“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

The response of relaxation after the first session in fact helped set the stage for the better functioning that Ruburt noticed in various areas of the body this evening. While these may appear together or separately, the relaxation and the functioning continue. In the second session you were tired at the time—tired rather than, say, relaxed yourself. Nevertheless the suggestions you gave at that session allowed particular muscles a further but unnoticed relaxation—also contributing to the neck release Ruburt felt this evening.

Try to forget all notions that Ruburt might relax so suddenly that he would be in difficulty —not able to get about, say. He might be too relaxed to get up for an hour or so, or need your help at the moment, but the body is simply not going to collapse if it relaxes, and those ideas could impede your progress. That is exactly what Ruburt has feared, relaxing, so such ideas seem to confirm such needless worries to some degree.

The sessions in a way will be cumulative. There is no need for either of you to fear that the body is suddenly going to relax into a helpless mass. That is hardly any real danger, and represents simply old fears about the nature of relaxation. Ruburt asks you to add suggestions for inspiration. Do so, for this reassures him that relaxation and inspiration do indeed go hand-in-hand.

It is a good idea to use after-suggestions, continuing the benefits during later portions of the day or evening. Some of the relaxation was not apparent, either, until Ruburt began to use his body. You can generally expect two kinds of response—one dealing with relaxation, and the other with better functioning or performance.

(Jane was very relaxed after supper, but she wanted to have the session. [...] Jane has had quite a few such relaxations in the past week—nearly on a daily basis, I think. They have been accompanied by sensations of heat, sweating, and soreness, though not all of these symptoms were present in each relaxation. [...]

[...] Therefore relaxation became a dirty word, where nothing was done. In relaxation periods then he is apt to worry. [...] He wonders how far along with the relaxation he should go.

Ruburt’s father, to Ruburt, meant laxness, relaxation to the extreme, without drive or fire, responsibility or control. [...] If will and power meant relative immobility but purpose—and purpose was what he had—then in the past he chose that above what he thought of as laxness, relaxation, and physical freedom that might mean frittering away ability, a relaxation in which nothing was accomplished.

These sentences should now clear up that seeming contradiction between relaxation and doing that he has felt for so long. Relaxation is the springboard from which physical actions come.

(9:37.) Ruburt needs your help once again to reassure him that relaxation is safe, that it is safe to let go, that he will not fall into darkness, that his muscles will actually become stronger as they relax, and that his creativity rises to the surface when his body and mind are more relaxed. [...]

Inspiration comes when he is relaxed. [...] He can understand that the best way to use his abilities to their fullest is to relax his body and his mind, to allow both greater freedom, and to exert both. [...]

(To me:)Your body wanted relaxation, but you believed that relaxation was, under the circumstances, wrong, and often when your body began to relax in the past you automatically tightened it, as another might straighten his tie to be more presentable. Relaxation leads to spontaneity. [...] When you are tense you impede mental, psychic, and artistic spontaneity, when you relax you are open to intuitive events.

[...] I’ve had several lesser encounters with relaxation effects since the massive one of April 24—the last one being last night. [...] In the meantime, I’ve let myself go, not working hard in any direction, relaxing while working on the files, or in the yard, or shopping or painting or whatever. [...] You need to relax, so that I can relax.” [...]

Your experience in relaxation (a week ago) allowed your body some release. The relaxed body sends forth hormones and chemicals of a balanced nature that influence the processes of thought, modulate moods, and also allow for moments of deep contentment, and moments of elation. [...] You should have more of those relaxing periods of varying degrees, as your body becomes regulated again. You will find yourself at times wanting physical activity more than usual, and at other times wanting only to relax.

(And I felt another relaxation experience—a milder one than last week’s—coming on....)

I suggest the exercising images be executed in the time now given to the relaxation exercises, and replacing those in the book (Psycho-Cybernetics). Let him imagine himself performing varied vigorous activities until he is nearly exhausted, and then imagine the ensuing deep relaxation.

Now these exercises will also help your intimate lives, particularly on Ruburt’s part, with the combination of vigorous motion and corresponding depth of relaxation. This is natural to him—spontaneous exertion and relaxation, and he must again let it return. [...]

[...] With Ruburt we should work toward the development of contrasts —deep relaxation and fast heating motions. [...]

[...] He should in his exercises imagine strenuous exercise, running very fast for example, until in his mind’s eye his muscles are fully relaxed.

The main difficulty with the arms now is an absence of relaxation in the shoulder area, a tension that is physically demonstrated. [...] One is through exercise which flexes and moves the muscles so that they become relaxed. The other is through direct relaxation.

Ruburt should read more in his Maltz book, definitely, and concentrate on achieving relaxation, not only in periods set aside, but in his normal daily hours at work or whatever.

His success practice is coming along exceptionally well, much better than the relaxation exercises. [...]

[...] The relaxation exercises will help short-circuit his tendency toward overreaction. [...]

Forgot: during night my stomach muscles right side lower suddenly relaxed & felt fantastic—I didn’t realize they weren’t relaxed before—then left side of my groin itched & all the flesh went soft & relaxed (and sort of flabby).

[...] Shortly later—4 PM—ligaments behind both legs relax some more, delightful feelings of release to toes.

[...] When you believe that relaxation means that you are limp, that you can do nothing, that you have let go (with humor), then, of course, you experience it as such. [...] To both of you, however, relaxation means somehow to be lax, to shuffle (louder) rather than to be resolute and determined and forever at it; and so then natural relaxation can seem overwhelming, for you are afraid, both of you, that if you relax you will do nothing. [...]

[...] It relaxes you anyway. Now Ruburt has much slighter versions, in which, say, daily or weekly tensions no longer collect as they did, which allows him some physical improvement—but he also feels that if he really relaxed he would only do the dishes or whatever. [...] The relaxed body, however, the truly relaxed body, can physically perform of course far better than the tense one.

(Last night April 23, Monday, Rob suddenly got super-relaxed and really floppy before our scheduled Seth session. In the meantime though as I went into the john, I started to pick up some of the things Seth was going to discuss, and after Rob began his odd relaxation, I got more. [...]

[...] Within a few minutes, however, I noticed that I was becoming quite relaxed. [...] “It looks like I picked up a suggestion about relaxation,” I told Jane. [...]

(I described Jane’s very relaxed states today in the notes for the regular, 856th session, from which the material to follow is taken. During her periods of relaxation she gained a number of insights about herself, her challenges and physical condition. [...] I tried to encourage her to relax more often, by saying to hell with whatever bugged her at the moment, as she did with good success today.

[...] As Seth remarked in a recent session, the relaxed muscle is able to do far more than the tense one, or words to that effect.

[...] His creative and psychic abilities emerge precisely when he is relaxed. [...]

(During the last week Jane has had several long periods of relaxation, plus other signs of continuing physical improvement. In fact, she was still feeling the effects of a relaxation as this session began. [...]

The relaxation periods bring about a necessary situation in which the muscles become more pliable, and are then gradually released. [...] During the time of relaxation then there often may be a less reliable overall posture. (Which Jane has mentioned.)

The relaxation continues longer to ensure that undue strain is not placed upon the releasing muscles until they are acclimated. [...]

[...] The relaxation episodes naturally provide in their own way, more easily and without discomfort, the same sort of benefit that theoretically would be received, say, in a chiropractic treatment. [...]

It often seems to him that to relax is to be lax, to let down, do nothing, achieve nothing, as if spontaneously left alone he would be lazy, unambitious, and again lax. [...] (Pause.) At the same time there are feelings that to relax would be to let go too much (louder)—slide into overly spontaneous behavior, to lack control over one’s life, to lose the observer’s fine focus. As his body begins to relax—as indeed it has—those feelings become more prominent than before. [...]

[...] The body’s relaxation is as of now uneven. Certain muscles relax for the first time in recent times, while others might momentarily contract so that balance is maintained—so the body is in a state of constant change. [...]

The idea that it is indeed safe to relax is important, coupled with the realization that all creativity is basically now—basically—effortless, and that this applies to the body’s motion also. When he is effortlessly creating a poem he is not worried that he is relaxing too much, or going too far, or giving up control. [...]

[...] Right now she’s sitting on the couch, feeling quite relaxed after eating supper, watching the TV news. [...]

(Jane was very relaxed as session time approached; she had been for quite a while. [...]

Ruburt’s brief experiments with the relaxation and energy exercises helped further. [...]

[...] The feelings of relaxation naturally followed.

When he feels like exerting himself he should do so, and when his body seems to want relaxation, then he should follow that line. [...]

[...] His state of mind during the day then varies, so that with his files (of poetry) today he was in a highly relaxed, creative, productive, mental level, one that served to cushion his mind from the critical reproaches he can often give himself, and therefore bodily relaxation could continue. [...]

[...] Of late, when he says that he is out of it, or very relaxed, he is involved at certain levels of awareness, in which indeed mental and physical tensions are being relieved and drained away. [...]

It seems you need certain practical instructions that involve direct experience, immediate feedback, and Ruburt has been receiving some of that in the dream state, and also to some extent in his waking reality, as he begins to trust the feelings of support and relaxation. [...]

Ruburt should relax for the rest of the evening. [...]

[...] I began to induce a general relaxation, following techniques I had read, and which Jane had used with me several years ago. I began with the feet and worked up to the head— generally at first; then each time I started again at the feet my suggestions for ease and relaxation became more detailed.

[...] I am not used to speaking so steadily, although Jane later said that she too had noticed a voice stain in her first session with me, until she became more relaxed and used to the idea. [...] Jane said she was aware of this, and that the break almost snapped her out of the relaxed state she was entering.

[...] I spent perhaps half an hour by the clock inducing the first general relaxed state, including the suggestion that Jane’s eyelids were quite heavy and relaxed. [...]

[...] For a few moments she let her hands lay at her sides, but since there is tension in the upper arm muscles, her arms cannot lay fully relaxed upon the bed when she is flat on her back; after a few minutes she again crossed her hands, and told me later that this was more comfortable. Of course I noted that even after my suggestions, her arms did not fully relax, but I had not stressed that she would achieve any great or startling improvement; this first session was more to learn how to proceed, and during it I tentatively tried several different approaches.

[...] come together in my body better and felt small secret places within my body for which I have no names, relax, open, pools in the back of the ears ripple and relax. [...]

[...] My eyes worked some better, I typed an hour or so copying the beginning of James; got five or so good new pages; and muscles in head, ears, eyes, neck definitely were relaxing. [...]

The yoga exercises encourage the muscles to stretch as well as relax, and so far his choice of exercises is good. [...] As the muscles continue to relax, the arms and shoulders will also free themselves. [...]

[...] The muscles should be encouraged to relax. [...]

[...] Before the session I’d expressed the hope that Seth would have something to say about Jane’s frequently-very-relaxed state today.

(9:47.) Today, Ruburt’s body wanted to relax. [...]

Because he did not approve of his own relaxation, he put brakes upon it.

[...] The relaxation periods follow a certain rhythm that is temperamentally suitable as well. He would have been alarmed had he always felt that relaxed. [...]

[...] The observable relaxation periods therefore momentarily ceased. [...]

[...] At this writing I still feel an occasional, if mild, return of the first massive relaxation of April 24: very pleasant. [...] You need to relax, so that I can relax.” [...]

[...] My head has its own rustlings inside, / shoulders are relaxing; drooping; / everything seems significant—waiting—yet happening at once... [...] I’m getting very relaxed... too relaxed to type? [...]