“Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go”.
HERMANN HESSE
Tighten up or let go? Your body and your mind constitute a single, unified system. Anything that affects one component of the system usually affects the other as well. Every emotional or psychological state has an impact on our physical being, for better or for worse.
This means that if you are experiencing tension in the throat, it is usually a sign of emotional stress, and letting go of the tension and releasing the physical pressure may alleviate the emotional stress. Clenched jaws are often a sign of deep-seated anger (of which we may not even be aware).
Simply relaxing the tension in the jaw can help release some of the anger. To let go of the physical tension, be it in the forehead, jaw, throat, shoulders, belly, or back, you can shift the focus to that part of the body, breathe into it, and release it.
You can even utter to yourself in silence to let go as you relieve yourself of the tension and strain and gently sink into calmness and tranquility. Patricia Walden, a renowned yoga teacher, says that the most important part of a yoga practice is the end, when practitioners lie down flat on their backs, hands to their sides resting on the floor, legs straight and comfortably relaxed.
This pose, called sivasana (corpse), is about yielding to the force of gravity and allowing the floor to support us. We let go of the tension and release the pressure in every part of our body. Through this, we can also release the psychological tension we may be holding on to.
Moreover, Sivasana rarely fails to induce a sense of calm and relaxation. However, its value goes beyond the immediate sensation. Because the calm it brings us is transportable. Once we are familiar with the feeling of relaxation, we can replicate it in other areas of our lives.
And the more we enter this state in a controlled environment on the yoga mat, a bed, or the floor, the more easily we can experience it in other situations. Those who have practiced this form of relaxation are able to experience the same sense of calm in almost any place and at almost any time, simply by telling themselves to let go.
Wherever you are, whether in a work meeting, sitting with your partner, holding your child, or writing a report, you can relax any part of your body that feels tight and release any tension that you may be holding on to. And because mind and body are one, become aware of your body. And by learning to let go of the tension that it holds within it, your whole being becomes calmer and more serene.
