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Hatha Yoga: The Yogi Philosophy of Physical Well-Being1900
Let us consider the question of relaxation and try to see just what it
means. In order to better comprehend it let us first consider its opposite—
contraction. When we wish to contract a muscle, in order that we may
perform some action, we send an impulse from the brain to the muscle, an
extra supply of Prana being conveyed to it, and the muscle contracts. The
Prana travels over the motor nerves, reaches the muscle and causes it to
draw its ends together and to thus exert a pull upon the limb or part which
we wish to move, bringing it into action. If we wish to dip our pen into the
inkwell, our desire manifests into action by our brain sending a current of
Prana to certain muscles in our right arm, hand and fingers, and the muscles,
contracting in turn, carry our pen to the inkwell, dip it in, and bring it back
to our paper. And so with every act of the body, conscious or unconscious.
In the conscious act the conscious faculties send a message to the Instinctive
Mind, which immediately obeys the order by sending the current of Prana
to the desired part. In the unconscious movement the Instinctive Mind does
not wait for orders, but attends to the whole work itself, both the ordering
and the executing. But every action, conscious or unconscious, uses up
a certain amount of Prana, and if the amount so used is in excess of the
amount which the system has been in the habit of storing the result is that
one becomes weakened and generally “used up.” The fatigue of a particular
muscle is somewhat different, and results from the unaccustomed work it
has been called upon to perform, because of the unusual amount of Prana
which has been directed toward contracting it.
We have spoken so far only of the actual movements of the body,
resulting from muscular contraction, proceeding from the current of prana
directed to the muscle. There is another form of the using up of prana and
the consequent wear and tear upon the muscles, which is not so familiar
to the minds of most of us. Those of our students who live in the cities will
recognize our meaning when we compare the waste of prana to the waste
of water occasioned by the failure to turn off the faucet in the washbowl
and the resulting trickling away of the water hour after hour. Well, this is