re working for, and this
extreme relaxation will bring it, because we have erred so far in the
opposite direction. For instance, there is now no balance at all
between our action and our rest, because we are more or less tense and
consequently active all through the times when we should be entirely at
rest; and we never can be moved by Nature's rhythm until we learn
absolute relaxation for rest, and so gain the true equilibrium in that
way. Then again, since we use so much unnecessary tension in everything
we do, although we cannot remove it entirely until we learn the normal
motion of our muscles, still after an hour's practice and the
consequent gain in extreme relaxation, it will be impossible to attack
our work with the same amount of unnecessary force, at least for a
time; and every day the time in which we are able to work, or talk, or
move with less tension will increase, and so our bad habits be
gradually changed, if not to good, to better ones. So the true
equilibrium comes gradually more and more into every action of our
lives, and we feel more and more the wholesome harmony of a rhythmic
life. We gradually swing into rhythm with Nature through a child-like
obedience to her laws.

Of one thing I must warn all nervous people who mean to try the relief
to be gained from relaxation. The first effects will often be
exceedingly unpleasant. The same results are apt to follow that come
from the reaction after extreme excitement,--all the way from nervous
nausea and giddiness to absolute fainting. This, as must be clearly
seen, is a natural result from the relaxation that comes after years of
habitual tension. The nerves have been held in a chronic state of
excitement over something or nothing; and, of course, when their owner
for the first time lets go, they begin to feel their real state, and
the result of habitual strain must be unpleasant. The greater the
nervous strain at the beginning, the more slowly the pupil should
advance, practising in some cases only five minutes a day.

And with regard to those people who "live on their nerves," not a few,
indeed very many, are so far out of the normal way of living that they
detest relaxation. A hearty hatred of the relaxing motions is often
met, and even when the mind is convinced of the truth of the theory, it
is only with difficulty that such people can persuade themselves or be
persuaded by others to work steadily at the practice until the desired
result is gained.