Specifically how DO we "relax"?

[HerbM]

I've found that taking deep slow breaths and relaxing my facial muscles especially my forehead seems to work best for me. That and focusing on letting my elbows rest on my ribs and letting my shoulders drop while still maintaing good posture.

I think those are really useful 'tricks' and it is good that you mention them.

Thanks for reminding me about the elbows and just letting the shoulders and arms hang -- relaxing the neck, setting the shoulder girdle down on the ribs and thus resting it all on the spine down to the ground.

The face trick is a good one and I am going to try that next class.

Many times if we relax (or tense) one part of our body then other parts will follow suit. If we grimace our face or clench our jaw, then this tension can spread.

We have excellent control of our facial muscles, much better comparatively than most other parts of our body so relaxing this can lead to more relaxation, or at worst won't encourage more tension.

Long slow breaths are generally the best way to relax and the best way to get oxygenated so that works well.

This is what I originally learned as Tai Chi Breathing and what Systema generally recommends -- counting breaths for equal long inhale and exhale.

Sometimes I get as high as 15-30 seconds each way resulting in 1-2 breaths per minute, but that is an extreme case. I don't go this slow for combat but it can be used sometimes for steady sustained effort or for preparing for effort while resting.


[FYI:
There is a type of breathing known as burst breathing where rapid snorts are used, exhaling through the mouth, to aid rapid recovery of breath, but this is usually only for a few seconds, never for very long.

Box breathing is another methods where you inhale for X seconds, hold for X, exhale for X, hold for X, e.g., each leg of the box might be 6 seconds. This is mostly used for training and to calm oneself BEFORE combat or competition begins.]