Yoga and relaxation
Relaxation of yoga is a kind of mental discipline, which requires simultaneous activity and passivity. Those who understand this hold the key to relaxation and the beginnings of meditation.
How to do relaxation? The first step is to lie down as comfortably as possible. Strangely enough, few people manage to do this. Most of the students require exact instructions before they are able to lie down relaxed for a period of twenty to forty minutes without getting a backache. Yoga teacher usually ask the student to stretch himself flat out on a blanket in the manner depicted in the first drawing. This is only possible for those who have neither a round nor a hollow back. A round back, especially in obese people, causes the head to sink back in the typical snoring position. This only emphasizes the hollow of the back in the lumbar region. Hence this position is uncomfortable for most students.
The neck should not lie on the cushion; the shoulder blades should rest on the blanket and the back should be flat. Placing the hands on the thighs makes the experience of warmth easier.
Being kind to oneself includes covering the body with a blanket during relaxation. Needless to say one should practice in a temperate room and if possible on a carpet. To cover the body helps to achieve the initially rather weak stirrings of the warmth. Furthermore, it is best to practice in a darkened room or to lie down in such a way that the eyes are not exposed to strong light.
Deep relaxation is not something that one can do. It is an experience composed of several acts and a series of shorter scenes, rather like a play. Nature is the author of the play and the body is the stage. Our mind is the audience. But the simile is not perfect: For whereas the audience in a theatre is stationary, the mind should wander throughout the body and remain conscious of all the bodily sensations. The exertion connected with this is purely mental. Therefore relaxation can be called a mental discipline. The student should first direct his attention to the breath, since, as has been said already, it is easier to concentrate on a flowing movement than on a static point. The first act of the play of relaxation is entitled ‘experience of heaviness’.