Silence and paradoxical meditation

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/nov/13/tim-parks-silence-meditation

Extract

I’d reached that point where you’ll try anything. Lie down, this book said, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, focus on some tense part of the body and don’t try to relax it. Just observe. That was the paradox: the body would only relax if I really didn’t try to relax it. But there was also this instruction: “Avoid all verbal thought: scientific research has shown that it is impossible to relax the body deeply while words are running through the mind.”