“To offer no resistance to life is to be in a
state of grace, ease, and lightness.”
– Eckhart Tolle, author of The
Power of Now
During my morning meditation recently, I received an
inner message:
“When the mind no longer has any resistance, the body heals.”
In that moment, I could feel a channel of energy flowing through me and out
the soles of my feet; it lasted for about 15 minutes. Of course, I cannot
sustain that kind of alignment and FLOW, but in those moments my body felt clear
and vibrant, and I was filled with inner harmony and peace. In my mind’s eye, I
could see no obstacles blocking the energy flowing through me. I believe I
caught a glimpse of how the mind, body, and spirit work together to achieve
optimal health.
The take-away from that experience: Non-resista
nce is a key element in
attaining inner peace and physical vitality. The more we can flow with life
events, the better our chances of eliminating stress and living well
longer.
Resistance comes from experiencing life with preconceived notions
about how things should be: We are emotionally invested in having the world our
way. These “shoulds’ give us an illusion of control and protect us from
uncomfortable feelings. If we try to resist the events occurring in our personal
lives, we are filled with tension, turmoil, and struggle. (And, if we try to
resist the events occurring in the world, over which we have little control, our
bodies will feel tension and stress most of the time.)
The following
behaviors indicate a state of resistance:
- Fighting
with another person in order to be right: We often get into conflict with others
over differences of opinions. The correction: accept that
people are entitled to have their own opinions, even when we strongly disagree.
When we avoid labeling someone or something as right or wrong, we eliminate the
judgments that interfere with Flow.
- Struggling to
get the outcome we want: In our striving, we lose our objectivity and miss the
opportunity to work with feedback. The correction: 1) ask for
what we want and work with what we get, or don’t get; 2) back ourselves without
making someone else wrong or bad when we need to set personal limits; and 3) set
realistic expectations and modify goals when necessary.
- Avoiding
or getting stuck in some feeling: We deny an event in order to avoid emotional
discomfort, or we hold on to emotional pain instead of allowing it and the event
to move through us. The correction: Work with and let go of
our negative feelings as we allow life to be what it is in any given moment in
time.
Resistance places the mind in turmoil and creates tension and
energy blocks within the body, eventually the body breaks down from stress and
develops an illness. Here are a two things you can do to live with more ease and
flow.
- Allow
your negative emotions about a life situation, such as, fear, anger, and guilt,
to move through you; then with a clear mind, identify the belief or expectation
that is fueling this emotion. Challenge and dismantle the belief and release the
emotion because blocked emotions and rigid beliefs restrict the flow of
life-force that keeps you healthy.
Example: Your
responsibilities at work have tripled. You continue to work hard to keep up the
pace and begin to get headaches. Stop and ask: “What is this symptom trying
to tell me? “You realize that you feel powerless and angry that no one is
addressing the situation. You believe that most of what you are doing is a waste
of your time. Once you recognize the anger, you release the tension through
physical exercise. The headache pain subsides, and you get clear about what you
want to do.
- Allow your inner observer to see an event with more acceptance and
objectivity in order to deal with the actual event, not the thoughts and
emotions you use to make it personal. Once you perceive the event from a place
of neutrality, you can make choices about how to deal with it and act
accordingly. By not resisting what is happening in your life, you are able to
deal with people and situations effectively and
efficiently.
Previous example: Once you look objectively
at the situation at work, you realize that a recent change has contributed to
more work. You decide to speak with your boss, show him how the workload is
affecting the quality of your work, and ask for suggestions on how to manage the
workload. Then listen to your boss tell you what is going on from his
perspective. You might even discuss ways to solve the problem. As a result of
the discussion, you may decide that if things do not change by a specific date,
it will be time to move on.
The path of
non-resistance enables you to participate in the events in your life with
clarity and objectivity. When you assert your will and struggle against what is
happening, you block the Flow that can take you to solutions easily and
effortlessly. By denying an event or judging it as right/wrong or good/bad, you
waste precious energy that can be used for other things, like healing your body.
Acceptance of “what is” means that you are allowing life to unfold in its own
way and are swimming with the current, not against it. Your body and mind will
relax because they are going with the Flow.
To live well longer, follow
the path of non-resistance with an open heart and
mind.
Blessings!