The Rhythm Of Wu Wei

This musical contemplation explores the concept of Wu Wei, or "Effortless Effort" and the rhythms of our life.  Come on a musical journey into your body, here in the present moment, and step into the Way of Wu Wei.

Transcript

Join me if you would in a connection with your physical body.

This physical body is our anchor in the present moment.

It's where we live,

It's our home.

And so often we forget this home.

We leave it empty.

When the house is empty,

Who knows what might move in.

So all the old Taoist masters,

The old way of cultivation is about re-inhabiting our home,

Our body.

From the tips of our toes to the top of our head.

Bringing the mind and body together.

So wherever you are,

Just feel yourself,

Feel your sit bones connecting to earth.

Your shoulders relaxed,

Arms relaxed.

Imagine the hair at the very top of your head gently lifting up,

Lifting the spirit.

You can relax your eyelids unless you're driving,

In which case keep your eyes open.

Imagine the light of your eyes turning around,

Illuminating your inner body,

Looking within.

Imagine you're gazing down into your lower belly.

You see this golden red sun shining down below your navel in the field of elixir,

The dantian.

Bring your awareness to your breath.

Feel the movement of the breath,

How the ribs gently expand as you inhale and relax as you exhale.

Feeling yourself from inside.

This is how we bring the spiritual energy back to the body.

This is where we connect with the shu,

The emptiness at the ground of our being.

There's a wonderful book of poems called the Book of the Heart by Luo Qingyuan.

I'm going to read one of those poems now.

What labor we expend sorting out our mundane chores year after year,

But doing them without regret or tears,

Without resistance.

That is the real secret of wu wei,

Like the mountain stream that flows unceasingly.

Elsewise all we do goes for naught.

We can hold back neither the coming of the flowers nor the downward rush of the stream.

Sooner or later everything comes to its fruition.

The rhythms are called by the Great Mother,

The Heavenly Father.

All the rest is but a dream and we need not disturb our sleeping.

So this term wu wei.

Wu wei is often translated as effortless effort,

Sometimes doing,

Non-doing.

Wu wei doesn't mean not doing anything.

It means doing just the right action at the right moment.

And the right moment is always the present moment.

Wu wei means keeping each day whole and complete,

Unconditioned.

For example if you walk out of your house every day go to work you turn right.

Every day you turn right because that's the way to work.

That's conditioning.

So through your cultivation as you begin to get in touch with your physical body,

To inhabit this home more and more,

You begin to wake up your chi body.

And maybe when you walk out the door in the morning you listen to your chi body and you feel something that is turning you to the left even though work is to the right.

So you say today I'm going to listen to my chi body.

I'm going to turn left and walk to work the long way.

And you turn left and perhaps there's someone on the corner,

An old friend who has an opportunity for you.

And this opportunity opens up a whole new adventure in your life.

And you never would have had that opportunity if you didn't listen to the living energy of the day.

If you just turned right again because that's the way to go.

Wu wei,

Listening to the moment and doing just enough.

You can think of playing music with friends.

When you're with a group of people playing music,

The best experience comes when the foundation for everyone's sound is silence,

Stillness.

If everyone there can listen to the primordial ocean,

Listen to that emptiness field until they feel a wave arise.

They feel that melody line wants to come into the space now.

They follow that wave and bring that melody line in and then return to silence.

Listening to the communication between the living energy.

That's where the best music comes from.

Listening to the living energy of the moment.

Same thing with the community,

With the family.

Foundation is listening and stillness rooted in the shoe,

The emptiness.

Everyone has space.

And when something important comes up to be said,

It comes out of that ocean and it's a Wu wei,

An effortless effort to speak that truth and then to let it return to silence.

We don't have to fill the silence.

Silence is a medicine.

So that the space between your words,

Between the notes of your music,

Between the strokes of your paintbrush speak as much as the words themselves.

So this way of being,

This Wu wei is a way of moving through each day in wholeness connected with the living energy of your breath,

Your body,

Your spirit.

Connected to the in-breath,

Connected to the exhale.

Let each physical movement be rooted in your dantian,

In the lower belly.

This is the root.

So when you raise your arm,

Keep the shoulders relaxed,

But raise from the root,

From the dantian.

Lower returning to the dantian.

In this way,

Your actions are always supported by the field of Shu,

By the emptiness.

And the notes of your music are just the right notes to fit into that space.

The beat of your heart informing the rhythm of your day.

And there's a rhythm to life when you feel into it.

The old jazz musicians,

They had a practice where they would tap first one leg and then the other.

And they would say,

Mommy,

Daddy,

Mommy,

Daddy,

Mommy,

Daddy,

Mommy,

Daddy,

Yin,

Yang,

Yin,

Yang.

And this is a way to connect with the rhythm of the day,

The living rhythm of your heartbeat,

The drum of the earth.

In our Qigong practice,

We do a shaking practice called the inner dancing and drumming of the heart,

Where we're drumming on the earth with our feet,

Opening the body,

Taking a journey through the rhythm of the qi,

Through the rhythm of the living day.

When you pay attention to the field of the day,

You start to sense this rhythm.

You can hear it in the barking dogs,

The chirping birds,

Crying babies.

You can hear it in the cars driving by.

You can hear it in the conversations you have.

Rhythm.

Start to sense into this feeling.

Mommy,

Daddy,

Mommy,

Daddy,

Mommy,

Daddy,

Mommy,

Daddy,

Yin,

Yang,

Yin,

Yang,

Yin,

Yang.

You know,

Our heartbeat is our first rhythm.

It's right here inside of our body.

When we connect with the living rhythm of the qi,

Then our life becomes more like a dance.

And dancing doesn't have anything it's trying to accomplish.

It's expressing the living energy through the body.

What's the purpose of the dance?

Dancing is its own purpose.

Enjoy life.

Use the movement of your body,

The rhythm of your heart,

To let go of any old wounds or conditionings.

Shake it out.

Let it recycle into the earth.

Those negative thought patterns you might have about yourself,

Shake them out.

Let them return to the earth.

Return to the soil.

You can begin to open your heart.

When the body root is strong,

The heart has a foundation to open.

It's safe here.

The lotus of your heart can open and fold its petals.

Kind of feel like some guitar chords expressing through your heart as you extend love into your family,

Through your own body overflowing into the world.

Walking through each moment with an inner smile.

A smile that's not dependent on anything outside of yourself.

Because you're moving with the living energy of each whole day.

Wu Wei.

Effortless effort.

The sacred rhythm of life.

Be gentle with yourself.

Slow ways the fast way.

As you open into this Wu Wei of being.

Just pay attention to your body.

Pay attention to your breath.

Pay attention to your consciousness.

The zhen run,

The real human that you are.

As my teacher,

Master Wu,

Always says,

The Tao is simple.

Don't make it more complicated than it needs to be.

The Tao is simple.

So play with it.

Take care of your life.

Take care of your body,

Your loved ones,

Your community,

Your world.

By taking care of your own heart mind,

The garden of your life.

And enjoy the blessing of being alive each and every day,

Even when times are hard or challenging.

That's the good compost for us to grow.

Yeah.

If you live each day from this place,

Your life will transform.

You'll see the stress going down and down as you're tending to the sacred moment.

You'll find yourself knowing what to say and what not to say.

Don't have to think about it.

It comes from the Shu,

The prenatal self.

You can relax and enjoy life.

Coming to what's important with the Wu way.

Always.

Company.

You

Reviews

So rich! Dance is its own purpose. What a vjbrant and embodied practice.

I LOVED THIS!! I had heard about Wu Wei but had never seen it in my scrolling history. Today, it caught my eye and I sat there listening in wonder. The teacher explained how Wu Wei worked. When he moved into the heart-brain and dance and music 🎶 it drew me in like a bright wave to my soul. I was entranced. Namaste. This has been added to my ‘daily’ meditation routine. Deep bows to you, I have entered the energy flow and hope to stay there as long as possible. Namaste 🙏🏻

An enlightening and uplifting way to start the day. Many thanks Ryan 🙏❤️💫

I chose to go left instead of right this morning with my daily practice, and found you, your wise words, some beautiful music … and myself - thank you 🙏

Amazing! Thank you so much for this beautiful flowing meditation. With your words and wonderful music! Living in the Wu Wei. 🙏🏼💫🎵 🎶 🌀☯️🙏🏼

Thank you for the simplicity of this meditation. The words, the rhythms, the music and the explanation of what Wu Wei is all aligned smoothly. I feel a deep connection to my home. T Xexe

Your voice is calming. My heart got to grasp what this part in life tools out to be.Thank you🙏🏽

Magnifique. Great Meditation session. Merci beaucoup

That was great. I felt the energy streaming in just after waking up. Best meditation I did in a while!

So powerful! Not surprisingly, this came ti me at the exact moment I needed it amd was ready for it. Thank you..

Never experienced a meditation like this! What a way to start a Friday morning! 😎🙏

What a joyous cascade of emotions I unexpectedly just got from this gorgeous session! And deep serenity after. Immense thanks. I’ll be returning to this one. 🙏🏼

Refreshing, resonating with me and my heart in such a happy mindful way. Thank you!

Loved this. Reminded me to slow down. To be open, aware, and receptive… to allow the natural unfolding! Thank you!

Wonderful - thank you!🙏🦋

Beautiful blend of truth & serenity

Thank you for this meditation that celebrates the natural way and rhythm of life!

How lovely. 🌞A beautifully simple and effortless approach.

I love the rhythm of this meditation, a beautiful beginning today. Following an inner song is a positive approach to life. Thank you. 🙏🏼 ♥️🙏🏼

I really connected with this. I'll be back 😊🕉🎶