4. Embrace "Easeful" Living
What if life could just be easy?
The first time I heard of the concept of “Easeful Living,” I thought that had to be an oxymoron. Life by definition is hard. Right?
What is easeful living?
A mindset of “Easeful living” recognizes that we often make our own lives a lot harder than they need to be, and much of this comes from our habits or mindsets that don’t always serve us.
The concept of “Easeful Living” has gotten a lot of traffic in the Yoga and Ayurvedic communities I engage with, and is rooted in several religious traditions:
The Buddhists posit that the root of all human suffering is our deep grasping and clinging to things that are always changing and evolving. They also posit that tapping into your “bliss body” comes from sitting in meditation and releasing the need to force anything, just appreciating the world as it is, without any judgements.
Daoists have a concept of “wu wei.” This phrase literally translates to “non-doing” or “non-action,” but perhaps a better way to think of it is “non-forcing.” The idea is that you move with the ebb and flow of life, you do not try to force things that don’t seem to want to work or budge. You also seek out work and activities that are in alignment with your nature.
Even Christians recognize honoring all “seasons” of your life and being joyful, even through the toil:
This verse continues on to say:
9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. There is nothing better than for people to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.
Ecclesiastes 3:9-13
Just as gratitude helps us step back to see the bigger, deeper, more significant picture, Easeful Living invites us to do that with an added step: releasing. We gently loosen the grip on whatever we are clinging to or trying to force. We soften. We become gentle with ourselves and others.
Great. How do we do this?
Go with the flow
Imagine for a moment you were swept up in this river. Imagine the current is so strong that you can’t even swim to the side of the bank to get out. You could try and swim against the current to try to force yourself to the destination you are seeking, but odds are, this will only delay the inevitable of being swept downstream, and will exhaust you to the point that you can barely stay afloat.
How many situations are there in your life where you’re trying to swim upstream?
Isn’t it frustrating?
Isn’t it exhausting?
What if you just allowed yourself to relax, and float? Stop resisting and have trust and faith that you WILL be okay.
Or better yet, find some way to enjoy this detour you have not chosen. Grab a floaty raft and a sun hat.
Embrace what is, and go head first into this new adventure.
If you find yourself overthinking something, ask yourself, “How easy can it be?” Sometimes the simplest solutions really are the best.
Finally, easeful living is about finding states of flow, creativity, and playfulness.