There are various reasons and uses for quieting your mind, but none as important as relaxation. While many of us focus on the issues that confront us in life, we often are aware of the importance of relaxing our bodies, yet we often unintentionally neglect our minds. Like the muscles in our bodies, the mind occasionally needs rest. Also like those muscles in our bodies, the mind can be strengthened.
When you want to improve the strength of a muscle you flex it and force it to move with as much force as possible. The methods for doing this depend on the muscle and how much improvement you want. The end goal is to max out the muscle’s potential, let it rest, then repeat the process until it becomes stronger. This process also applies to our minds, but we often forget the “rest” part and keep on exercising it.
The best way to rest your mind is to relax it, and the best way to do that is different for every person. There are mental techniques to relax the mind, but there are also mental techniques where the mind has to be relaxed prior to performing the exercise. The human mind is very complex, but there is one fact that has been well documented – if you overtax your mind and don’t let it relax when it needs to, your body will suffer.
The most typical forms of mental relaxation that people practice are meditation and prayer. These practices are quiet, peaceful, and can be done by almost everyone. However, there are some people who find that the attempt to quiet their mind actually antagonizes them. For these people the need to find alternate forms of relaxation is very important.
Some people can relax as if they were asleep by meditating while others need to listen to music or perform an action. The music preferred is again a matter of individuality. Some people like to listen to opera, soft music, or even heavy metal. But they get themselves in that relaxed state of mind where nothing else in the world matters. While some may say this is a bad state of mind it’s important to remember that you need to forget about the world sometimes.
Aside from music, some physical activities can also result in a deep state of relaxation. These actions are often formed from engaging in a hobby or something else you love and you can do without having to tax your mind. In fact the mind can actually rejuvenate itself while active if it’s an activity that’s enjoyable. This is often referred to as a state of waking trance.
Trance isn’t anything unhealthy and the fact of the matter is if each of us could go into a trance more often, we might be healthier. We aren’t speaking about a mystical science fiction type of trance where you’re a mindless zombie but rather a state of pure relaxation. Most of us would agree that considering the state of the world right now we could all use more relaxation.
While relaxing the mind is key to strengthening it, it’s also a key to maintaining good health. Your physical health can suffer if your mental health degrades so remember to take time out and let your mind rest. Prayer, meditation, sleep, music, or activities can help put you in a state of relaxation. Just remember the saying that “a mind is a terrible thing to waste”, so remember to take good care of yours.
Author: Cliff Saunders
Cliff Saunders is a student of "The Law of Attraction". He has spent over 30 years as a trainer, speaker, and consultant, and writes about ways to achieve and maintain a healthy and satisfying life.
