What is relaxation? And is it progressive?

[Unabomber]

Yo dawgs,

many people talk about relaxation as a skill, as if it were something that one can progressively get better on.

Well, this would mean that there is more to it than muscular tension releasing, such as a mental holding on to the body that would prevents people from getting out of their bodies (in theory). If so, that would explain why masters like Robert Bruce say they can get out within very few minutes of lying down, or Robert Peterson writes he had left his body even while walking.
For some people Astral Projection is like a cakewalk, yet for others near impossible, so there must be a level of looseness of one's astral body. On the other hand, maybe its just that some people simply have more DMT produced in their pineals

I think relaxation is the key ingredient but the HOW is where it gets complicated imo.

[moondreamer]

It took me a long time to 'learn' how to relax the body, and it does very much seem to correlate with how quickly I can 'get out.'  One way to make sure you have no tense muscles is to go through all of the muscle groups in your body and tense them as tight as you can and then let them relax.  I don't need to do this anymore, but it did help me become aware of muscles that were not relaxed even though I had thought they were.  Another thing I used to do that helped was imagine my body just slowly sinking into the bed/chair and imagine being very heavy.  Then there is the mental part you speak of, which is a bit more tricky for me.  I had a huge problem with getting my mind to quiet down.  This just got easier and easier the more I practiced meditating.  I'm not sure if this is the type of answer you are looking for.

Angie

[personalreality]

Yo dawgs,

many people talk about relaxation as a skill, as if it were something that one can progressively get better on.

Well, this would mean that there is more to it than muscular tension releasing, such as a mental holding on to the body that would prevents people from getting out of their bodies (in theory). If so, that would explain why masters like Robert Bruce say they can get out within very few minutes of lying down, or Robert Peterson writes he had left his body even while walking.
For some people Astral Projection is like a cakewalk, yet for others near impossible, so there must be a level of looseness of one's astral body. On the other hand, maybe its just that some people simply have more DMT produced in their pineals

I think relaxation is the key ingredient but the HOW is where it gets complicated imo.

It doesn't necessarily mean that there is more than the release of muscle tension.  The progressive part of "progressive relaxation" is that you move progressively through the different muscle structures.  So instead of just pick random muscles to relax, you start at the feet or head and progress through the body, relaxing each muscle group in turn.  Also, you do get better at it because you learn how to isolate different muscle groups the more you do it and focus more attention on relaxing.  The more you do it, the faster you can do it because you learn the most effective ways to isolate and relax specific groups of muscles. 

I do think there is more happening than just relaxation during that period too though, I just don't think it's necessarily related to relaxation.  I think there is a separate action being taken that just hasn't been entirely identified.  I suspect it has something to do with movement sensations.  For example, when i practice i simulate the falling sensation.  I don't even really relax anymore, I just do the falling thing.

[Xanth]

Relaxation can be as simple as just sitting/lying down and taking a few deep breaths.
For Astral Projection, this might be enough for some people... for others, the "Progressive Relaxation" (or something similar) is required to fully relax the body.
We do know that "generally speaking" MIND FOLLOWS BODY and vice versa.  So if you can relax one, generally the other will follow suit... however, I find that it's much easier to relax your mind if your body relaxes first.  The opposite is harder.

With that said... take an objective look around your body right this second.  You'll probably find some tension in the muscles around your eyes, forehead, ears, perhaps in your neck and shoulders as well, and a bunch of muscles as you go downwards through your body.  Those are spots you'll need to focus on.

Muscle relaxation is definitely something you can practice and get quite good at.  Sitting here right now typing this, I can feel the muscles around my ears feeling very tense.  I can focus on them and will them to relax.  The result is that I feel the muscles in that area relax, my ears drop slightly due to not being strained and a general sense of "ahhhh yes" kind of comes over the area.

That's the kind of result you're looking for all over your physical body.  When this is done, mind you it doesn't have to be 100%, just enough to where your mind will start to follow suit... THEN you're ready to move on.  

Muscular Relaxation and Visualization are probably two of the best things to learn for Phasing.  

I was talking to my gf the other night about relaxation, because I got to thinking about HOW I do it... I came to the conclusion that I can't really teach people HOW to relax anymore, because I've kind of forgotten HOW I do it!  It's just something that's so automatic to me now-a-days.  I'll need to slow down my approach next time I do it and observe what's actually happening when I "will" a muscle to relax.

[Stookie]

You just relax as deep as you possibly can. Then you multiply it by 10. Then go "ahhhh, that's relaxing".

For myself, and it may just be from years of doing it, but energy work itself does job. I also use a slow/calm/focused breath during energy work.

[Taoistguy]

For me, it's more a state of Mind. I find when I first lay down that I can get into the 'zone' quite easily with body/muscle relaxation, but can't do much else until I still and relax my mind.

[Unabomber]

For myself, and it may just be from years of doing it, but energy work itself does job. I also use a slow/calm/focused breath during energy work.

thats kind of what i was getting into,

they seem to be one and the same.

For a long time I used to just lay down and ignore my body/energy body and focus only on mental techniques and it would get me nowhere near OBEs. However the times when I focused on my body it seemed to get me somewhere.

And all the real OBEs i had were from a state of perfect relaxation with no trance/concentration stuff involoved, only energy movement.

My conclusion is that there is an inevitable decoupling from the physical necessary in order to project from the waking state. One can't just project using only the mind.

[Xanth]

My conclusion is that there is an inevitable decoupling from the physical necessary in order to project from the waking state. One can't just project using only the mind.

I call it "disassociation".  You need to, literally, forget about the physical. 

[Unabomber]

I call it "disassociation".  You need to, literally, forget about the physical.  

Well you see there lies a difference. What you are up to, Xanth is mental-body travel (dreams etc.). But astral-body travel goes from the etheric-energy body on, which is a part of the physical body, NOT the mental body - so in order to travel astrally what one must do is substract energy from the etheric energy-body that is part of the physical body, so if you just forget about your physical body you're not going to get to astral travel.
Sorry but it is that complicated. I know that many experts will agree with me on this. It is old occult-science.

Gosh, I must've missed our little arguments  

[Unabomber]

My original point was that in theory its not about relaxing muscle groups but disentangling the energy body from the physical body much like unwinding a cable chaos so you focus on physical body parts for that reason, capiche?


What i meant with "progressive" is it being a skill that you can progressively get better on, like learning an instrument or not. If so, then why - because relaxing muscle groups is a natural function of the physical body, what is there to learn except developing its etheric blanket?

[Xanth]

Well you see there lies a difference. What you are up to, Xanth is mental-body travel (dreams etc.). But astral-body travel goes from the etheric-energy body on, which is a part of the physical body, NOT the mental body - so in order to travel astrally what one must do is substract energy from the etheric energy-body that is part of the physical body, so if you just forget about your physical body you're not going to get to astral travel.

I don't have such dividing lines in my wider reality.  It's ALL the non-physical to me.  

Sorry but it is that complicated. I know that many experts will agree with me on this. It is old occult-science.

Everyone has their opinion.
You have yours... I have mine... "other experts" have theirs.
"many experts" also agree with me... does that make my opinion anymore valid?  Nope.  

Gosh, I must've missed our little arguments  

Pardon?
Do I know you?  >_>

My original point was that in theory its not about relaxing muscle groups but disentangling the energy body from the physical body much like unwinding a cable chaos so you focus on physical body parts for that reason, capiche?

I don't see a need for such a body to exist.

What i meant with "progressive" is it being a skill that you can progressively get better on, like learning an instrument or not.

Ah, gotcha. 

If so, then why - because relaxing muscle groups is a natural function of the physical body, what is there to learn except developing its etheric blanket?

Actually, I believe that relaxing for young children is a natural function of the physical body... but as we age, we learn the opposite.  We learn rigidity.
I don't understand the second part of your question.  Are you asking does relaxation develop your etheric-body?  As I said, I don't believe such a body objectively exists beyond the need for there to be something there.

[Unabomber]

Pardon?
Do I know you?  >_>

I'll leave that up to you. I'm pretty sure you'll know soon, anyway  .