Less is More
Today is Wednesday and, according to The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga by Deepak Chopra, is the day of the Law of Least Effort. The Law of Least effort is not about laziness or slacking. It is about “effortless ease”. Nature does not strain, a flower does not struggle to grow; these things happen effortlessly. The Law of Least Effort is about putting in minimal effort to maximum effect. We can do less and accomplish more.
How does this apply to yoga? Well, the greatest gains made in yoga are when you relax into, as opposed to forcing your self into, a pose. When flowing into a pose, find the point of highest resistance. Instead of forcing your way past that point, try to breathe into it. Surrender to the pose, put in less strength, remember to breathe, and you will find yourself extending past any point you were able to achieve before.
According to Deepak, there are three steps that you can take to incorporate the Law of Least Effort into your practice:
1. Practice acceptance. Accept where you are in your practice. Accept that you may not execute every pose perfectly every time. Accept this moment and do not struggle against it because, this moment is perfect in time and in the universe and to struggle against it is to align yourself against the universe. Have your intention be to improve. But this can only happen if you accept where you are now.
2. Take responsibility. Having accepted things as they are, become responsible for the task you wish to take up. Regarding yoga, this means taking time to care for your body through exercise and nutrition. There should be no blame for your current state, remember, we are practicing acceptance too.
3. Become defenseless. Here we mean don’t waste any time or energy defending your point of view or trying to convince others of it. Remain open to all points of view.
By applying the Law of Least Effort to your life and yoga practice, you will stop wasting your life energy in conflict. As Deepak puts it: “Liberated, this energy becomes available to you for creativity, personal growth, and healing.”
Remember, you can accomplish more by doing less if you are not wasting energy by struggling and straining.
