Let It Be: When Relaxation Becomes a Living Scripture

Listening to Tara Brach speak about the three fundamental attitudes of meditation awakened something deep within me.

It felt like embodiment, as if Scripture itself came alive in my body.

Words I had read countless times suddenly landed. heard, perhaps, for the very first time.

Or maybe heard with true understanding, as if the Spirit within stirred and said, yes… this is what they mean.

The first fundamental attitude Tara names in meditation is RELAX.

It is a word we hear constantly, often without a real understanding of what it means or how to embody it. Relax is usually framed as something mental, a switch we flip, but when we look through a physical and embodied lens, relaxation is actually about space.

It is about the room we inhabit within ourselves.

The capacity we allow.

Making Room: The Cup and the Space Around It

In today’s language, relaxation is often described with the image of a cup. Is the cup already full? Or have we left room?

When the cup is full, everything feels like it is about to spill over. We become consumed by worry, fear, and the constant sense that one more thing will be too much.

So what is the liquid in this analogy?

It is our problems. Our worries. Our stresses. Our reactions to daily life.

And more specifically how we relate to them.

When we try to control, fix, or manage everything ourselves, the cup fills quickly. The space around us shrinks. Our nervous system contracts. The problem becomes larger, closer, louder.

Tara gently reminds us of something deceptively simple:

We need to let it be.

“Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

This verse reads differently when the body is allowed to soften.

Be still, Cease striving. Release control. Rest in His presence.

In a Western, performance-oriented culture, we are conditioned to frame everything as a problem to solve. Over time, this problem-focused lens quietly shapes our identity , I am my struggle, my fear, my inadequacy.

Yet Scripture tells us again and again that we overcome by His grace, not by our effort.

When we take matters into our own hands, something subtle happens in the body: We contract. We react. We grip.

The cup fills. The space shortens. And the worry, stress, or fear becomes ever more present.

Relaxation as Surrender

But when we choose to relax , truly relax something else becomes possible.

Relaxation is not resignation. It is not avoidance. It is surrender from within.

To let go. To soften. To allow.

When we do this, the problem begins to unwind. We are no longer fused with what isn’t. Space returns. Capacity grows. We can see more clearly, respond more gently, and trust more deeply.

This posture of relaxation is not new. It is the very posture Christ embodied.

The Posture of Christ

Jesus did not live from contraction or control.

His posture. His presence. His way of being — all reflected deep trust in the Father.

I am often reminded of the moment at the Last Supper. Knowing how close His death was, Jesus reclined with His disciples. He lay down. He rested.

I had never considered this as an embodied act of surrender, a way of supporting Himself through what He knew was coming. Not tightening. Not bracing. But allowing.

Even His final surrender speaks of this same attitude. While the phrase “this too shall pass” is not a direct Scripture quote, it captures something profoundly true about Christ’s knowing. He understood impermanence. He understood that freedom does not come through control, but through trust and release.

Freedom Cannot Live Where Control Reigns

Freedom cannot reside where striving dominates.

We cannot experience true freedom while attempting to control everything.

Christ’s life shows us this again and again — freedom within Him, and freedom through Him. Not because circumstances were easy, but because His inner posture was spacious, surrendered, and rooted in love.

This is why I feel so drawn to meditation and embodied practices, particularly in supporting Christian women. Embodiment allows us to see the posture, feel the awakening within, and foster a deeper relationship with God — not just cognitively, but physically and spiritually.

It teaches us how to strive less. How to soften. How to be still.

And in that stillness , to know that God is.

Let It Be

Relaxation is not passive. It is faith in motion.

To let it be is to trust that God is already at work within us, around us, and through us.

And when we make space… When we soften our grip… When we allow rather than strive…

Scripture doesn’t just speak to us, it comes alive.

If this reflection resonates, you’re not alone. This is the heart of the work we do at Soulroots Therapy creating safe, embodied spaces where faith, nervous system awareness, and lived experience can meet with compassion.

If you feel drawn to explore this more deeply, you’re warmly invited to:

• Work with us through embodied, trauma‑informed practices grounded in safety and grace

• Book a discovery chat to gently explore what support could look like for you

• Or continue reflecting by reading our blog: Rules Replace Compassion, a piece on how safety, mercy, and presence transform healing

You don’t need to strive your way into healing, it is safe to soften. It is safe to rest.

And in that stillness God meets us there.