"There is no need for emotional and mental effort to break through the barrier, but rather coming closer and attaining understanding." - Yemima Avital
Like many of us, I've always believed in the power of hard work. Push harder, try more, give it everything you've got - these mantras have guided much of my life. But recently, I've discovered something surprising: sometimes, the path forward isn't about pushing harder, but about moving forward with ease and grace. This insight has been sinking in more deeply over the past few weeks, appearing in different areas of my life.
First, there's my daily chi-gong practice with Lee Holden. For months, I focused on the first part of class - the challenging movements that left me feeling accomplished. "This must be where the real work happens," I thought. But as Lee often emphasizes, the healing actually happens in the second half of class, during the gentle, flowing movements. It wasn't about forcing or straining, but about finding that place that has movement without effort.
Last week I attended an eyesight workshop with Anat Axlrod. She has a fascinating method where we learn to speak to our eyes, to listen to them and communicate with them about our emotional truth. On a physical level, she showed us how eye problems often stem from straining our eyes too much. The solution wasn't to work our eyes harder, but to relearn our natural way of seeing that has movement without effort. It's remarkable how returning to this natural state can begin to mend years of strain.
These experiences have led me to reflect on what Yemima emphasizes again and again: we do not need to struggle with ourselves - rather, we need understanding and awareness. While I've known her approach for some time, I now see how it connects to this same wisdom - that transformation doesn't require force, but rather a gentle ascent forward that includes coming closer to yourself through self-acceptance, compassion, and self-love.
Yes, we still need to show up - attend classes, do our practices, put in the time. But there's a profound difference between dedicated practice and struggling against ourselves. When we encounter our place of constriction, our first instinct is often to attack it with force. Yet there might be another way: approaching our perceived deficiencies with curiosity and moving forward gently.
What I'm learning is that our inner wisdom already knows the way. Sometimes we need focused effort to learn new skills or clear old patterns. But more often, we need to trust our natural intelligence - both physically and emotionally. When we stop forcing and start listening, we become witnesses to an innate power that's been there all along.
This isn't about passive acceptance - it's about discovering that place where movement flows naturally, without strain. It's about trusting that sometimes, the most gentle movement forward can create the most profound mending.
What parts of your life might benefit from less striving and more fluid movement? Where could you experiment with trading force for grace?
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