Distorted thinking about mobility and relaxation is the root cause of all our problems.

Mobility and relaxation

This whole place is teeming with a vibrant life substance that really packs a powerful punch. It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about mental power here or a physical power like atomic or electrical energy. These are simply different facets of the same amazing power. And learning to work with it is the answer to everything.

For this power isn’t some static blob that we can’t work with. No, the substance this power is made of is highly impressionable. And can be readily molded by our consciousness.

What results then from our molding operations is what we refer to as matter. Matter, of course, exists in varying degrees of density. But beyond the particulate matter we can see and feel, there are also more subtle varieties. This includes life itself as it unfolds for each and every one of us. It also includes our experiences and outer circumstances, and our fate or our destiny, if you will.

Whatever conditions we find ourselves in, this is the form that life has taken. It is the outcome of how our consciousness has impressed this life substance. And that creation process is never ending; it’s in continuous motion. If we can come to understand the rhythm and method of this movement, we will have an important key. And we can use this key to unlock many of our life’s mysteries.

Uncovering the root cause of all our problems

What is this perpetually rocking-and-rolling life stuff that permeates absolutely everything? It is a mixture of two things: mobility and relaxation. It’s this magical combination that opens up the whole world. This is the state of being we are in when we are in harmony with that ever-so-elusive Oneness. It’s the unitive principle in its natural habitat.

But then along comes some misconception about reality that got formulated back in childhood. And in creeps conflict. Hello, duality, we were expecting you. Indeed, a classic piece of distorted thinking can be found regarding this very topic. It relates to how the principles of harmony and unity operate—about how mobility and relaxation work together.

Embedded right here in this misunderstanding lies the cause of humanity’s predicament.

On the one hand, we view relaxation as being stagnant or not moving—looking at you, couch potato. On the other hand we view mobility as involving a tense effort—hey there, my oh-so-intense friend. Embedded right here in this misunderstanding lies the cause of humanity’s predicament.

In fact, all our misconceptions about life—which we will uncover as we do this work of getting to know ourselves—are derived from this basic duality. We believe we can only relax through a non-movement that is really more like a stagnating form of passivity. Alternatively, we make movement into something so tense that every effort is more like an anxious and grabby striving.

Seemingly, we have to pick between these two options. And sure as shooting, whenever these are our only choices, strife must follow. For strife is what always descends from conflict. And this bad-choice-bingo surely qualifies.

At this point, it becomes clear we need to transcend this duality if we hope to reach the Oneness ranch. And let’s be clear, this isn’t just some nice theory. This is the practical reality of what we must do if want to change the scenery in our world. Try very hard, folks, to not overlook this.

If we want to see for ourselves that this is so, we can look at any misconception we have unearthed in the course of our personal development work. Any false conclusion we have formed about life (sometimes also called an “image”) will always, always, always fall into this split. Which points up the fact that the distorted thinking about mobility in relaxation is the root cause of so many—OK, of all—of our problems.

Whenever we see only two alternatives to a situation and each one is unsatisfactory, this misconception is what we must search for. Our conflicts are always linked to our primary wrong conclusion about the motion of this ocean we call life.

Finding the balance between brake and gas

If we can calm ourselves down enough to quietly listen to what emanates from the floor of our psyche, we’ll start to see the places where we go in the direction of stagnation. Because not moving just seems so darned tempting. That, we think, is the effortless state our soul cries out for.

To come out of our imbalance, we need to first acknowledge that we harbor such a confused idea about how the world works.

Or flip that baby over and we’ll find a whirling dervish that can’t stop moving. Because movement just seems so, well, necessary. Our guilt cracks the whip and we grab those reins with gusto and an overly tense movement that grinds our teeth. We might not even know what drives us into such forceful action. But we need to start getting a bead on it so we can learn to ease off the gas.

To come out of our imbalance, we need to first acknowledge that we harbor such a confused idea about how the world works. Once we admit this, accepting and observing ourselves in action—or inaction, as the case may be—we can slowly but surely begin to straighten ourselves out. It all starts with simple awareness of the real problem.

More and more, we’ll reorient ourselves to life and get into the swing of reality. We’ll go with the flow, naturally figuring out how to experience mobility in relaxation.

—The Guide’s wisdom in Jill Loree’s words

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Adapted from original Pathwork Guide Lecture #135: Mobility in Relaxation – Suffering Through Attachment of the Life Force to Negative Situations

Read more in Bones: A Building-Block Collection of 19 Fundamental Spiritual Teachings, Chapter Nine: Images and the Deep, Deep Damage They Do