Originally posted on FB on Sept. 19th♥
"Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are." The other day, that proverb kept popping into my head. I'd heard it before, but as it insisted on being part of my mental playlist of the moment, I decided to give it a more conscious examination. This is what I came up with.
All those moments I've found myself tense--be it borne out of worry or out of anger, most everything about me is restricted--my breathing, my voice, my body, even my thoughts. And then I also noticed that sometimes, even when I'm not in an emotional state (i.e. seemingly dealing/reacting to some perceived outside incident), several times I've checked in with my body only to find that I'm not relaxed--either my shoulders are tense or I'm not really breathing or there is a general constriction within my body. But then there have been times when I've checked in and felt present, and fluid--basically, fully relaxed into the present moment. I, for one, know I feel better when my decisions and general state of being stem from a more relaxed nature than of a tense one. I know my body would rather move through the world from a place of peace than that of tension.
So, I feel the proverb popped into my mind to remind me to check in more often to see if I'm perpetuating tension and if so, to release and consciously embrace relaxation. I believe I was being reminded to stay conscious of what my body is communicating to me and to use the feedback to delve deeper into understanding the source of the tension. From there, I can take the necessary steps to help transform the tension to relaxation, thereby contributing to my own physical and emotional well-being