![]() ![]() ![]() ‘If I relax, then things won’t get done.’ Relaxing, letting go of the need to do or to be, can feel like an abandonment of responsibility. On the healthy side, its a call to self-responsibility, but the unhealthy flip side is a rugged, self-reliant independence. One of the little mottos we often adopt is ‘If it’s going to be, then it’s up to me.’ I remember when I was a pastor, people feeling so safe in my office that they went to sleep. It could be from a recent time, an abusive relationship and the cortisol trigger is finely tuned for release. So a pattern was formed of always being on guard. To be always on alert for some threat.Ī supposed safe place for most, the family, was a place of trauma, unpredictability. Perhaps in those early formative years, there was a need for hypervigilance. But often it is the still reverberating echoes of another time. It could be the reality of their current lives. Will I be ok if I relax? When will someone pounce? Who is going to tell me off? Maybe even the thought of ‘Will I get beaten?’ shouts fear into the awareness. The first struggle I have observed in those that find deep relaxation difficult is one of safety. To quell those noisy neighbors, I believe we need to feel both safe and known. If I don’t do this, then this will happen.They come knocking at your door, speaking to your mind. But then you’re greeted by noisy neighbors. Do you know how to relax?įor many of us, the word relax might be connected with having a day off work, kicking back, sleep in, reading a book, watching a movie. Centering the thoughts and feelings away from the past and the future to being present in the now. He stepped away from needing to be someone and to do something into a pose of quiet acceptance.īreathing in, breathing out. That was the first observation he shared with me after a short spiritual meditation exercise we went through - silence, peacefulness, quiet focus, and a ‘stepping away’ from the noise. The noisy neighbors can keep us from the rest we need, but when we feel safe and known, we can restore. Few of us know how to fully and deeply relax.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |