Mental Relaxation Techniques

Perhaps it will be as well for us to give an exercise in Mental Relaxation before we conclude this chapter. Of course, physical relaxation reacts on the mind and rests it. But Mental Relaxation also reacts upon the body and rests it. So this exercise may reach the needs of some who have not found just what they required in the preceding pages of this chapter.

Sit quietly in a relaxed and easy position and withdraw the mind as far as possible from outside objects and from thoughts which require active mental effort. Let your thought reach inward and dwell upon the real self. Think of yourself as independent of the body and as able to leave it without impairing the individuality. You will gradually experience a feeling of blissful rest and calm and content. The attention must be withdrawn entirely from the physical body and centered entirely upon the higher “I,” which is really “you.” Think of the vast worlds around us, the millions of suns, each surrounded with its group of planets like our earth, only in many cases much larger. 

Get an idea of the immensity of space and of time; consider the extent of Life in all its forms in all these worlds and then realize the position of the earth and of yourself a mere insect upon a speck of dirt. Then rise upward in your thought and realize that, though you be but an atom of the mighty whole, you are still a bit of Life itself, a particle of the Spirit; that you are immortal, eternal and indestructible; a necessary part of the Whole, a part which the Whole cannot get along without, a piece needed to fit into the structure of the Whole. Recognize yourself as in touch with all of Life; feel the Life of the Whole throbbing through you; the whole ocean of Life rocking you on its bosom. And then awake and return to your physical life and you will find that your body is refreshed, your mind calm and strong, and you will feel an inclination to do that piece of work which you have been putting off for so long. You have profited and been strengthened by your trip into the upper regions of the mind.

A favorite Yogi plan for snatching a moment’s rest from the task of the hour—taking rest “on the fly,” as one of our young friends recently expressed it—is as follows: “Stand up straight, with head erect and shoulders thrown back, your arms hanging loosely by your sides. Then raise your heels slowly from the ground, gradually throwing your weight upon the balls of the feet, and at the same time raising your arms up by your sides until they stand out from your shoulders like the outstretched wings of an eagle. Take a deep breath as the weight falls upon the balls of the feet and as the arms spread out and you will feel like flying. Then expel the breath slowly and gradually sink back upon the heels and let the arms sink to their first position. Repeat if you like the sensation. The rising and extending of the arms will impart a feeling of buoyancy and freedom that must be experienced to be realized.”