Monday, June 4, 2012

Poise in Pressure to Relax


Noting the conscious presence of the remotest hypertension—yes, it’s okay to admit we get anxious—we have an important opportunity. Only in the current instant can we relax—or, more accurately, be in a state of relaxation.
The Madness In Anxiety
We worry numerous times, consciously and unconsciously, 50 minutes, 30 minutes, and 10 minutes before an important appointment. We pace up and down frantically within ourselves. Where is that energy going? It’s going to waste.
Yet we may all do it. We all fall for the lizard-brained venture proffering tension that has no good purpose. There must be something better we can do to relax better.
There is madness in us all, and certainly the specific madness of getting ourselves wound up over the avoidable is poignant.
The madness in much of our anxiety is as much about the inner conflict as anything. We battle with different concerns on different levels within different spheres, and all this goes on within the one organism: us, alone.
There is the mind grappling with the heart; the conscious with the unconscious; thinking versus feeling; the present versus the past (regrets) and against the future (fears); the intrapersonal clashes with the interpersonal; there are polar differences between time and space, etc.
No wonder there is anxiety and hypertension when we must harmonise so many realms of being. Little wonder we may be occasionally angry, confused, and upset. Being conflicted within is a common human challenge.
Toward Spiritual Unity Within
The goal for poise in pressure situations is that we might feel more relaxed in our thinking, decision-making, and enjoyment of life. The idea is that, in any of these events where tension comes, we might otherwise be able to accept the tension and serenely move on in handling life better.
This accepts that tension is part of life, as are conflicts, and in acknowledging that we will be conflicted within, we don’t fight the conflict and make it worse, as if to panic or resent it.
Spiritual unity has to be about being open to life. Only in accepting the difficult can we be at peace with the difficult. We see other people arranging peace of themselves in difficult circumstances, so why not us?
Poise in the moment of pressure in order to relax has no angry fight about it, but it does fight gracefully for unity within. It’s about advocating a safe place for ourselves, and not exposing ourselves to overload, impossible relational dynamics, or task nuances beyond us—as much as possible. We do what we can to protect ourselves. If we won’t protect ourselves nobody else will do it for us.
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Hypertension and modes of anxiety threaten to rob our joy and awareness from our present moments. When we acknowledge the concern and allow it to sit there, calmly thinking about it, in perspective with the best of our lives, we can enjoy more poise in pressure and be more relaxed.
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

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