Do as much as you need to … and as little as possible.
I heard this on a podcast from yoga teacher and anatomy expert David Keil and immediately related to it.
It reminded me of a true story I read somewhere. The particulars are all forgotten but it was about a practitioner of one of the somatic modalities out there, either Alexander’s technique or Feldenkrais. Anyway, her house was broken into and she called the police to investigate. When leaving the officers asked what her job was. And when she told them and wanted to know why they ask, they pointed out that they had never seen fingerprints like hers. Not one of them was smudged, they were all perfect.
Her fingerprint were perfect because she used only the least amount of effort when holding things without dropping them.
We often use a disproportionate amount of effort for many manual tasks and everyday jobs.
I remember the times when my European brain was getting used to driving a car in England. My tension was so high and I was squeezing the driving wheel so hard that my hands and arms and shoulders felt tired and stiff after each drive. I tend to do that while cutting and mixing with a spoon in the kitchen too.
What helped me notice my inclination to use more effort than needed was my yoga practice. Yoga teaches that each pose should be done with both strength and ease. We should feel strong but also comfortable and relaxed. These might sound like complete opposites but they work well together. They allow us to conserve energy, to spend only so much of it that we complete the task without overdoing it.
And when you think of it, we can apply that to our lives in general, not only to the physical aspects of it. Do we spend too much energy arguing a point, for example? Do we look for perfection in what we do? Getting out of an argument or stopping when we have done enough doesn’t mean we are weak, does it?
Staying in that middle ground between strength and ease is not simple to achieve though. It requires presence, awareness and discernment. Nevertheless, if we notice we use more effort in one area of our lives, we can be sure we will find it in others as well. If we start changing one, all will follow.
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