SPOTLIGHT

Aahhhh, relaxation!

It may seem like a guilty pleasure in our world of overloaded schedules and rapid change, but we all need to relax a little.

Relaxation is a natural, necessary quality of healthy living. It’s a counter-balance to the stress we feel in everyday life no matter how well we plan or how good we are.

Our bodies know innately how to relax, but our minds often tell us to save relaxation for a time when we’re not so busy.

There’s a certain logic to this way of thinking, but in the long run, it benefits us about as much as an indrawn breath without an “exhale.”

We take in and take on more than we can handle until our shoulders ache with tension, or our thoughts run on at the end of the day when we expect to relax into sleep.

In my years as a massage therapist, I’ve come to view relaxation as the primary purpose of my work, and the starting point for all benefits a client may re- ceive from a massage.

Sometimes it’s a gentle touch that prompts relaxation; at other times, it’s a deep-tissue workout.

But the common element to all effective massage is the sense of well-being that comes from even a brief interruption to habitual tension, pain or stress.

In a peaceful environment, as responsive hands confirm and relieve a body’s discomfort, it’s easy — or at least easier — to float into physical relief and allow thoughts to fade away.

This is relaxation, reminding us how right it is to be at home in our own skin, returning body and mind to harmony as senses and thought are caught up in the awareness of comfort, or peace.

When our focus is drawn even momentarily to serenity, away from worry a pain or what we need to do after we finish what we’re doing now, we take a quick minivacation from stress.

We come back to the same day and the same circumstances, but we’re a bit lighter in body and clearer in thought than when we left. We may also feel a bit more hopeful, more in touch with our natural abilities for coping, more aware of possibility and solution. Relaxation is refreshing.

Sometimes, a client will tell me, “I’m trying to relax” or “I don’t know how to relax,” but relaxation is not an act of will.

It’s more like a willingness to be free of the tension gripping mind and muscle. Simply recalling a time of feeling at home, or being in our element can draw us into relaxation.

Yoga, swimming, playing the piano, rocking a baby, crafting pottery, riding a horse are just a few examples of ways to become immersed in the moment and re-acquainted with the part of ourselves which is inherently at ease and capable.

There are as many ways to slip into relaxation as there are people in this world, but only one requirement: reserve some time!

By setting aside a few minutes once or twice a week we are agreeing to allow ourselves to relax, and opening the door to discovering how.

In the beginning, this can seem like an empty exercise as thoughts crowd in or the body fidgets, wanting to knock an entry or two off the to-do list.

But with practice we become attuned to what encourages relaxation in us, and we fall into it more and more readily until we have rediscovered the comfort so natural to us as children.

Choose a quiet place. Leave goals at the door. Notice the rhythm of your breath or your pulse.

Unreliant on personal planning, do something you love, something that comes naturally, like tending a garden, or casting a line into the water or do nothing, and sink into stillness.

Recall a time when you were caught up in love or beauty. Let what is good fill your vision and warm your heart.

Judy Gottesman has been a licensed massage therapist in Texas since 1994. She owns and operates Essential Massage in Edom.