Taoist Wisdom for Navigating Change
Navigating changes and transitions is one of the most common reasons people seek external support from friends, coaches, counselors, clergy, and even yoga teachers.
We feel around for strategies, tips, and frameworks so we can problem-solve our way through it as quickly as possible. But we often just end up tired, burnt out, and weighed down by the past and (still) anxious about an unknown future.
What if that’s by design? What if we’re meant to face a kind of crucible as we change? Not because we’re being punished, but simply because that’s the nature of transitioning.
Take the butterfly. The chrysalis phase of a caterpillar’s life is brutal. Inside its protective container, the caterpillar releases an enzyme that eats away its body, turning it into a soupy liquid! 😮
This process unlocks the DNA markers in the caterpillar’s cells that know how to grow butterfly parts: beautiful wings, delicate antennae, new legs.
This caterpillar’s natural metamorphosis suggests that transformational change is dramatic. And yet… the chrysalis stage occurs during a slow pause that lasts nearly 20% of the creature’s total lifespan.
We can’t know how these insects feel about their metamorphosis, but humans don’t like to stop and wait. In her short story collection on liminality, Changing Planes, Urusla Le Guin, describes the airport —the grandaddy of all transition zones— as “a blockage. A constipation.”
Isn’t it funny that change makes us feel stuck?
Taoist philosophy offers some helpful wisdom about transforming well.
Let’s start with Ziran (自然).
The word itself is a bit hard to translate, but the meaning goes something like: “all things in the manifest world have a natural way of being.” We might call this “true nature.” A tree’s true nature is different from a cat’s, which is different from a human’s. And, each human has their own way of being.
We can only access peace and equanimity when we stop pushing against the natural order of our own being and against the natural rhythms of the environment we live in.
What’s natural about transformational change is that it’s very hard and, at times, painful. Instead of trying to make it some other way, accept it. This will free up the energy you lose swimming against the current.
Which leads us to Wu Wei (無為).
Wu Wei is often misunderstood as “doing nothing.” A better meaning is “effortless action.” Wu Wei is the act of not efforting against the natural order—the Ziran—of things.
Wu Wei doesn’t mean that we’ll be free from hardship or that we shouldn’t try to make things right in our world. Instead, Wu Wei is about discernment, then metering engagement so as not to create additional, unnecessary, suffering.
Together, Ziran and Wu Wei suggest that we embrace the slow, chrysalis stage of change. What pathways and lessons might unfold when we don’t rush?
Hi! I’m Jennifer O’Sullivan (Sati Yoga). I write about yoga, meditation, stress management, Internal Family Systems, functional anatomy, and a bit of this and that about living a wakeful life. Based in the Washington, DC area, I share gentle yoga, Buddhist mindfulness, and facilitated IFS Parts work in person and online. Find me at www.sati.yoga. I also co-host Skillful Means Podcast, which covers spirituality and yoga.
