Quote:To speak of combining activity with relaxation may seem paradoxical ; but in fact
it is not. For relaxation is of two kinds, passive and dynamic. Passive relaxation is
achieved in a state of complete repose, by a process of consciously ' letting go.' As
an antidote to fatigue, as a method of temporarily relieving excessive muscular
tensions, together with the psychological tensions that always accompany them,
passive relaxation is excellent. But it can never, in the nature of things, be enough.
We cannot spend our whole lives at rest, consequently cannot be always passively
relaxing. But there is also something to which it is legitimate to give the name of
dynamic relaxation. Dynamic relaxation is that state of the body and mind which is
associated with normal and natural functioning. In the case of what I have called
the fundamental or primary psycho-physical skills, normal and natural functioning
of the organs involved may sometimes be lost. But having been lost, it may
subsequently be consciously re-acquired by anyone who has learnt the suitable
techniques. When it has been re-acquired, the strain associated with impaired
functioning disappears and the organs involved do their work in a condition of
dynamic relaxation.