THE human body is one--an entity. In ordinary conversation we refer to the individual as if he or she were composed of three different elements, the physical, the mental, and the spiritual. In reality, however, these three are merely different phases of one form of activity. The spirit is the great omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal thing which animates both mind and body. Mind and body in turn are merely representations of the action of the spirit. In the perfectly organized individual spirit, mind, and body would act together perfectly without friction, without effort, without the necessity for any special training.
There are, in fact, a few exceptional cases in which spirit, mind, and body act with some degree of harmony—in which the pure impersonal spirit (the Sat, the Atman, as the wise Hindus call it) acts in such a manner as to largely dominate the thoughts, feelings, and movements of the individual. These people we call geniuses—the shining ones of the ages.
This intimate interaction of body, mind, and spirit is the mystic "at-one-ment" so frequently referred to in the writings of the old philosophers, Egyptian, Hindoo, Chinese, and Hebraic. Such harmonious action once achieved, the individual is in immediate possession of health, strength, energy, beauty, and expressiveness
As Browning writes in "Paracelsus" :--
"There is an inmost centre in us all, where truth abides in fullness; and to know
Rather consists in opening out a way whence the imprisoned splendor may escape,
Than in effecting entry for a light supposed to be without."
A wiser teacher than Browning said: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." The Kingdom of Heaven as used in this and other cases by Jesus undoubtedly refers to this mystic "at-one-ment" between spirit, mind, and body. "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he."
Two Phases of Human Action.
In every human action there are two distinct phases--thought and motion.
Thoughts lie hidden in the gray caverns of the brain. They are potential, latent. Motions are physical, obvious. Every thought, every impulse, every emotion has its ellipsis in some action of the muscles; and when such thought, impulse, or emotion is perfectly expressed in muscular activity, we have the ideal human being. In this connection it may be appropriate to introduce two brief quotations from the writings of Professor William James of Harvard College.
He says: "There is no more valuable precept in moral education than this--if we wish to conquer undesirable emotional tendencies in ourselves, we must assiduously, and in the first instance cold-bloodedly, go through the
outward movements of those contrary dispositions we prefer to cultivate ..... Smooth the brow, brighten the eye,
contract the dorsal rather than the ventral aspect of the frame, and speak in the major key, pass the genial compliment and your heart must be frigid indeed if it does not gradually thaw."
And in another place the same author has said: "No reception without reaction, no impression without correlative expression,--this is the great maxim which the teacher ought never to forget. An impression which simply flows in at the pupil's eyes or ears, and in no way modifies the active life, is an impression gone to waste. It is physiologically incomplete.
It leaves no fruits behind it in the way of capacity acquired. Even as mere impression it fails to produce its proper effect upon the memory; for to remain fully among the acquisitions of this latter faculty, it must be wrought into the whole cycle of our operations. Its motor consequences are what clinch it. Some effect, due to it in the way of activity, must return to the mind in the form of the sensation of having acted, and connect itself with the impression. The most durable impressions, in fact, are those on account of which we speak or act, or else are inwardly convulsed."
Of all the many evil effects of what we call civilization, the most blasting is that its general influence is to break up the close interrelation between thought and motion. In order to live the conventional life of the well-behaved man or woman one is compelled to constantly stifle and deny desires, impulses, thoughts, and such denial inevitably leads to injury of mind and body.
Relation of Mind and Body.
Mental activity simply means certain chemical and mechanical changes occurring in nervous matter. These changes occur not only in the nervous matter of the brain, but also in the nerves which cause muscular action.
This is a large subject and it is quite impossible within the limits of a work such as this to make it clear. It may be said at once, however, that each emotion and each thought has its corresponding output along the motor nerves--that each emotion and each thought has a muscular picture which is peculiar to itself. Now, if the muscles be free and flexible, the thought which occupies the higher nerve centers will be translated by a certain position of the muscles. In other words, a person marked by such peculiarity will be expressive and interesting. All the great singers, actors, and orators--all those most successful on the stage, in politics or in society-- have been distinguished by this peculiar expressiveness.
In order to be expressive several things are requisite. The body must be erect, the joints and hinges of the body, as explained in previous chapters, being each in its proper place. There must have been acquired the habit of keeping the muscles in a state of relaxation and receptivity. Among the many exercises which the writer has employed for the purpose of developing this power are the few given herewith. A careful study and practice of these exercises can hardly fail to result in an increase in general expressiveness, health, and personality.
Exercise No. 1.
(Anticipation, pleasurable expectation.)
Imagine that some one is coming toward you whom you very much wished to see. You would naturally lean forward to greet him, extending one or both hands and smiling. Now, holding this idea, this mental picture, before the mind, allow the flexible body to show it forth in gesture, facial expression, and a few words of greeting spoken aloud. Exactly what you do does not in the least matter. Simply hold the thought so intently that for the moment you accept the imagined situation as real, and let the body go.
This exercise may be varied infinitely by changing the picture, always, however, imagining a situation such as will produce a feeling of pleasurable anticipation.
Exercise No. 2.
(Horror.)
Imagine that you are looking at some dangerous animal (a snake, if you are a man: if a woman, a mouse will answer every purpose) that you cannot escape. You naturally draw back in horror.
Like the former exercise, in this you are to forget the body entirely--to let it go--putting all your attention upon the imagined situation. In this exercise, as in the preceding, any situation may be invented which will induce the thought of horror.
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Exercise No. 3.
(Joy.)
Imagine some situation which would awaken in you a state of joy and yield the body up to the feeling.
Exercise No. 4.
(Guilt.)
Try to imagine that you have committed some crime, say, for instance, theft. Imagine that you are brought before a judge and that you are pleading guilty and asking for mercy.
Allow this thought to permeate mind and body, showing by gestures and attitude your appreciation of the situation.
Exercise No. 5.
(Accusation.)
Imagine that some one has committed a crime against you; that you are facing him before a tribunal. Make your accusation, if necessary, in words, taking at the same time the attitude appropriate to this emotional state.
Exercise No. 6.
(Depression.)
Imagine such circumstances as would produce in you a feeling of depression and yield the body to it.
These exercises, although they may seem unusual, have powerful and far reaching results. That this is true any one may prove to himself in a week of faithful practice. It must be understood, however, that they cannot be properly practiced until the body has been made erect and thoroughly flexible by a persevering practice of the exercises described in preceding chapters.
As to mental images, literature and poetry afford many suggestions. David at the bier of Absalom, Hero over the body of Leander, Socrates drinking the cup of hemlock, Luther on the way to Worms, Hamlet before his father's ghost, Robinson Crusoe when he discovers the footprint in the sand, Rip Van Winkle on awakening from his long sleep, Mark Antony in his speech to the Romans, Regulus parting from his wife and children--these and many other scenes afford vivid dramatic situations.
In all this work the great point is to subordinate the body, to make the body obedient, flexible, acquiescent, and interpretative of the mind. Those who are interested in any form of expressive art, dramatic, lyrical, or scenic, will find these simple exercises of value.
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