Declutter the Mind by Using a Simple Taoist Principle

Effective technique that brings you mind clarity & saves you time

How do you want to have such a clear mind that allows you to see things that other people cannot see?

Put it simply: how can you enjoy the clairvoyance that is often associated with only men of wisdom?

For centuries, people have attempted all sorts of things to attain the state of wonders. Apparently, this is not something that you can achieve overnight. But is it something achievable by you?

The good news is: it is and you can get it started right now – at this very moment.

You can bring yourself a step closer to the state of mind immediately by using some simple technique.

Before talking about the technique, let’s look at the principle.

There is an ancient Taoist technique known as daoyin (导引). The word means ‘guide and direct’ in Chinese.

With this technique, you can use external movements, such as your your hands’, to direct movements in your body. In this way, you’re able to exercise your internal organs from heart and kidneys to lungs without touching them.

For example, if you place your hands near your lungs and use your mind to connect the hands and the lungs, gentle movements of the hands can effectively massage the lungs organs — even though physically your hands do not touch lungs.

Now back to clairvoyance.

One of the first steps toward clairvoyance is simplicity.

Simplicity allows you to cut through noises to hear what you don’t hear, and pierce through blockages to see what you don’t see.

With simplicity, focus is easy. No longer do you have to force concentration or scuffle with distraction. It’s like having silt and mud sunk to the bottom, allowing purity and clarity to surface, your mind becomes clear in the process.

You can use the Taoist technique to achieve simplicity leading to clear mind. It’s very handy.

Pick a household chore that declutters. For example, clearing a desk packed with paper, books, computer accessories and coffee cup, or weeding a garden that is in a mess.

See the activity beyond household chore. Connect the decluttering process with the decluttering of your mind!

It’s important that you connect the mind with what you do. Otherwise, you’re just performing the chore. Clear up your mind when your hands are clearing up the table or the garden! The movement may be slower than usual, but it is the effect that counts.

Using the principle of daoyin, clearing an item from the desk or slashing the grass is as if clearing away an object from the mind.

Upon completion of the task, you’d find that your mind is refreshed. The exercise does not need to be long. It can be a simple five-minute.  What’s interesting is that it’s a double-edged sword. You’re clearing the chore while clearing the mind.

As a matter of fact, this is why Taoist masters would want their disciples to learn the Tao principles by sweeping floor and carrying pails of water.

To the sage
all of life is a movement toward perfection,
so what need has he
for the excessive, the extravagant, or the extreme?

Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching, Chapter 29

Of course, you may also do the daily decluttering of your mind by performing structured dao-yin exercise. This is one of them!

Thank Susy Morris for the picture.