Literally, the word worry has the meaning of tearing and twisting, or choking and strangling; it was originally connected with the word ‘wring’, which is still used in the expression ‘wringing one’s hands’, one of the outward signs of worry. You will remember that every psychological or inner state finds some outer representation via the moving center—that is, it is represented in some particular muscular movements or contractions, etc. You may have noticed that a state of worry is often reflected by a contracted wrinkling of the forehead or a twisting of the hands. States of joy never have this representation.
Negative states, states of worry, or fear, or anxiety, or depression, represent themselves in the muscles by contraction, flexion, being bowed down, etc. (and often, also, by weakness in the muscles), whereas opposite emotional states are reflected into the moving center as expansion, as standing upright, as extension of the limbs, relaxing of tension, and usually by a feeling of strength. To stop worry, people who worry and thereby frown too much or pucker up and corrugate their foreheads, clench their fists, almost cease breathing, etc., should begin here—by relaxing the muscles expressing the emotional state, and freeing the breath. Relaxing in general has behind it, esoterically speaking, the idea of preventing negative states. Negative states are less able to come when a person is in a state of relaxation.
Maurice Nicoll, “Psychological Talk” in Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Vol. 1, p. 135).
Working Note
Working Note
Begin with the body today: when worry appears, notice its muscular expression and quietly release what has contracted.
Today’s Aim
Interrupt worry by relaxing its bodily form and freeing the breath.
Notice
The forehead tightening.
The hands twisting or clenching.
The breath becoming restricted.
The shoulders or body drawing inward.
The moment tension begins, before worry gathers strength.
Practice
When you notice worry, do not argue with it.
Relax the forehead, hands, shoulders, and any other contracted muscles you can find. Let the breath become free again.
Remain there for a moment and observe what happens to the inner state.
Remember
When worry contracts the body, begin by releasing the contraction.
The Weekly Aim
“I will observe irritation in my body before it enters my voice.”
