Let It Flow

How do wind down after jogging, hiking or doing some other kind of aerobic excercise? You probably do some stretching for your muscles and you allow yourself to have some down-time to slow your heart-rate down as well. You wouldn't say, "slow down heart rate" and consciously try controlling it. If you did, chances are with your increased focus your pulse starts racing again. So instead, you just let it be and let your system adjust to a slower pace all by itself.

Use the same technique with your emotions. You observe them and let them transition to a new state on their own. Say you are anxious, sad, lonely or excited, just be mindful of this state and observe it without having any opinion or preconceived notions. Let your emotions be, let life interact with you without any interference from your side and see for yourself how transient your mood will turn out to be. Like a chameleon you will change colors with the environment you are operating in. Say you feel sluggish and someone comes along and makes you speak fast. Or you may be exuberant and a friend calls you up who feels blue. And sometimes you just sit on the couch and without any external influence you observe how your mood adjusts by itself.

There is no "right" mood per se, there is only a transient nature of moods that all make situation-dependent sense. Bear them all happily without any conscious control. Life is a river, let its flow remove any psychological or energy blockages for you. It is important to be mindful, and it is important to be grateful for everything and everyone who comes your way. Let the Tao flow and enjoy the ride.

By Christian and Su Zhen