It has been shown by a modern doctor that several age old techniques for calming babies actually call upon a reflex reaction in the baby. Human babies are born while they are still very immature as there is simply no room for them beyond 9 months. Babies have to leave the mother quite a time before they are ready, calling for complete development at the breast and not inside the womb. It is quite a transition.
Whilst in the womb the baby is unable to cry, it is held quite tightly, it is also subject to a loud and constant noise. If a mother reenacts these conditions for the newborn it will, by reflex, stop crying and remain at perfect rest. The mother first wraps the child tightly, moves it to a side on position and makes a very loud shhhhh noise into the baby's ear and to complete the process they may then wobble the baby (not rock) thus, by combination, reminding the baby of its time in the womb. This process is not though fooling the baby but triggering a reflex that was in place for the 9 months previous.
When a person is stressed they are, both ironically and quite literally, unable to do anything relaxing. The techniques we have for calming ourselves are somehow put-off and fretting and anguish remain. There are though useful tools, sitting positions, breathing techniques, aromas, sounds and so on that induce a calmer state. We are all aware of breathing but let's look at sitting.
You may not be able to sit in a full lotus position but the key features are; hips wide apart, back straight, lungs open, shoulders down, back and open, whole body steady. It is my idea that this position triggers a reflex. I am especially interested in the 'hips open' part of the position. It seems to me that most stances the modern person slips into are stress inducing or the result of stress. Sofa and chair sitting generally causes the lower back to bend so that the stomach is squashed, the lungs reduced in capacity and the hips roll inward, together and tightly trap the bowels. Just the opposite way a healthy person should be sitting.
If you do not already consider the way that you sit then I would ask you to first, deliberately, get your hips as wide apart as possible. Place one hand under the buttocks or thigh, rock your weight the other way and rotate the hip out with your hand as you transfer the weight back down. Then do the other side and repeat. You'll notice that your lower back is caused to straighten up and from this you'll set the foundation for a perfectly erect torso, one where the bowels, gut and lungs operate at full capacity in full freedom of movement.
Beyond this is the position that I feel triggers a reflex satori state.
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Tao Wow | Daily Cup of Tao
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