Tension vs. relaxation

mapmaker.curtrosengren.com

I started a tai chi class tonight (my very first class), and at the end one of the people there shared this saying with the group:

Tension is who you think you should be.  Relaxation is who you are. 

~Chinese Proverb

I couldn't resist passing it along to you. The saying fits hand in glove with my definition of passion, which is, "the energy that comes from bringing more of YOU into what you do." It's being who you are. And when you're who you are, you don't have the tension that comes with trying to be who you're not. It all flows.

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Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

Comments

[Aarthi]

Hello Curt,
Thats a very nice thought. Thanks for sharing.
I wish you a very Happy New Year and I take this opportunity to thank you for your wonderful and inspiring posts.
They are all good food for my thoughts and they have in many ways helped in my path towards living a better and happier life.
thanks so much
Aarthi

[Eric Blue]

Hi Curt,

I like this saying. This proverb reminds me of some material I was reading last weekend. I've been digging into Ken Wilber lately and was reading some excerpts from his book No Boundary (pg. 109-116).

His description of how stress and tension occurs is very interesting. When people feel angry or hostile, their default reaction is to let that anger out. If you surpress this emotion, you're also surpressing the physical action and muscles associated with the usual discharge.

"Rather, you must use some of your muscles to hold back the action of some of your other muscles. What results is a war of muscles. Half of your muscles struggle to discharge the hostility by striking out, while the other half strain to prevent just that. It's like stepping on the gas with one foot and the brake with the other. The conflict ends in a stalemate, but a very tense one, with large amounts of energy expended with a net movement of zero."

[Curt Rosengren]

Thanks Aarthi. I'm glad you're finding them the posts beneficial. :-)

Eric, that's a great analogy. Hoo boy do I know that feeling all too well. Still working on enlightenment - I figure I'll be there next Thursday by lunch time. ;-) OK, maybe not.

Thanks for sharing it.