Relaxation in T'ai Chi, by Lao Tzu

(image credit)

A man is born gentle and weak.
At his death he is hard and stiff.
Green plants are tender and filled with sap.
At their death they are withered and dry.
Therefore the stiff and unbending is the disciple of death.
The gentle and yielding is the disciple of life. 

Thus an army without flexibility never wins a battle.
A tree that is unbending is easily broken. 

The hard and strong will fall.
The soft and weak will overcome.

Chapter 76, from Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu.

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Michael Garofalo culled information, quotes and references on relaxation - Relaxed - and I am grateful for his effort. Over several days in July 2011, I meditated over each one of these quotes and made notes in my T'ai Chi journal:

Not just to be really, really, but truly to be completely and absolutely shoong. I would like to imagine that in the future, I can be completely impervious to some people's craziness and shenanigans, by being absolutely shoong.

Going forward I will post regularly on relaxation, with more quotes and notes.