Relaxation & Connexion

When you properly relax, the two halves of the body feel as though they are falling away from each other, loosening their grip and finding their own space & place. Fibres unknit. Tension is a tight congested holding together or holding on – things fearfully cling to whatever is closest. It is only when things relax away from each other that a proper and natural interaction can develop. If things are naturally connected, which all things are, then the relaxed space between is quite alive with the energy of connexion, allowing the spontaneous and continuous creation of the Third Heart – the governing engine of connexion. The nature of an interaction will then depend upon this Third Heart which is allowed to develop and flourish in the nourishing space between, rather than upon the will of either of the interacting entities. This principle of relaxation – the opening up of the space between and the filling of that space with the energy of connexion – should pervade your being. The two halves of the body relax away from each other. Muscle fibres relax away from each other, as do the cells within those fibres and the molecules within those cells. You will then begin to develop a natural energetic presence, and a natural wisdom that stems from your whole physical and energetic being, not from the thinking mind. This is quite apart from ch'i or physical strength or intellectual prowess which require active cultivation – the use of will or mind – and naturally decline with age. If you follow the route of relaxation and connexion then as your faculties inevitably decline you become more and more connected and more and more imbued with, and composed of, the energy of connexion because that is all you have left. I'm thinking in particular of my teacher's father. I visited him just before Christmas to help him with his computer. As I was sitting at the screen he hovered behind me watching and placed his hand on my shoulder with the lightest of touches. Instantly my whole body was charged with his energy which was so fine and alive and pure and unlike anything I had felt before. A frail old man, bent almost double and breathing with difficulty, yet easily the most energetic and remarkable person I think I have met. What is also strange is that when he touched me I suddenly saw the world as though through his eyes – his touch made me him for a moment – and it was a beautiful place – far more so than the world I usually inhabit. His world was the natural and real one – the one of connexion. My world was my own – curled up into itself with brooding dullness. What is interesting is that he has reached such an advanced level by living a life that has constantly and willingly (and happily) put others first.