Physiology of Bliss, Part One

“Our most sacred convictions, the unchanging elements of our supreme values, are judgments of our muscles.” Nietzsche

Muscles aren’t mostly for movement. We sense with them. We sense with our muscles and their nerves. Through them we’re aware of the location of our body parts in space; we sense pressure; we sense the amount of tension and the amount of stretch in our system.

If we get pressed on too hard or stretched too fast, the neuromuscular system will initiate a reflex tensing of the muscle. However if we get pressed on or stretched quite slowly, the neuromuscular system initiates relaxation. If a stretch or tension is sustained for longer than six seconds, the nervous system lets go and we gain in length.

Sound familiar?

So when you are massaging or stretching yourself doing yoga, find that magic duration. Sustain the stroke or hold the stretch for six or more seconds and watch the neuromuscular system initiate relaxation from deep inside.

– Make good contact

– Find the right depth

– Begin your movement

– Sustain or hold it for around six (or more) seconds

– Observe change

– Disengage

You will then discover yourself with less tension, more free from deep within.

When we relax from deep within, our sense of the world changes. There is literally more room for movement, more room for feeling, less tension in the mind, more room for the soul, more room for changing one’s whole life.

“…From every edge explode like starlight: for there’s not one spot that doesn’t see you. You must change your life.”

Rilke