Relax Already!

I've been meaning to announce here that I'm now writing a column for one of my island's local papers, The Island Voice. This is the article that was published in last week's paper. Hopefully The Island Voice will have a web presence soon and I will be able to refer folks there.

Relax Already


I have always been a multi-tasker. If I could find a way to grade papers in my sleep, I would. I’m the person you see drinking tea, reading the paper, and balancing a plate on my head. Needless to say, the idea of chilling out does not come to me very easily. Imagine how shocked my loved ones were when they found out I was moving to a tropical island in the middle of the Pacific. I, who was always at least 5 minutes early to everything, was going to have to work on “island time”. I could picture my friends and family shake their heads in jealousy picturing me leaned back on a white sand beach with an umbrella drink in hand and a handsome well-oiled cabana boy fanning me with palm fronds. If only they knew how wrong that picture was for various reasons, the cabana boy notwithstanding. I would still be doing my famous rip and run, just without having to ever shift my wardrobe to winter. As this type of behavior is completely unsustainable, I sought out something I could do to relax. I had taken yoga before, so that seemed like the most likely thing to do. I liked doing postures and how good my body felt after. There was just one posture that kept getting me, however—Savasana. Yogi’s believe that in order for the body to synthesize all those good stretches, you have to take a moment to consciously relax. The posture looks deceptively simple – just lie down on your mat, close our eyes, and focus on your breathing. I saw this posture as a perfect opportunity to think about what I needed to do after class. When my mind wasn’t wandering, my body itself was wiggling and squirming as if an ant had entered my pants. Yes, those of you saying that this kind of behavior completely defeats the purpose are correct, but the fact is that we just don’t allow ourselves to consciously empty our minds. Sure, we go out to have a relaxing drink, or maybe sip some tea while listening to relaxing music, but how many of us give ourselves the chance to just sit and do nothing. Nothing—no music, no tea, no TV, no thinking, No-Thing! Just sit and be. It’s tricky no matter how you slice it. I still struggle with it myself. I will say this though, once I finally allowed myself that savasana-- the feeling of falling back into nothing, the feeling of nothing but breathing-- it was liberating. I don’t go there often, and I don’t always go there well, but I at least make the effort regularly. Want to try it? Here are some easy steps.

Mini-Savasana

• Lie down or sit in a comfortable chair

• Bring your heels together and let your feet flop to the sides

• Bring your arms out to your sides at about 45 degrees

• Focus on your breathing

• Feel your chest rise as you inhale

• Feel your chest fall as you exhale

• As you inhale say to yourself: I am breathing in

• As you exhale say to yourself: I am breathing out

• Do this for at least 1 minute

Don’t beat yourself up if the first time you try this you get distracted by other things. That just means that you’re normal. Just gently bring yourself back to your breathing, and you’ll start to feel your body let go. If you can give yourself a little “do nothing” time once a day, you’ll start to feel that relaxed feeling extend to your other activities. In yoga, the more relaxed your muscles are, the further you can stretch. I would have to say that this applies to people as well. The more relaxed you are, the easier your day will go.

published in The Island Voice, Issue 1 Vol 1, August 19, 2011