I saw a strange woman on a hike the other day. It was sunset, and I was heading toward my car.
As I rounded a bend in the trail, I noticed this woman on a craggy rock below. She was barefoot and sitting cross-legged. Her face, body, and palms were turned toward the setting sun. Her eyes were closed.
I stopped to admire her for a moment. Her hair ran down her back in a neat silver braid. Her being emanated power and peace. She glowed in the radiance of the setting sun.
I walked on slowly. Before long, this same woman scampered, still barefoot, onto the path in front of me. She must have cut her own trail through the woods to come out ahead of me there.
We smiled at each other. I noted her bare feet.
“I read somewhere,” I said to her, “that the Saura People who were here long ago — I think they approached this summit with bare feet out of reverence for the place.”
“Oh, that wouldn’t surprise me,” she said with a shrug. Her feet were broad and strong and caked with mud. “I don’t wear shoes around here, ever,” she said. She squinted up at me. We both turned to watch the dozens of raptors that circle the Big Pinnacle of Pilot Mountain.
“You see those turkey vultures roosting over there?” she asked me. “Beautiful birds. I’ve found three big feathers alone today. Just beautiful. Of course you’re not supposed to pick up the feathers up,” she said to me, and tilted her head. “I put them back into the Earth.”
“Oh!” I said to her. “Wow! You’ve found feathers. So powerful,” I said. She nodded.
“Three of them?” I continued. “That’s a lot. I’ve been figuring I’d find some, too, since these raptors circle endlessly, but I’ve not found one yet,” I told her. “Maybe someday,” I said with a grin.
She narrowed her eyes up at me, furrowing her brow. “Oh honey, don’t you know?” she sighed, shaking her head, sorry to have to break this news. “Feathers? You won’t find them if you’re looking for them. To find a feather, you have to relax. You can’t just want it to happen. It only happens when you’re not forcing it.”
“Oh, right,” I said, and thanked her for stopping to chat. We said our goodbyes, and she turned and hiked away. I followed slowly behind her until she moved out of sight.
I am preparing a workshop on the topic of intuition for a client at Duke University. Many texts reference the importance of relaxation in the intuitive process. Artists, scientists, and psychics report that flashes of inspiration come to them when they are fully relaxed.
As George Kirby states in Ju Jitsu: Basic Techniques of the Gentle Art, “The key (to success in ju jitsu) is not trying at all. Sometimes the harder we try to do something the more difficult the task becomes and the more elusive the goal. If you are relaxed and calm you have a greater chance of success. If you are relaxed your ki will do your work for you.”
So how to stay relaxed in life, so that ideas and inspiration flow?
I suggest steady preparation and daily relaxation.
The reason the Ju Jitsu master above speaks of relaxation is because he has just encouraged students to practice until the effort becomes effortless. Put in enough work and the proper movements will become automatic, he says. As Joe Louis famously said, “There is no such thing as a natural boxer. A natural dancer has to practice hard. A natural painter has to paint all the time…”
You’ll find you’re able to relax better when you’ve prepared well.
Secondly, make time for daily relaxation. Try several short moments of calm a day in order to keep yourself refreshed. This could be a 10-15 minute period of walking, journaling, or doodling outside, or stretching, chanting, or meditation — anything that makes you feel good and doesn’t require effort. Try this twice a day, or morning, noon, and night, if you can.
You’ll want to find something that you enjoy, that lets your brain shift gears. You may find that ideas or inspiration come to you during these peaceful periods. Write them down so that you can act on them later. They come from an inspired place.
What about you? Have you noticed that the harder you try, the more elusive something is? What practices do you have for effortless effort? I would love to hear how this works for you in your life in the comment section below.
