Isn’t resistance a constant in life? Somehow. Resistance is felt as if it is, in a way, as important as the flow, the freedom from resistance. Resistance exists in accordance to a contrast with the sense of flow. And flow it only exists, at some extent, in the contrast to the sense of resistance. To flow in safety through curves, ups and downs, in these entangled ways of life, these interesting ones, Resistance plays an important part. That is, a break, a slow down, a coming together, before ascending up a stage or diving deep down. That sense of stop, resist, let’s center and go is in essence important to flow. In this way it is a managing tool of our energy. Although there is in the raw meaning of the word resistance a sense of stoping, obstruct and getting stuck in a fight, Resistance and Flowing come together and form harmony in life has we know it on earth. Let’s just think about earths valleys, rivers swaying down the mountains, clouds and rain, lakes, waterfalls, seas and oceans, etc… With excess of flowing we might just end up flowing in circles and not be able to recollect, center, gather and move up fully. But I’m in this article here to explore the concept of resistance. In the excess of resistance it is gathered an incredible amount of hidden secrets of our life that hold us back, cuts us off and diminishes our potential. And at the same time the understanding of it and the breakthrough off resistance might set us off in an incredible flow of our essence, and of our creative potential.
Swinging If we think of a swing in which the design is meant to be made for us to feel and enjoy the awesome flow of our weight under the force of gravity. None of this awesome feeling of flowing freely in life, let lose and let go would exist, if it wasn’t, in this case for a swing. For the structure of a seat, a couple of ropes extending for either side upwards towards a strong tree branch. Without this structure that offers a resistance to our fall to the ground, we would just easily fall through to the floor, and there would hardly be any perceivable flow. We can also think of if in that swing there would be other couple of ropes tied to the sides of the seat coming down towards the floor and tightly tied to the ground. It’s a tight structure. A flowless swing. A swing not meant to swing. We can think in this way about tons of different things, like parachutes, surfboards, bicycles, many engineering structures, or natural world structure. That for their success to flow they have to provide a enough firm structure, that offers a resistance to hold its effect, to hold the users/passengers, and just the enough resistance to wind, or water, etc.., to be able to soothe through the changes of the environments. Tall bamboos, and tall tree branches that hold a load of leaves. That to hold such a structure that offers a resistance to the passing wind, have to have and enjoy such a light weight and flexible structure at the root of their branches and trunks. We could say that’s just like yoga asanas. At some point, it is said they should be happy, comfortable, relaxed, flexible (flow) and stable, firm, strong (resistance). The perceptible grace of the performance of yoga asana lie in this magical balance between strength and flexibility. A practice that directs itself to manifest and balance this two components is a practice of yoga. Passive and Active I see the letting the flow of things happen, with or through us, as an action of a passive nature. While I see that the actions that hold us together, firm, and standing resisting to gravity, or owning our own truths amidst other who don’t see it, being an action of an active nature. -The Yin Yang philosophies can be applied now and it fits perfectly-. But this fact being, that they are both extremely important actions and measures within our actions to have us fully embracing life, doesn’t mean that only the active actions, those that need strength and firmness, demand our full awareness, while the passive flow of things that life is so abundant of doesn’t. The passive actions of letting things flow and most importantly the awareness of it, the surrender of active consciousness to it, is of the most precious jewels in life. And it definitely offers more understanding of when and how to apply the active actions. After observing carefully the natural flow of things, within or without, (i.e. own thoughts, people, opportunities we attract, the chances we get, the way the sun runs in the sky, the way shadows move in the ground, the ways birds nest, or how much do the tides move, etc) then more easily we will find it is for us to know when to exercise our active actions, and our active consciousness, the one that rationally puts and links things together. It will be a saver in energy and it is rewarded in savoring life. Background I understand that in western world, modern world of today, people are mostly taught to look at the active parts of our life and to try embracing life fully through the activity of consciousness. Through the creative force we have within us. Not realizing that the passive way of consciousness, the one we surrender to. The one where ideas flow, where things move accordingly to life itself. That the one where all things have a way of their own needs to be also exercised into full awareness. Not realizing this, we tend to miss out on things that are there for us because of the over exercise of the need for control. We miss out on things that are waiting as gifts of life to ease the living and flow, thrive in it. We have let generations to grow mindlessly to the natural intelligence of life, to think only that they can just count on the intelligence of their own. Creating artificial flows of some sort and structures resistant to it to take us around the egoistic world. Active efforts putted to use because we have lost the connection to surrender and flow. Unaware of our own, the within ones, flow with life, earth and simple pleasures, tastes and laughters in light and love. And simultaneously unaware of earths life cycles and environmental flow, we have denied the practice of passive consciousness. Where active consciousness surrenders to take it all, in this most easy and interesting, broader way of intelligence that has become a stranger and a foreigner to our conscious activity: the Meditative State. And in result our brains have lost the ability to do so engage with reality in a non active controlling way. If our brain is like a muscle we have lost that part of the muscle that creates that state of allowance to letting it flow. We have just exercised the active part of our brains, the male, the yang, the left part, the one that is mostly hyper charged and tensed up. And so the right part of our brain, it is not dead, not asleep or relaxed, but overly tensed up for being constantly judged and rationally questioned, when things in life are just as they are and not to be understood so rationally or put into tangible words. As a yoga instructor in class, and in myself throughout my journey, I can see clearly how more easy it is to expect that we are supposed to be activating a couple of muscles than we are to relax them. Though to hold a meditative state for a long period of time, in a free conscious flow, one needs to develop strength at the core of ones body. Results All this activity we have been taught to do since early times. All this exercise of the mind. The rational activity on demand and the lack of time and motivation allowed and given to a child for them to sit and connect with themselves, to watch observe and understand life as it is with no labels, or boxes. Has led to create an automatic set reactions in the mind of people throughout their lives, which reflects the initial mentality of the tutors, that is of resistance. An over load of resistance to live and embrace life. Fear is magnetized to everything and everywhere. Lack of confidence to hear instincts and intuition. In this form of so much resistance to flow we laid the perfect bed for fear to set in. We know that is easy to let go, might not be the easiest part, the first step is always defiant but the flow that follows it is incredibly impressive. It’s a non stop of a sense of thriving. Some of us after that, are overwhelmed in going with the flow and cut back into a mode of resistance to get back together and never return flowing because we forgot the fun in going. But there is a balance between that sense of resistant set back and flowing freely that we have to find. That is our awareness in actions and that is also our brain in full activity. So we just need breaks and exercise. Both sides of our brains, resisting and letting go, have to be exercised until perfect balance. “Simplicity contains truth. (…) The best way to get to simplicity is to stop thinking of best ways and in worst ways of getting there.”, Chuang Tse. Why the state of Resistance Decided to write this to reflect and acknowledge what is right. What is the need of resistance? Why is there so much resistance to flow? Is it necessary? Why is there so much of it that covers the flow of life? How often is fear dressed in resistance and vice versa? As I started writing, as you can read, I realized there is probably a right amount of the quality of resistance we can use for the benefit of our lives. But sadly we are in a over flow of it. Resistance rules it all. Confined paths to thick walls on each side diminishes the horizons of one and leads to an illusion of freedom. A false sense of freedom often plagued with fear. Once I was doing a job picking grapes in south France, near Bordeaux, and as the farm owner was driving to the next crop we were to harvest in we were passing next to these woods deep in those valleys by the side of the road. She was from there and lived all her life there since little girl. The vineyards were inherited. She told us in that moment that when she was a little girl she was told there were ferocious violent wolves living in those woods, and she never got near them, the wolves nor the woods. I asked if there are really wolves there, in a tone of awe, and she said that she actually never saw one, maybe was not true but just what elders used to tell her. I felt this fear in her, restrained her from enjoying those woods and wondering in the forest. A tale to hold and control. Who/ what performs it Overuse of resistance and self restraint can only come from a place of Ego. Only an unbalanced ego can create such an action of individualization and marking the territory of one. Because the abundant flow of universe and life is a natural flow that touches all with no restraints. It’s though, the individual self that has to allow to be touched by the Flow. Resistance unbalanced use creates more the sense of Ego within the crowd scenario. A balanced Ego resists and recognizes itself, while it allows the cosmic flow in. Resistance of an Ego to embrace the whole absolute cosmos promotes self withdrawal. We can observe self withdrawal from two perspectives: self withdrawal within a group context and self withdrawal from meeting our potential. Both are interconnected. Self withdrawal within a group context, happens with a enormous resistance to engaging with our environment. From connecting with nature’s elements to any societal relationship demands, family, partners, teachers or students. Withdrawal from connection, in the name of fear of the unknown and believe that aloneness is enough. Self withdrawal from meeting our potential has to do with within us abstaining ourselves from inner depth and worth. Too proud in learning new things. Often I see it as a form of denial of inner challenges that self development demands, in front of which one freezes and sits back from owning its potential. This kind of self withdrawal, this resistance to life and living is filled with force and strength channeled towards an independent stream of self, an ego. Force is used to build thick walls of isolation, instead of forming strong webs of inner and outer connection. One in such resistance creates of this isolation act a shelter to its own self. Sheltering its ego in pride resistance and suiting it in comfortable domes that only limitedly can quench ones thirst for life. This leads to further confusion and disconnection. One in this resistant mode, applying such a force, promotes fatigue, and harder it gets to move away from the shelter. Frozen in the shelter of the mind. Lacking energy eventually all is left is to see the shelter cracking down, naturally occurring. We can observe this happening from the scale of a being to a group, such as corporations or whole nations. The conventional tendency to attempt to heal from this is the taking of outsourced artificial supplements to try fill ones inner void. And we can imagine how unsustainable it is. How much damages it can do to our beings environment, from the scale of our body to that of natures ecosystem… Physically it manifests as loss of control of our own flow. Meaning the loss of the control, even if it was happening subconsciously, of breath and blood circulation, etc… leading to many other illnesses. Illnesses preventing the flow of our bodies and their thriving in life. Erosion Visualizing the over used resistance. I see a foot on the floor sinking in the ground, eroding the soil and going underground. The lack of awareness towards the balance between Resistance and Flow in ones life leads us to an unfulfilled life, and is a proof of lack of sensitivity into our own living. Too much flow can just lead us astray in a the wrong direction, stubborn and falsely positively self assured, just knocking things down and not listening nor learning. Too much resistance in life might let us in fatigue, lazy, falsely negatively self assured, giving space for fear and undermining our growth and potential. *** The universe is Divine balance and whatever we do, we act from it, if we find it within ourselves. And we find it in ourselves, we see the presence of its balance all around us. Relaxed and firm. Being the channeled and the channel. In Flow and Resistance, we promote forever pure resilience, to spring us back into our ever blissful shape even if through tumultuous changes. 05.09.2019 Sérgio Ramos
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