Inner Work

For the week of August 8, 2005

Relaxing Into Now

So many forces conspire to pull us out of this moment, out of ourselves: thoughts and emotions, hurry and worry, pains and pleasures, fascination and aversion, people with their needs and demands, their beauty and their quirks. To leave be all that impinges on us, to just relax into this moment without collapsing into the kaleidoscope of life, brings a real and welcome liberation, even if only temporarily. This does not imply a lack of engagement, enjoyment, or concern with all that enters our life. On the contrary, being able to relax leaves us free to participate in life wholeheartedly.

Although this ability to relax does reduce stress, like an instant vacation, the implications and possibilities run much deeper than the necessary help it provides our body and emotions. To be relaxed means not to be inwardly held captive by the chains of life. This prerequisite puts us into a position to reach beyond ourselves through presence, meditation, and prayer. The first freedom of inwardly releasing all those constraints enables us to begin approaching the ultimate freedom found in the Divine. Emotional and physical tensions prevent the preoccupied parts of us from entering the deeper spiritual work. Relaxing through and through brings us naturally into a state of presence, into our body, heart, and mind, into the now, the springboard toward the spiritual depths.

For this week, allow yourself to relax into the ever-present now. Let go of all that grabs you, until you are free to be here.

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