One of the key principles of Daoism is the principle of wu wei, which can be loosely translated as effortless action; doing by not doing; doing without goals or desire; or spontaneous doing.
In martial arts training, for example, instead of meeting an attacker’s force with direct force like blocking a punch, I can move with their attacking energy and redirect it in a way that uses their own energy and loss of balance to defeat them. In life, instead of fighting against and resisting things that I don’t like, I can instead fit in with and adapt to what is going on. I can be like water and flow with the rhythm of life instead of trying to fight it head-on.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting shutdown began in California, fitness centers have been mostly closed. I found primal movement exercise routines on YouTube by Movement Parallels Life that require little or no equipment. Routines vary in length from 10 minutes to an hour and include mobility, stretching, and strength exercises that require coordination and balance in all planes of motion. I also invested in TRX straps, which have the benefit of being super portable. I can hang them from a tree or ceiling cross beam and do a full body strength routine.
Adjusting to the fitness center closures by finding alternative ways to do strength training is an example of wu wei. The benefit is that I now have a broader repertoire of exercises available to use as workouts.
Question to ask: What are the areas of your life that feel overly challenging or cumbersome? What other way might there me?
Kindly,
David