“The Wu Wei approach to conflict-solving can be seen in the practice of the Taoist martial art T’ai Chi Ch’uan, the basic idea of which is to wear the opponent out either by sending his energy back at him or by deflecting it away, in order to weaken his power, balance, and position for defense. Never is force opposed with force; instead, it is overcome with yielding.
The Wu Wei principle underlying T’ai Chi Ch’uan can be understood by striking at a piece of cork floating in water. The harder you hit it, the more it yields; the more it yields, the harder it bounces back. Without expending energy, the cork can easily wear you out. So, Wu Wei overcomes force by neutralizing its power, rather than by adding to the conflict. With other approaches, you might fight fire with fire, but with Wu Wei, you fight fire with water.”
–From the Tao of Pooh
During the past few days of dealing with digestive distress, I have thought a great deal about the notion of “pain,” and whether or not to visualize pain as an enemy who means to hurt me, a friend who is trying to help me, or as a neutral object that is relevant only because it is pointing out something that I need to notice.
The above quotation from The Tao of Pooh and the example of the Wu Wei approach to conflict had me thinking that it might be nice to imagine myself as the cork bouncing back in the water while the pain expended its energy by striking over and over again at my cramping stomach. After attempting several natural remedies that have worked in the past, I stopped trying to stop the discomfort and worked to allow it to be there without judgement. I used as my mantra, “It is only pain,” and thinking of the word “pain” as something so similar to “rain” that I allowed that soothing sound and sensation to over-ride the more negative aspects. Eventually, I fell asleep and woke many hours later with only the shadowy sensation of the pain remaining. Then my obvious choice was to give my digestive system a rest by not putting anything else into it to cause distress, thus entering into a voluntary period of fasting.
The elevated feeling that comes from fasting (after the initial cravings and grumblings subside) is like that cork riding on the ripples of water, or floating down a stream, bobbing rather merrily with no concern of either injury or destination. While there is a sensation of overall weakness and perhaps frailty that goes with fasting, the incredible lightness of being brings deeper awareness of surroundings and thought patterns.
As physical healing continues to occur, I hope to remember to incorporate this non-attachment to sensation in every moment, understanding that choosing to avoid conflict by not fighting back is an important step in that direction, and that includes conflict with myself.
~LJ