The Gospel of Relaxation William James

William James begins the Gospel of Relaxation by explaining the Lang-James theory which states that "emotions are due to organic stirrings that are aroused in us in a reflex way by the stimulus of the object or situation." He continues by stating that "if we feel surprised by something, it is not necessarily the presence of the object, but how it makes us feel." He says "we feel sorry because we weep and we feel afraid because we run away." He believed that we should care about what we do, and not what we feel. He says "action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling which is not under the more direct control of the will." So he believes we can control our feelings. He says "to wrestle with a bad feeling only pins our attention on it, and keeps it still fastened in the mind; whereas if we act as if from some better feeling, the old bad feeling soon folds its tent and silently steals away." To me, that sort of sounds like fake it 'til you make it. He was big on religion and believed that faith eliminates fear. He stated that "many religious texts state that we must let our feelings go and pay no regard to them." He quoted a book titled The Christians Secret to a Happy Life by Hannah Smith stating "it is your purpose god looks at, not your feelings about that purpose, and your purpose (or will) is therefore the only thing you need to attend to...let your emotions come or let them go, just as god pleases, and make no account of them either way...they really have nothing to do with the matter. They are temperament or of your present physical condition." He believes that faith is the cure for worry. He says that "tension and anxiety, and present and future, all mixed up together in our mind at once, are the surest drags upon steady progress and hindrances to our success." This statement reminded me of the saying "focus on the past and you will be depressed, focus on the future and you will have anxiety, but focus on the present and you will be fine." This also goes along with the quote from kung fu panda stating "yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift...that is why it is called the present." He goes on to say that "our actions and attitudes determine what our inner state should be." Part of the Lang-James theory talks about binnenliben which is a german word that means the buried life of human beings. He quoted a philosopher who said "this inner personal tone is what we can't communicate or describe articulateley to others, but the ghost of it is what our friends feel as our most characteristic quality." He says that the unhealthy mind consists mainly of regrets, and bodily discomforts, not distinctly localized by the sufferer, but breeding a general self-mistrust and sense that things are not as they should be with him. Whereas the healthy mind contains no fears or shames, only sensations that swell the general vital sense of security and readiness for anything that may turn up. He says that "many of us are living hurried lives." He says that "we are tired and need a break." He talked about an employer not knowing whether they could ask an employee to perform a task because he didn't want them to have a breakdown. He believed that people should go abroad because they worked too hard. He did this many times. He talked about the quality of our work when we are calm. One example he gave was scholars in a recitation room. He said that the scholars who were most rattled were the ones who performed poorly. Whereas the scholars who were indifferent to the information retained more and performed better. He described the feeling of bottled emotions that leads to anxiety or a breakdown as bottled lightning. He says that if we don't improve, the melancholic patient's mind will become sort of cramped on the painful emotions about himself of being guilty, doomed, and lost. He says that our thoughts can become a habit, but in everyone, a great or sudden pleasure may paralyze thought. He talked about someone who has just seen their favorite artist perform. He stated that if you ask them how they are, their mind will be cramped on the idea of how amazing the show was and that the only thing they will be able to think about is how great the show made them feel. He closed it off by giving advice to teachers and students. His advice to teachers was "prepare yourself so much in the subject that it is always on tap, then in the classroom, trust your spontaneity and fling away further care." His statement towards students was "as a bicycle chain, may be too tight, one's carefulness and consciousness may be so tense that it hinders the running of one's mind." His advice was "on the day before an exam, put the book down and trust in yourself, for you have heard this information and you are well prepared." He stated that worry leads to a loss of power and the cure is faith. 

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16287/16287-h/16287-h.htm#I__THE_GOSPEL_OF_RELAXATION

Karissia Gonzalez #11