Move forward with gusto and aplomb
As with all things Taoist, to effect a shift for the better, you go further into the stuckness. It’s the same as with pushing someone off their feet and into the air when practising Tai Chi: you push them down first – they then naturally rebel and want to go upwards. It then only takes a slight push to help them on their way. This is on account of the law of yin and yang operating throughout all levels and aspects of physical existence. Take something to its extreme in one direction and it naturally rebels and wants to go the other way.
Holding yourself back on a metaphorical level corresponds with holding yourself back physically: literally holding yourself from the muscles in your back, neck and hamstrings. The epicentre of holding back is the kidney region in the lower part of the back, a holding arising through fear of change, which spreads upwards and downwards, forming a holding pattern in the muscles, which then translates into inaction on the metaphorical level – a holding caused by strain.
To ease it that you might re-instigate forward momentum in your life, rather than struggle to move into the front of your body, sink fully back into your back, neck and hamstrings. Inhabiting the back of you fully, there is no room for strain because you’re there instead. Being fully in your back with no strain, the kidney region relaxes and the underlying fear of change diminishes proportionately.
On the magical level, according to the metaphysical law, as above, so below, as within, so without and vice versa, as soon as you sink back into your back to ease off the fear of change, things change externally of themselves and your life starts working again.
Put another way, sink back with full consciousness into your back so you feel yourself inhabiting all of yourself in the psychophysical sense and you regain your personal power. Your personal power comprises having a broad-based intention and accompanying vision of where you want to go, how you want life to turn out over the next phase, along with the courage to let go and the will to follow where the path then leads you.
It doesn’t obliterate the fear. It’s not about obliterating it. It’s about striking a new balance between the fear and the power, with a preponderance of the latter. And your power comes from your back, from your backbone specifically, hence the expression ‘having backbone’.
So take a long, slow, deep, soothing breath, sigh and as you do, withdraw from your face, chest and belly for a moment and sink into your back. Feel yourself all the way from the back of your skull down to the backs of your heels. Close your eyes 97% of the way (after reading this), let your mind sink all the way back towards the rear of your skull and in the space between and behind your eyes, let a vision form of you 90 days hence, looking supremely confident, accomplished, satisfied, relieved and excited because you’ve managed to somehow jump over all the obstacles currently in your way and have manifested the changes you desire.
Slowly move forward out through the centre of your forehead and gently enter your future self through the back of the neck. Allow yourself to inhabit your future self’s body fully, especially the back and let yourself feel the positive sensations and wellbeing of that person who’s jumped over the problems and landed somewhere spectacularly satisfying. Say thankyou to Big You for having made it manifest as if it already has and then respectfully, draw Future You with you inside, back in through your forehead so both of you are back here in the present moment.
Within 90 days, assuming you followed those instructions carefully, the changes your heart desires will have been wrought or be well into the wringing without undue strain on your part and all will be well – and if you allow yourself to be here fully now, inhabiting the back of you as much as the front, all is well here and now.
Meanwhile, may this serve you well and see you back on track moving forwards with gusto and aplomb.
Love, Barefoot