163. Empty And Full

He stands perfectly still and takes the deepest breath he can. His head is swirling with thoughts, as it always is. There are too many thoughts to manage, so he does not try to manage them. He lets them come and he lets them go. Now is not the time for thinking.

He lies down on the floor and takes several deep breaths before standing again. He lifts his arms high over his head, as high as they will go. Reaching up, the stretch burns as the tension is pulled out of his muscles. Accumulated stress has taken physical form and he is trying to release it. When he is finished with his arms, he stretches his legs, his torso, his neck and then returns to the floor.

Lying there, he tries to be as loose as he can presently be. He releases every muscle in his body, consciously examining each one for any tightness and then relaxing it. It is only when he feels he is fully loose that he surrenders. He abandons all control. His body is now free to do whatever it likes.

He remains stationary on the floor for a short time. Then he starts to take small movements, first in his shoulders and in his arms. His movements grow and expand until he is standing again. He raises one arm and then another, over and over. Next it is a leg, raised and then extended before being lowered. Then the other, but at a slightly different angle.

There is no order or pattern to his movements. He is not in control. He simply moves in the way his body feels it is necessary for him to move. His body is in a state of emptiness. It is not this nor that, but also both and neither. It is an emptiness of the body that is similar to the emptiness of the mind in perfect meditation. When he is totally empty, he is what he must be and nothing more.

He is not engaged in action but nonaction. His movements are not intentional. He is completely free of habits and learned responses. He is in total harmony with his body. He feels a kind of peaceful bliss as he quietly moves. He is part of the world, just as the world is part of him. He wishes he could be like this always, but he lets this desire pass, just as his hand passes over his head. He is completely empty and full of life.