Why do we produce these unnecessary tensions in doingmental work? Josselyn says： “I find that the chief obstacle… isthe almost universal belief that hard work requires a feeling ofeffort， else it is not well done.” So we scowl when we concentrate.
We hunch up our shoulders. We call on our muscles to make themotion of effort， which in no way assists our brain in its work.
Here is an astonishing and tragic truth： millions of peoplewho wouldn’t dream of wasting dollars go right on wasting andsquandering their energy with the recklessness.
What is the answer to this nervous fatigue? Relax！ Relax！
Relax！ Learn to relax while you are doing your work！
Easy? No. You will probably have to reverse the habits of alifetime. But it is worth the effort， for it may revolutionise yourlife！ William James said， in his essay “The Gospel of Relaxation”：“The American over-tension and jerkiness and breathlessnessand intensity and agony of expression… are bad habits， nothingmore or less.” Tension is a habit. Relaxing is a habit. And badhabits can be broken， good habits formed.
How do you relax? Do you start with your mind， or do youstart with your nerves? You don’t start with either. You alwaysbegin to relax with your muscles！ Let’s give it a try. To show howit is done， suppose we start with your eyes. Read this paragraphthrough， and when you’ve reached the end， lean back， close youreyes， and say to your eyes silently： “Let go. Let go. Stop straining，stop frowning. Let go. Let go.” Repeat that over and over veryslowly for a minute…
Didn’t you notice that after a few seconds the muscles of theeyes began to obey? Didn’t you feel as though some hand hadwiped away the tension? Well， incredible as it seems， you havesampled in that one minute the whole key and secret to the artof relaxing. You can do the same thing with the jaw， with themuscles of the face， with the neck， with the shoulders， the wholeof the body. But the most important organ of all is the eye. Dr.
Edmund Jacobson of the University of Chicago has gone so far asto say that if you can completely relax the muscles of the eyes， youcan forget all your troubles！ The reason the eyes are so importantin relieving nervous tension is that they burn up one-fourth of allthe nervous energies consumed by the body. That is also why somany people with perfectly sound vision suffer from “eyestrain”。
They are tensing the eyes.
Six Ways to Prevent Fatigue and Worry &Keep Your Energy and Spirits High Vicki Baum， the famous novelist， says that when she wasa child， she met an old man who taught her one of the mostimportant lessons she ever learned. She had fallen down and cuther knees and hurt her wrist. The old man picked her up; he hadonce been a circus clown; and， as he brushed her off， he said： “Thereason you injured yourself was because you don’t know how torelax. You have to pretend you are as limp as a sock， as an oldcrumpled sock. come， I’ll show you how to do it.”
That old man taught Vicki Baum and the other children howto fall， how to do flip-flops， and how to turn somersaults. Andalways he insisted： “Think of yourself as an old crumpled sock.
Then you’ve got to relax！”
You can relax in odd moments， almost anywhere you are.
Only don’t make an effort to relax. Relaxation is the absence of alltension and effort. Think ease and relaxation. Begin by thinkingrelaxation of the muscles of your eyes and your face， saying overand over： “Let go… let go… let go and relax.” Feel the energyflowing out of your facial muscles to the centre of your body.
Think of yourself as free from tension as a baby.
That is what Galli-Curci， the great soprano， used to do. HelenJepson told me that she used to see Galli-Curci before a performance，sitting in a chair with all her muscles relaxed and her lower jaw solimp it actually sagged. An excellent practice—it kept her frombecoming too nervous before her stage entrance; it preventedfatigue.
Here are five suggestions that will help you learn to relax：1. Read one of the best books ever written on this subject：Release from Nervous Tension， by Dr. David Harold Fink.
2. Relax in odd moments. Let your body go limp like an oldsock. I keep an old， maroon-coloured sock on my desk as I workkeep it there as a reminder of how limp I ought to be. If you haven’t got a sock， a cat will do. Did you ever pick up a kittensleeping in the sunshine? If so， both ends sagged like a wetnewspaper. Even the yogis in India say that if you want to masterthe art of relaxation， study the cat. I never saw a tired cat， a catwith a nervous breakdown， or a cat suffering from insomnia，worry， or stomach ulcers. You will probably avoid these disastersif you learn to relax as the cat does.
3. Work， as much as possible， in a comfortable position.
Remember that tensions in the body produce aching shouldersand nervous fatigue.
4. Check yourself four or five times a day， and say to yourself：“Am I making my work harder than it actually is? Am I usingmuscles that have nothing to do with the work I am doing?” Thiswill help you form the habit of relaxing， and as Dr. David HaroldFink says： “Among those who know psychology best， it is habitstwo to one.”
5. Test yourself again at the end of the day， by asking yourself：“Just how tired am I? If I am tired， it is not because of the mentalwork I have done but because of the way I have done it.” “I measuremy accomplishments，” says Daniel W. Josselyn， “not by how tiredI am at the end of the day， but how tired I am not.” He says：“WhenI feel particularly tired at the end of the day， or when irritabilityproves that my nerves are tired， I know beyond question thatit has been an inefficient day both as to quantity and quality.”
If every business man would learn that same lesson， the deathrate from “hypertension” diseases would drop overnight. And wewould stop filling up our sanatoriums and asylums with men whohave been broken by fatigue and worry.
Chapter 54
How the Housewife Can AvoidFatigue—and Keep Looking Young