THE ROAD OF RELAXATION

     Perhaps relaxation is a state of mind more than it is anything else.  Perhaps it is the simple result of an internal emotional cease-fire and not determined by some tropical setting or hot stone massage, although such things unquestionably encourage us to stop wrestling inside of ourselves and appreciate the view and the moment. Relaxation is the ability to enjoy what is, exactly as it is. It is the release of pressure that has built in us over the unknown future or what remains undone in our day. It is the art of receiving what's in front of us, whether it be a sunny highway filled with traffic, or a friend struggling with her own life stuff, or a summer evening on a porch swing with a breeze.
     Our culture does not encourage relaxation, though it pushes and forces it on us with aggressive solutions and suggestions. Relax! It becomes almost a demand, like standing in a field and calling loudly for wild animals to come to us. We must create within ourselves the environment and spaciousness for relaxation. We must encourage it gently. Like the Field of Dreams, if we build it, relaxation will come. It's a letting go and surrender of controlling how it will happen. It's trusting the process of life and the journey we are on, taking in the sites with all of our curiosity and wonder. And remembering and appreciating what a beautiful adventure this is.

I am willing to let go today and invite the energy of relaxation into my interior space. I trust the journey and appreciate the sites along the way.