The Ecstacy of Relaxation

I have a theory that anyone could lower their baseline stress by practicing deep relaxation for 30 minutes a day. Relaxing, but not falling asleep -that time wouldn't count. Because when we sleep our bodies can still be tense, however, when we allow muscles and organs to just let go, consciously unbinding, opening, releasing them into gravity, we can achieve deeper relaxation than even our deepest stages of sleep. How we do this is idiosyncratic to the individual, but it is easy to calibrate, to know when what we are doing is working.

Someone who can consciously relax deeply and well, will soon discover that, besides health benefits, it is extremely pleasurable. It's where drugs like morphine take people and there is no bottom limit to how deeply one can sink into this ecstasy.

And you will be surprised that if you approach any part of your body, it listens, it follows you – it is your body! With closed eyes, go inside the body from the toe to the head searching for any place where there is a tension. And then talk to that part as you talk to a friend; let there be a dialogue between you and your body. Tell it to relax, and tell it, "There is nothing to fear. Don't be afraid. I am here to take care – you can relax." Slowly slowly, you will learn the knack of it. Then the body becomes relaxed.

Then take another step, a little deeper; tell the mind to relax. And if the body listens, mind also listens, but you cannot start with the mind – you have to start from the beginning. You cannot start from the middle. Many people start with the mind and they fail; they fail because they start from a wrong place. Everything should be done in the right order.

If you become capable of relaxing the body voluntarily, then you will be able to help your mind relax voluntarily. Mind is a more complex phenomenon. Once you have become confident that the body listens to you, you will have a new trust in yourself. Now even the mind can listen to you. It will take a little longer with the mind, but it happens.

When the mind is relaxed, then start relaxing your heart, the world of your feelings, emotions – which is even more complex, more subtle. But now you will be moving with trust, with great trust in yourself. Now you will know it is possible. If it is possible with the body and possible with the mind, it is possible with the heart too. And then only, when you have gone through these three steps, can you take the fourth. Now you can go to the innermost core of your being, which is beyond body, mind, heart: the very center of your existence. And you will be able to relax it too.

And that relaxation certainly brings the greatest joy possible, the ultimate in ecstasy, acceptance. You will be full of bliss and rejoicing. Your life will have the quality of dance to it.

Osho