"This is love: to fly toward a secret sky…" — Rumi
For about a year now, I do a little relaxation activity after work and before "me time". Although I telecommute, I still need to switch my mind-set from "working" to "relaxing". For most of my life, I’ve had problems with worrying. If someone bullied me at school (which happened almost every day) I’d go over the incident again and again and then wonder what treat for me the next day. It got so I couldn’t relax enough to eat or fall asleep. We all need time to relax from under the weights of our worldly obligations, or we’d break under the constant strain. Having a way to switch over from "working" to "relaxing" was essential. Now I read Rumi for relaxation after work.
You don’t have to read Rumi in particular, but there may be a poet, mystic or singer that helps throw a switch in your brain, telling it "OK — time to party!" For me, it’s the Rumi-meister.
Who?
Rumi was an incredible Islamic mystic and poet who lived in the thirteenth century. He was one of the inspirations behind the Whirling Dervishes, founded after Rumi’s death by his followers. Rituals help overcome being blinded by everyday concerns by uniting with God (however you imagine God). Whirling, mental focus, reciting poetry spontaneously, it’s all a form of moving meditation. I can’t whirl (I throw up if I do), but I can read Rumi’s poetry aloud.
Rumi’s poems are quite short and do not have to be read in the original Persian, although there are some who claim the sound waves produced by the original language is more beneficial to the listener and speaker. But there are excellent English translations available, in book form and online.
I have tried Rumi silently and it just doesn’t seem to get my mind and body to relax as when I read Rumi aloud. Perhaps it’s the same as listening to music instead of merely trying to remember it. The act of reading Rumi for relaxation seems to bathe me in warm (albeit dry) waves.
Keep It In Balance
More is not necessarily better with reading Rumi for relaxation. There does get to be a point where my mind just can’t absorb the images and words anymore. It’s like being so used to your perfume, that you just can’t smell it anymore. So I read only one or two pages a night and that’s it. I sit in the same chair with a cup of tea by me. My only audience is the dog and the goldfish.
After reading Rumi for relaxation, I pause, and think of — well, come to think of it, I don’t think of anything. I just appreciate the moment. Then, after who knows how long, I’m ready for some fun reading, doing cryptograms or snacking. Then, I’m groggy and relaxed enough for a solid sleep.
Try your own little reading or singing ritual for a while if you have problems turning your daily problems off. Try it for at least a month to help re-program your mind that now is the time to stop worrying and start relaxing.
Hope this helps.
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4 Comments
Write a Comment»Rumi lets you breathe more fully, doesn’t it? You breathe in the richness of the moment, whether you’re in the office or in nature, and that fullness helps you relax.
Brilliantly put, Matthew. Rumi certainly helps you remember to breathe. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
The Yoga of Eating
I must have been incredibly simple or drunk or insane
To sneak into my own house and steal money,
To climb over the fence and take my own vegetables.
But no more. I’ve gotten free of that ignorant fist
That was pinching and twisting my secret self.
- Rumi
That’s a good one, Sam. Thanks for taking the time to post it
I think that’s known by several other titles, too. I don’t think Rumi titled his poems; I’ll have to check. A good book with daily Rumi readings for realaxtion is A Year With Rumi, at http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060845971/A_Year_with_Rumi/index.aspx
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[...] acgainst the computer screen is to read. I’ve already written about the ethereal poetry of Rumi, which I still highly recommend. But I seem to have read so much Rumi in the past couple of [...]