September brings the end of summer and the beauty of a colorful fall season. For families, the preparation for the beginning of a new school year is finished, and new schedules and challenges fill our days. The so-called “Lazy Days of Summer” are being replaced with a briskness in the air and an added zip to our energy. The squirrels in the backyard are so busy hiding their food for the winter that they often forget where their hidden treasures are when the snow appears. The stores are now filled with Halloween decorations and Christmas decorations are wedging their way onto the shelves shoving aside Halloween and a less remembered Thanksgiving, except for the upcoming feast.
We are filled with excitement, anticipation, and the good old-fashioned tension that arrives with what needs to be done. If it weren’t for Richard Hittleman and his amazing Hatha Yoga exercise book that I follow most days, I would be filled with knots of tension with all that I have to do. Richard Hittleman has taught me that tension is a tightness or a squeezing that occurs in the organism that affects us mentally, emotionally, and physically. We squeeze ourselves mentally and induce a headache; when we get uptight emotionally, we feel uneasy; we can contract ourselves physically and the result is a multitude of aches and pains. If you agree that squeezing, tightening, and contracting are indeed realities and responsible for tension, then the relief of the condition would result from decontracting or, in other words, letting go and relaxing. Some may not agree with Hittleman, but if you can recognize where the tense muscles are, and issue a calm order to these muscles to relax, you can change the pattern and habits of the tense muscles so that they decontract when not used. This physical decontraction, emphasized with Hatha (Physical)Yoga exercises, not only frees a great amount of tied-up energy but also leads to emotional and mental relaxation.
It takes time and discipline to practice the teachings from our ancient scriptures and apply their wisdom to improve our lives. Whatever we can gain from others is a gift. Since I have many roles as a woman that consume my days, I would be foolish to say I have complete control of my senses, emotions, and mind, and yet, Yoga and meditation, center me and help me face life’s challenges more clearly. As Benjamin Franklin, the man who drafted the documents for the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution said, “A well done is better than well said.”
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