The Posture Called 'Life' - Try it Without Effort

No effort / don’t try too hard – thoughts on infinity

In the west we have a cultural bias against the idea of no effort or not trying hard. Our thinking is 'no effort, no success'. Our games and sports are fast, the majority of those are competitive, and we equate winning with success. I can’t offhand think of any western activity which has the in-body awareness of Eastern practices such as Tai Chi, Yoga or simply sitting in meditation – which for many people is boring, worthless or an empty activity.

Many people think it’s a compliment when they are categorised as an A-type personality, which is someone who is competitive, work obsessed, aggressive, impatient, achievement orientated and generally stressed out.

In our practice we promote “no effort, no straining”. By no effort, I don’t mean not trying hard when we have to meet a deadline. Or not putting effort into an important task. Letting go of the effort I’m talking about is the ‘no effort’ referred to in Patanjali's yoga sutras:

ii.47 Prayatna saithilya nanta samappattibhyam

“letting go of the effort and uniting with the infinite”

The abandonment of effort and the non use of will or force. This is about the unnecessary energy we spend, the tension we bring into situations, creating stress and taking away all the ease, and the joy which we could find in it.

I’m sure you’ve come across some people who turn situations into a grinding chore? They grind their teeth and push so hard, become so grim. “We will do it if it kills me” kind of people.

With no effort we can still do what we need to do, but we can regulate our effort so that we are not forcing, but bringing in ease.

At the same time, Patanjali reminds us to “have continuous awareness of the infinite eternal existence”. He reminds us that we should remember to stay connected to the infinite (more about the infinite further down.)

Using a yoga analogy: (I think everyone in our group as done yoga at least once.)

I read something the other day, I paraphrase here: Imagine yourself in a yoga class – and moving into a posture – any posture which comes to mind for you. Now imagine yourself in this posture. Then I invite you to consider what you would have to do – or what you would have to stop doing – if you were to stay in that posture for an hour. Almost always we would instantly relax, pull back – drop our shoulders, maybe soften, and we would stop putting our energy into things we don’t need to do to stay in this posture with enough ease to last the hour.

Experiment with this the next time you are on a yoga mat or in your day. Whether you’re late for something because of traffic, whether you’re faced with a long line at a till point, have a money problem, starting a new job – we can ask ourselves: can I let go of the effort, the tension, the stress energy and relax into this moment just as it is?

We might notice how the situation doesn’t need our stress. And by not

squandering our energy in that way, we immediately feel more at ease.

Patanjali talks about the infinite: I’m still considering the idea of the infinite, and I might come back to it - but using the idea of nature: a sunrise / sunset, a rainbow or watching an animal in the wild : there is a concentration, a directness of connection, a wonder and a realisation that there is something larger out there, bigger than us, bigger than our day to day worries and human concerns. Its infinite, endless. It was there before us, it will be there after us.

When we sit quietly, we can begin to get a feeling of infinity, and then we can begin to see more clearly, opening to new experiences with ease, opening to insight.

This kind of practice of way of thinking is not different from or extra to our human life. Creating a happy life is about this teaching. Whether we are conscious of it or not, you are right in the middle of our life, and the possibility for this practice is already inside us.

Just to go back to Patanjali’s sutra, and leave you with one last thought, this is part of what he says:

“To make sure we get the message, that there is no struggle, Patanjali adds one more sutra. Two things are to be combined:

Effortless / without strain. This means go up to that point where you begin to feel strain, and stop there. If you stop before, you are lazy. But that is only half the sutra. The other half means contemplating the endless. Which is one way of saying “go on”. So in other words, Patanjali says ‘stop when you experience strain, and go on gently’.

This is true of the yoga posture. But it is also true of the posture called Life. When there is some strain or trouble in your life, remember this: Don’t struggle to get out of it, you will only make it worse. Also remember, that you were there before the trouble began, and you will continue to be there after. The trouble is only a little incident in your life.

So in the practice of asana (postures) and in the posture you take in regard to your life itself, the less the effort the greater the purity and beauty.