A visual image may help you understand the process of deep relaxation. Imagine that you can see the energy patterns of the body. Muscles are luminescent, brightening when they contract and dimming as they relax. Every cell glows as it carries on its tasks. The heart flashes each time it beats, and organs shine brightly as they perform their various functions. You can see which muscles are tense by looking for “hot spots.”
The brain and nervous system are especially bright, and you can see constantly shifting waves of energy. A channel of light leads to the brain from each of the sense organs, especially the eyes and ears. Small flashes appear in the brain as information is received and processed, as decisions are made, and signals sent to various parts of the body. The spinal cord is nearly as bright as the brain, glowing as signals go back
and forth to every area of the body. You can see circuits in the brain flashing over and over again as the brain thinks, as it remembers, and as it makes decisions.
Look at someone who is asleep. His body is relaxed and appears dim. The heart and respiratory system have slowed down but still flash as they feed the slumbering body. The senses have largely shut down, and their connection with the brain is only a dull glow. The brain itself is surprisingly active, but the patterns are different from those during the waking hours. Most of the sleeping person’s energy is centered in the
spine and brain.
Now observe someone in deep meditation. In many ways he seems similar to a person who is asleep. The yogi’s body is completely relaxed, perhaps even more so than that of a person sleeping. His senses, too, are shut down, but other parts are aglow. Energy has been completely withdrawn into the spine and forepart of the brain. A great master of yoga can withdraw his energy so completely that even the heart and autonomic nervous system are shut down. He has the ability to consciously bring all his energy into a laserlike focus that energizes the spiritual eye, uplifts his consciousness, and eventually raises him to the state of Self-realization.
The first step toward this profound state is relaxation. Relaxation is a result of withdrawing energy and tension from any area, a process normally only partly under our command. But for deep meditation we must learn deep relaxation, which requires conscious control of life-force. Later in this lesson we will learn a technique to completely relax the body, which gets us over the first big hurdle in meditation: physical tension. Keeping your body relaxed and motionless while you are meditating is the first step toward more profound states of consciousness.
Next we must relax the mind, because the biggest challenge is overcoming mental restlessness. When you try to meditate, you will become aware of how much your mind wanders, not because you are meditating, but simply because you are now quiet enough to finally see how the mind constantly skips from thought to thought in a free association wonderland. The way to overcome mental restlessness is through concentration. There are a number of extremely effective yogic techniques to improve concentration. Among the most effective are techniques which work with the breath.
One of yoga’s great gifts to mankind is the discovery of the link between energy, breath, and mind. As you change one, you also affect the other two. If you excite one, the other two become excited and, conversely, if you calm one, the other two respond by becoming calm also. You will notice that if your mind becomes excited, from a sudden fright perhaps, your breath will also speed up. You might also notice that your
muscles fill with energy in preparation for action. Observe yourself going through changes in this mind/breath/energy cycle the next time you see a movie that plays on
your emotions.
The breath is the most outward and, therefore, the easiest to control of these three linked elements. Control your breath and see how quickly it influences your thoughts. This is true in any situation, not just in meditation. A student of these teachings who was in charge of training for the San Francisco Police Department told his rookies that if they wanted to take charge of a potentially dangerous confrontation, they had to
learn to control themselves first. In order to help them achieve self-control, he taught them to monitor their breathing, to take slow deep breaths. They found it amazingly effective. Try it yourself the next time you are in a tense situation.
