Underlying the whole process of yoga is a simple aim: to become relaxed. Beginning with physical relaxation and encompassing relaxation of emotional, mental, and ideological tension, the practice of yoga is nothing more than letting go. By learning to let go, to relax on every level of our being we discover that we were always endowed with all that we need. The only problem was that our tension, our anxiety masked this fact. By overeacting to the difficulties of life, we build up layers of defensiveness, of physical and psychological armour. Because we are conditioned to turn away from discomfort, to avoid pain, we spend our lives accumulating the tension of unresolved conflict. Although we bury our awareness of the source and cause of this tension, this inner discomfort, we are nevertheless affected by it. It is constantly driving us to some form of relief or another. Perhaps we use alcohol or drugs to relax, perhaps we go shopping, perhaps we watch violent films. But these attempts to relieve the pressure of our inner pain can only be temporary, and often simply add to it, directly or indirectly.

However, when we begin to relax by releasing our hidden tension, by resolving physically and psychologically our inner conflict, through the practice of yoga, something quite unexpected occurs. We discover that all of our effort to become happier, better, more peaceful, through imposing our will on the external world through whatever means we have chosen, was not only useless but quite unnecessary. We discover that peace, joy, contentment, compassion, love and understanding quite naturally have their abode within us. We discover that it is in fact not true that it is human nature to be violent, cruel and selfish. We discover that this is our social, conditioned nature, not out human nature.

The resolution of tension achieved by yoga is gradual, gentle and generally without crisis. It begins with the loosening of physical tension in the muscles, and hardness in the joints and ligaments. This is achieved in asana practice. As physical hardness is released, the underlying emotional pain that was frozen in physical tissue is released. This release does sometimes brings with it an echo of the feeling involved. So, during asana practice we may be working though discomfort or resistance in some part of the body, and in doing so begin to feel the presence of an emotion, such as grief, anger or even a state of mind such as confusion or doubt. The feeling usually co-incides exactly with the experience of physical resistance or discomfort. If we release the posture, relieving the physical discomfort, the accompanying feeling also fades. If we stay with the physical pain, the feeling persists. Eventually, when the residue of frozen feeling is fully released the physical discomfort will also end, and holding or re-establishing the posture will no longer be uncomfortable.

When we practice pranayama we take this process onto a deeper level. We begin to work directly on the pain of our hearts. The heart chakra, like the lungs is centred in the chest. Any activity in the lungs or chest affects the heart. The opening action of backbends begins to soften, and open the heart. When the tension in the muscle of the heart and those around it begins to release, the pain of our heart can also release. Pranayama is a process in which all of the small muscles of the chest and throat used in breathing are systematically activated, exercised and toned. In order for them to function fully, all physical tension in their tissues must be released. Because of their proximity to the heart these muscles tend to bear the imprint of traumas associated with love and trust. While these muscles remain traumatised, or chronically tense, our heart chakra remains restricted, our heart is closed: we tend to be afraid to love, unable to trust. Pranayama helps to release this fear, by freeing its muscular embodiment. When this occurs, and we relax our emotional defenses regarding love, our lives begin to be characterised by openness, and to begin to be flavoured with love and joy.

It is in the face muscles especially that we embody our deepest psychological tension. The muscles of the mouth and jaw in particular are chronically unable to relax. In fact whenever we think the brain sends nervous impulses to those muscles that would be required to articulate those thoughts, but the muscles do not actually move. As a result tension builds up and is held constantly in the facial muscles. So much of the chatter of our minds arises from anxiety and tension about our lives, which is often completely unconscious. Through meditation we begin to see into these patterns of anxiety and fear that create so much noise in our minds. As we see into them, and experience the way that they create tension and difficulty for us, we begin to let go of them. As this happens our face begins to relax, our eyes to shine. The beauty of deep happiness begins to radiate from our faces.

We all carry within us unconscious attitudes about life that cause deep tension that we are not aware of. This tension expresses itself in our frantic efforts to control our lives, to succeed, to establish inviolable security, to be rich or famous, wise or respected. We create these attitude as a result of our early experiences of traumas such as loss, rejection, fear and pain as a child. These experiences become processed into our pre-conceptual minds as the very nature of reality. We become deeply afraid of life. We think the universe is a cold impersonal machine, in which life has arisen by accident. We think that when we die we will go to hell and be punished for our sins. We think that life is meaningless and that we ourselves are somehow bad. These feelings cause our deepest tension, and can come with us through our whole lives without ever being noticed.

In order to release this deep, crippling tension which prevents us from being open to the beauty of life in each changing moment, we need to see it. Besides seeing that such tension is there, we have to see into its whole context: how it arose, and how it expresses itself in our fragmenting attitudes, our divisive, fearful actions. Because there is so much pain associated with these attitudes we have tremendous resistance to recognising and acknowledging them. It is extremely difficult to allow the mind to dwell so deeply on such painful issues. This is why meditation must be prepared fro by asana to develop resilience, to give us stability, and pranayama is necessary to develop tranquillity. When we have stability and tranquillity we are able to direct our attention to these issues, and to resolve and release them. This is the practical purpose of meditation: to resolve our deepest , unconscious tensions that cause so much anxiety and chaos in our lives.

As we begin to relax deeply, to accept ourselves fully, we discover there is so much more to us than our self-image, however positive, allowed. We discover that the more we allow ourselves to be all the things we tried not to be, the more we accept the presence of pain, of anger, of doubt, of fear within us, the less significance , the less potency they have. As they lose their power over us, their ability to condition our actions unconsciously, we begin to experience and to express our deeper nature. We begin to live from peace, happiness, joy and compassion.

This is the real fruit of yoga. It gives us back our lost legacy. It returns to us the beauty and the richness of our deeper selves. A self that was never lost, but only covered over. The path towards this fruit is simply one of learning to relax. It is this that the practice of yoga is for, and it is this that the practice of yoga will bring.

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