This week I have been engaged in one of my periodic spates of working on my website. I tend to put this off, because although a part of me enjoys the process, it is often frustrating and usually time consuming. It also tends to put me into a nearly obsessive focus on the project at hand. While mental focus is a necessary part of this complex creation, I am still learning to let go of the accompanying fear laced compulsion to figure things out, and find a simpler, more intuitive flow.
My T’ai Chi teacher used to say that T’ai Chi is simple but not easy. The essence is to relax, without giving up, or going limp. When asked how to do this he would reply, practice, practice, practice. So much of the tension that prevents relaxation is unconscious, it takes practice to let it surface, layer by layer, in the body, in the emotions, in the mind. Then more practice to release each layer.
Over many years I have learned that the most effective way to do anything is to ask how to relax while doing it. Practice will show you the easiest, most effortless way to do anything; physical, mental, or energetic. It will almost always be the simplest as well. You will have heard it said of a master that she makes something look easy. With long practice and focus on essence, what he does will have become simple and relaxed.
The essence of things is always simple. The closer you are to Spirit, to Source, the simpler things become. There will be a central intention, purpose, or focus, and this make them simple. Even the beautiful complexity of a tropical flower serves the simple purpose of attracting an insect or bird to move its pollen to other flowers.
Nature and Spirit operate in this way, and will help you to do the same. Once you have the idea that something is possible, you can begin to move in the direction of accomplishing it. If you don’t know how yet, ask. Ask the people you know, but mostly ask Spirit and your Guidance. Create a space in your awareness for answers to show up, or drop in. Relaxing helps create this space, to be present with the question and pay attention to answers.
While learning how to relax and let something be simple may take practicing, it doesn’t have to be complex, hard, or uncomfortable, in the ways we often expect, or have been taught.
This week I have learned to relax a bit more with my creative process; to release driving fears, to walk away at times and do other things, to have a bit more fun with it. Relaxing in myself, allows a flow of creation and discovery around me. Small issues that have escaped my efforts for years, have unexpectedly found solutions. Larger tasks have come together simply; piece by piece. Letting go of old conceptions, I play and have fun creating.
There is a history of practice here, but it is the letting go and relaxing that is most helpful though. When it flows and is easy, that’s good. Being easy doesn’t mean I am doing something wrong or missing the point.
The best thing is that learning to relax, to let things be simple, is a skill that I can use over and over, practicing it more with each new application. May you find relaxation and ease in all that you do.
(© 1/2015)
