Strange as it may seem, many people don't really relax their body, even when asleep; the brain slows down, but there is still tension in the muscular system. It would appear that in order to enjoy really refreshing sleep, the body needs to relax before sleep comes.

Most of the reconstructive work your body does happens while you sleep. Deprive yourself of this vital activity and you will, to some degree, age more rapidly and decrease your performance in virtually every aspect of your life. If we don't relax well, we don't sleep well, we don't feel rested when we do and don't have adequate energy when we're awake.

But there is also the relaxation time we want in each day to smell the roses or whatever else recharges our batteries for the next activity. Yes, we can spend our lives in the fast lane, but pushing beyond fatigue is a stress that tears you down. Fatigue is a warning that your energy production is unable to keep pace with your activity level. Often all it takes is to lie down and shut our eyes for a few minutes, and we are revived without actually sleeping.

Most of us spend much of our lives in what might be termed "ordinary consciousness", where we are acutely aware of our surroundings and what is going on around us, and there are many situations, e.g. at work, where we are obliged to be so. But there are a number of other states of consciousness that we can be in, that are variously interesting, pleasant or useful. Theses include deep meditation, acute creativity and intense euphoric states, and learning and practising these can be very rewarding. Relaxation, however, is the gateway to all these states - it is impossible to enter them from a state of tension or anxiety.