11 Jun Like a ragdoll

I press the stand up under the wooden box with a handy foot movement until it clicks into place and sit down. An electric cargo bike like this one (this one belongs to my wife) takes some getting used to. The front wheel turns a bit more sensitively than you’re used to, and the bulky cargo box sways along when you take corners.

Rag doll
It’s Saturday morning and still early. There are very few people around. I enjoy the wide view over the water from the quay along the IJ, where you can cycle nicely. At the end of the quay, I take the bike path. There’s a traffic light blinking there. A car is coming, so I hit the brakes. The car crosses the bike path. I speed up again, but only now see a second car coming, just behind the first. I brake hard and notice that the next moment I’m on the ground, looking at the world from a 90-degree angle. I don’t move and feel my body. My first thought is: probably nothing serious going on. Only then do I get up calmly and set the bike upright. My knee has a pretty bad scrape, but otherwise my initial observation turns out to be correct. I can sit in the posture comfortably for the whole Zen weekend and don’t feel any pain anywhere.
Still, during meditation, the fall plays through my mind in detail again. I now remember that during and even after the fall I completely relaxed, like a rag doll.

That’s exactly what little kids do when they take a little tumble. Usually, they don’t end up with much, except maybe a good bump. That’s because they let go while falling.

Why did I instinctively relax my body? Is it because I often practice bringing my body into complete relaxation?
I do this with a recording I made years ago in a studio. That audio recording is in Dutch. It is super good for your body and mind to fully unwind.

*This post has been automatically translated from Dutch