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Relaxation...
Nov. 12th, 2013 10:34 pmI had a small epiphany on the way home from tai-chi this evening. To wit: relaxation is the hardest thing in the world.
To be sure, before setting off, it would make a lot of sense to define what I mean by "relaxation," perhaps even by identifying what it isn't.
That said, I now find myself tongue-tied.
I was going to start by noting how quite a number of sports activities, such as boxing, are not examples of "relaxation," but then I recall the course of this evening's tai-chi session, and pause. Sifu was relaxed. I was not.
I suppose I've gotten off on this tangent because a lot of recent reading I've done about memorization pretty much considers "relaxation" to be an absolutely essential factor for successfully memorizing information.
And it occurs to me that quite a number of folks that I know—despite protestations and that includes me—really don't know how to relax.
It would appear relaxation is a learned skill, or something that is achieved by unlearning other behaviors. (This raises an interesting question: Can one "unlearn" something? Or is that merely a flowery way of saying "to learn something to replace what has been previously learned"?)
I seem to be going nowhere with this line of thinking. I wonder if that's evidence of stress? Because one would expect, if one were relaxed, to be able to think lucidly.
* * * In other news, yesterday and today have seen an uptick in incoming work, which is always a good thing.
To be sure, before setting off, it would make a lot of sense to define what I mean by "relaxation," perhaps even by identifying what it isn't.
That said, I now find myself tongue-tied.
I was going to start by noting how quite a number of sports activities, such as boxing, are not examples of "relaxation," but then I recall the course of this evening's tai-chi session, and pause. Sifu was relaxed. I was not.
I suppose I've gotten off on this tangent because a lot of recent reading I've done about memorization pretty much considers "relaxation" to be an absolutely essential factor for successfully memorizing information.
And it occurs to me that quite a number of folks that I know—despite protestations and that includes me—really don't know how to relax.
It would appear relaxation is a learned skill, or something that is achieved by unlearning other behaviors. (This raises an interesting question: Can one "unlearn" something? Or is that merely a flowery way of saying "to learn something to replace what has been previously learned"?)
I seem to be going nowhere with this line of thinking. I wonder if that's evidence of stress? Because one would expect, if one were relaxed, to be able to think lucidly.
