The art of refreshing (The 16 celestial arts)

In such a stressful world, relaxation is pricy. Most of a normal person's money goes towards what we could call "means of relaxation": tours, hotels, movies (in-house or at a cinema), SPA, etc.

It is a concept: if you are stressed, go and relax yourself! This concept has become a paradigm and we all live under that, at least at some point of our lives. The problem is that when you finished with the relaxation, eventually you have to come back to the stressing situations. Good perhaps for the economy, but bad for people. And if it is bad for people, definitely will be bad for economy on the long term.

So, this skill is very valuable. When you learn to refresh yourself, revitalizing your mind and body, whilst amidst your own duties within your household or work, you would have find paradise at your doorstep.

Is it even possible? Yes, it is. It requires practice and discipline, but as soon as you have the knowledge and the skill to relax yourself, you can do it even under stress.

This skill helps you to keep balance in your life and to improve your health in many dimensions - physical, mental, emotional, etc. But, how to do it?

First of all, you have to really understand yourself and what relaxes you and what does not relax you. Think of relaxation of a massage session; some people leave the session sighing and celebrating the distension, but others leave it feeling pain all over the body. In other words, relaxation is not a general formula...

When you relax, things seem easier, you feel full of energy and very well, and you can solve problems much faster than under stress. So, what does relax you? It is not really the means, but the way you see them. Relaxation starts in your attitude, not at a SPA.

As a spiritual person, the main attitude that brings relaxation is the feeling that I am just an instrument; I don't need to worry about anything. Other people I know relax with the attitude that this will pass very soon, so let me enjoy it and learn from it. What is the attitude you have that relaxes you more than anything?

When you answered that, then you can choose the best instrument or means for your relaxation. You will need at least one that can be used daily. For me, it is meditation, but for other people is walking daily at a park. It would be good if you have one instrument that allows you to relax at any moment, like a minute-length meditation.

If you do that, you will see that you will become more productive, happy and satisfied with your life, and with other people. And that is worth the price to create a discipline and develop this skill.