The Art of Relaxation
The Art of Relaxation
The Art of Relaxation
by
Israel Regardie
A
HELlOS
BOOK
1965
F. I. Regardie.
.. Be yourself!"
This seems silly to you?
anyone else?
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contented sigh,
I laughed. "You sound more as though your heart were
broken."
.
"Yeah,l!l1oticed that--""I can't seem to. keep from $ighing.It'safunny thing, though-s-every time I sigh, I feel
that much better. Sort of quiet, inside."
1 nodded. "I've. been wondering if you'd noticed that.
It's an excellent symptom, for each. sigh, besides being an
expression of relaxation, cop.tributes toward a deeper
relaxation. The more you. sigh, the quieter .you'Il feel."
"It's .almost as' good as being asleep," Mr..A murmured
drowsily. "Better, .in fact, .because. when I'm .asleep I
can'tappreciate ho:o/ good it feels."
"You haven'tany heart trouble, have you?" I asked.
"No. Why?"
"Because if you had, I'd skip this part Qf. the technique."
I placed my hands on his ribs,just under the breasts, then
exerted a slight pressure ashe exhaled. Maintaining the
pressure, I said, "You've probably never realized how
completely flexible and mobile your breathing apparatus
is'""'-the lungs, themselves, the chest, the rib cage. If one
part of the mechanism is prevented from. moving, .another
part will move instead. Emotional tension and other
inward difficulties make 'the whole thoracic cage stiff and
inflexible. Have you noticed what's happened to your
breathing .since I started this: pressure on your ribs?"
~'Yes-~l seem to be breathing exclusively with my
abdomen-s-and a few moments ago, when you were leaning
onmy stomach, 1 was breathing with my collar bones."
"That's exactly what 1 was telling you-e-lf you prevent
one part of your breathingapparatus from moving, another
part will move instead. When you breathe abdominally,
the. chest muscles, temporarily unused, must relax. .When
I place my .hands in the middle of your chest and press
gently.downwards, this.calls your attention to the tensions
of the chest muscles-and as you have found out.aware23
"Yes. Why?"
"If you weren't. I'd sit on your left .Instead of .here."
I placed my left .hand onthecrown of his head,myright
hand under his interlaced fingers. lying upon his solar
plexus. "Don't move:' 1 said. "Don't maJ<e any effort.
Just-observe yourself for a minute Or .two. and Jet ~e
know whethermy linking myself toyouthi$wayimprov~s
your relaxation and deepens yoursense ofc()mfOltY
Mr. A was quiet for a few minutes. Then he said.
lI1tnostina,udibly. "Yes.definHely.Tm even more relaxed
...-and I didn't think-that \VaS possible. -. I don't even want
to talk. .l could go rightto sleep."
.
"Don't do .that.just yet/'J ,said. "I want you tQ. use,
your imagination. . Pretend that, you're very. heavy:-that
you weigh three or. fOllr tons.. Imagine thlltyoll're malting
an. enormous indentation in the bench. YOU'.l'e lyingon.,. and
that in . jllstatnoment you'll be. pulled .right .through, the
ftoo r 1:>y gl'llvity;"
, .
....
'.
..'
Mr. A. was silent for quite a long time, Then he. said.
"1. didn~tthink .1 could feel any. morerelaxed__but 1 do."
"Relaxation is an art; like other arts. the more you
ptactice.the more proficient you become. ' After your
physicalreJaxation has. reached its peak.youllhavethe
task of mental relaxation to deal with. But tbe more relaxed
you are physically, the easier it is' to rel~ mentally-the
tYV9work hand in hand."
,'~Ybuknow:' said Mr, A. thoughtfully. "one' funny
'. tbingl've noticed isa sortof detachment J never experienced before-as though my body were separate from llle
-i1's.11 sort of awareness of~y body as a thing itself.
instead of an integralpartof me:'
I nodded, "That'sgcod-e-that proves that the relaxation
is doing what it's supposed to do. And you'll find your
awareness. of the body mounting and mounting. Eventually. it will reach a sort of peak..a crescendo .ofpure
feeling. and then it will fall away from you altogether. T4e
3.3
fteedomandrelease tbatcomesfromit."
1. waitedpati~ntly while Mr. A struggled with this
unaccustolTIeddemand on his imagination. Finally be
sighedandsaid,"lsee what you mean.. It produces the
samefeelingsaslhad when you began callingmy attentiontotbe tensions in my legs and arms."
This comple~es th9 secotidstage. .The. third . stage of
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The more you relax the middle area of your body. the
more likely it is that the whole of your body will be
relaxed. Dr. George Groddeck, one of the most brilliant
of modern psychologists. called the abdomen. together with
the rich nerve supply and the instinctual impulses', that
seem to emanate from it, the "middle man" of the body.
In the eloquent imagery and symbolism that this brilliant
physician employed, this middle part of the body was
conceived to be endowed with a species of mind even as
is the breast and the head-v-this belly-mind being often
opposed to the inclinations and rational activities of the
head-mind. It is the seat of the sexual instincts. feelings
and passions, and all the. dynamic instinctual forces
inherited from the past. that we consider in psychology
to be residentin the "unconscious." or the "Id," as Freud
calls it.
Because of the direct interaction of mind and the physiological functions of the body, if the body is assisted to
relax, a direct effect is produced within. consciousness. I
will prove this point later at great length and to some
effect. At this moment it is imperative only to emphasize
the fact that by completely relaxing the middle part of the
body. the abdomen and all that it implies. you go far
toward relaxing the basic contlict that exists in most of us.
It is an internecine warfare between the primitive instinctual part of our make-up and the surface consciousness
which we consider to be ourselves. The conflict is overcome by doing no more than once was done in the words.
"Peace! Be Still!"
Finally, visualize the blood separating into two powerful
streams. two rivers of blood descending from. the abdomen
into the thighs and legs. Actual anatomical pathways are
indicated in this connection. Be very attentive here too:
visualize all the tight. stiff, taut thigh and leg muscles
thoroughly. in order to relax them under the stimulus and
warm influence of the blood. In this manner, proceed
39'
until the toes are reached. Now pause. You have completed .a great cycle in the relaxing.. process. Pause to
consider and observe. Note how you feel. Record your
feelings." Permit the sense of real pleasure and enjoyment
and. freedom to make. an indelible impression upon your
mind.
If the. memory of.thlsexperience -is: well recorded. it
can be. evoked at any moment from your storehouse of
memories. It matters not if you ride in the subway. are
seated in a car, or are Sitting at home reading or listening
to the radio. you have. onlyto remember th~ pleasure of
relaxation that you obtained from these repeated experiments and forthwith the memory is evoked from your
consciousness impacting itself upon the cells and tissues
and fibres of the body. Relaxationthenfollows. Relaxation ensues .because you have thought relaxation. It is.a
physiological fact that to think of a certain part. of the
body is to cause the blood to flow there. I shall show
that any thought produces some bodilychartge. chemical
or dynamic. These phenomena. over. a reasonable length
of time become associated in the subconscious depths of
the mind and co-ordinated with one simple idea-s-relaxation. Consider this fact. Visualize the. phenomenon.
Then behold it. it is there!
"As a man thinketh in his heart. so is he." So wrote a
master of llfe. We can do no better than to heed his words.
followingthem to the end.
The fourth stage of the relaxation technique is comparable to the foregoing. We continue the active employment of the imaginationor image-makingfaculty. Very
early in our practice of. relaxation. we discover the
enormous importance and value of this eidetic faculty of
our minds: It is easy to understand why. some writers
40
ans
hardened and hurt you. You will learn not to fix your
mind into a rigid, unyielding mould that will be in dire
conflict with the changing, fluctuating world without.
Rather, you will learn to "sit loose to life," as a brilliant
psychologist expressed it. By so doing, you discover a
new world of happiness open up to you. You discover
also, a thing of surpassing interest-yourself.
What a discovery! You are yourself once more! You
are now a traveller on the high road of noble adventure.
With an indescribable serenity and peace, you discover
the world anew.
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