7/7/18
Alison Kelly
Loafing Around Without Feeling Guilty

Practicing non-ado is difficult as doing and producing things is so valued in our culture. Laziness is very shameful, right? And after having kids, I realized how shameful a messy house was. After I had my first baby everybody said, "nap when they nap!" Oh yeah right!!! That was the only time I could get anything done!
The question was asked during class in relation to non-ado, “What’s the least we can do to engage one in their healing?” This makes perfect sense but I can see how this would be challenging at times as a practitioner. People want results right away. They want to see immediate outcomes or they might lose confidence in the treatments. I love the idea that healing takes time. Slow medicine.
Wu Wei, the practice of non-action is a Taoist philosophy in which one is in pure harmony, behaving in a purely effortless and natural way according to Wikipedia.
I did do some loafing around over the 4th of July break. Ok sort of. It is very difficult to do absolutely nothing, but I did try to make a conscious effort to relax, and while I still did things around the house, I tried to do them at a natural pace without hurrying. It felt really good and I didn’t feel guilty about it. Rather than rushing through to get as many things done as possible, I practiced being present while cleaning the house and organizing my things. I was feeling more relaxed than usual since my family was out of town for a week and I had some alone time.

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