Tai Chi for Relaxation Three Levels of Relaxation

The first level is that you appear to be relaxed, but you are not relaxed either physically or mentally. You give an impression outwardly of a relaxed person, but you are unstable mentally. You may even have physical backache and neck ache, but you look relaxed. Looking relaxed comes from an outward perception.

The second level of relaxation is that you feel relaxed, but physically you are slightly stressed because you are not maintaining proper alignment; you are leaning into the joints and collapsing into the organs. That is not the most relaxed posture; it is a little bit of relaxing but much collapsing. There is a tendency for some to be confused about the difference between being relaxed and collapsing. Collapsed does not necessarily mean relaxed even though there is some relaxation within collapsing. Feeling relaxed, but still being unaware of the stress caused by your alignment, is not true relaxation. Click to learn how Chinese medicine treats Gout.

Sensing relaxation is the third level, the deepest level of relaxation. It includes both the physical and the mental aspects. In sensing relaxation, you are relaxed mentally and physically, and you are correctly aligned so the stress on the skeleton, the joints, is reduced. Organs can be stressed from misalignment as can the vertebrae in the spine. Slouching and collapsing the thoracic spine, which is a posture that most of us carry when we sit at the computer, or at dinner, or with friends, is one of our worst enemies. Collapsing the thoracic spine compresses against the internal organs as well as the lung, and slows down the movement in the digestive system, which reduces the oxygen intake. When your thoracic spine is aligned and straight, the lungs are open and you can breathe fully. When the thoracic spine is collapsed, it compresses the lungs and could decrease your oxygen intake by half. In sensing relaxation, you are mentally and physically alert and aware, aligned, and calm.

There are a few keys to reduce or prevent mental and physical stress. On a physical level, the method of prevention and healing is through learning healthy alignment, finding balance between your strength and flexibility, increasing your lung capacity, and understanding the alignment within the spine and within the various stretches and resistance training. Once your alignment and balance between strength and flexibility are achieved, learning the correct use of the body alignment in the various motion and actions is the next step. You learn how to utilize the body in ways that reduce stress on the various groups of muscles and train your strength using optimal movement. An example is shoveling snow. Once you learn to lift snow using your legs rather than using your lower back, tremendous stress is removed from your lower back and shoulders.

Also, using the leg muscles and using the waist to turn to dump the snow reduces stress on the knees and the lower back. Correct action or movement is an important behavior to reduce stress on the joints and skeleton. Increasing your oxygen intake brings more oxygen into the bloodstream, which upgrades every cell in your body, leading to a better ability in dealing with stress.