Why Is Relaxation So Important
What is relaxation? It is a state of complete rest. We human beings seem to have the gross physical body and the mind. Many of us think and believe that we need to relax our body. While physical rest is important, more important than that is to still the ‘mind’. What is the mind? It is nothing but a bundle of thoughts. The mind produces one thought every moment of the day. Though it doesn’t have a physical entity like our heart, brain, bone, skin and other organs and it is a part of our subtle existence called 'the inner instrument', it exhausts us more than physical fatigue.
In reality, the mind does not exist, it is an illusion. There is no mind. The mind can be compared to a popcorn vending machine that pops corn every second. The mind too, pops a new thought every moment. It bombards us with more than fifty thoughts a minute and in a day, it can produce more than fifty thousand thoughts. Then, how does one relax an agitated mind to find the original state of peace, of consciousness, where there are no thoughts?
The physical body, when tired, is capable of relaxing on its own. It shuts down, stops functioning and takes the needed rest. Thus, the relaxation of the body is automatic. But the mind comes into existence when we are bombarded by thoughts. Otherwise, where is the mind? We cannot find! We must learn to 'still the mind' because the mind doesn't stop producing thoughts even when we are physically tired. It makes us stressed by producing negative emotions. It doesn't stop even when we are asleep. Sleep is known for the restoration of the body. But the mind dreams and never stays still.
How can we still the mind? How can we stop thinking? Is it even possible? Of course! Just like we can stop eating, drinking and walking, we can stop thinking too. Consider the mind to be like a monkey. This MONKEY has a tail, the ‘EY’, that is Ever-Yelling and Ever-Yearning. This ‘MONKEY MIND’ constantly lashes us with various thoughts. We have to carefully watch it, catch it and latch it. And finally, tame it by cutting off its tail, EY and make it into a MONK. Once we tame the mind, then the thoughts produced every moment, the Mental Thought Rate or the MTR will slow down.
From more than fifty thoughts per minute to forty, then thirty, then twenty and ultimately, to just one thought per minute. This is the state of consciousness. And in this state, we process each thought individually by using the power of discrimination, the intellect that shines in consciousness. This is also called the state of thoughtlessness or mindfulness. In this state, we still the mind. When we still the mind, we kill the mind. Then peace and joy, in consciousness, we find.
What happens when we stop thinking? When we stop thinking, the mind ceases to exist. We are in a state of no thoughts, a state of peace; a state of deep relaxation. Most people try to ‘find peace’. You don’t have to ‘find peace’. You just have to be still and you will find that peace is within. You will realize it. The problem is that when we are in thought, we are caught. Then we can realize the truth about ‘who we are’ and consequently, experience everlasting peace and eternal bliss, a state of true well-being, a state of deep relaxation.
Relaxation is all about being in a state of thoughtlessness, mindfulness or consciousness, where the mind is still without shooting innumerable thoughts at us. In this state, the mind like a still lake. Every thought would appear as a ripple that is under the control of the intellect. In this way, we will be the boss, not our mind and true relaxation, we will find.
