that most often - automatically play. Agencies hire creative talent that understand the power of human emotions and can create films that make ads memorable, and brands recognizable - and most importantly - are able to tell amazing stories in less than 90 seconds.  Storytelling is an art. We've consumed so many great stories that have an amazing cast, a beautiful and engaging script, a highly reputed director, music that play to the beats of our heart - matching tempo to the emotion conveyed, peaking at the right times, and so many other smaller yet significant intricate things that come together to make us feel something.  There are millions of such amazing campaigns where all of this can be easily demonstrated.  But how often have we seen a film that does all that with just typograp...
Read more