22/04/2026
"Things arise and she lets them come; things disappear and she lets them go."
- Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 2
I've been thinking about how much heavier things get when we grip too tightly. We all do this. We go into something, a new habit, a health change, a relationship, a project, and we carry this whole stack of expectations about what it's supposed to look like. What the results should be. How fast they should come. And we hold onto those expectations so tightly that the whole experience starts to feel heavy before it even begins.
I've noticed that the things in my life that have actually worked, the practices that stuck, the changes that lasted, almost always started with lighter expectations than I thought they should have. I didn't go in with a rigid picture of what had to happen. I just showed up and let things arise. And what I found was that sometimes the results were better than anything I could have planned. And when things were challenging, I learned more than I realized at the time, because I wasn't clenched around a specific outcome. I was open enough to actually experience what was happening.
There's a real difference between heavy energy and light energy, and you can feel it in your body. Think about the last time you walked into something with a tight grip. Your shoulders were probably up by your ears, your jaw was tight, your whole system was bracing. Now think about a time you walked into something with open hands, no agenda, just curious about what would happen.
That's a completely different feeling. And your body does better in that second state. It learns better, it heals better, it moves better.
Lao Tzu is pointing at something really practical here. Things arise and she lets them come. Things disappear and she lets them go. That's not passivity. That's the most powerful way to move through anything, because the expectations are light and the energy stays light with them.
Whatever you're sitting with right now, whatever decision you're turning over, whatever change you're considering, see if you can hold it a little more loosely. You might be surprised by what happens when you do.
A practice inspired by this quote
This is one of the simplest ways to let go of heavy energy through the body. Non-attachment sounds like a concept, but your body understands it immediately when you shake. You're literally letting go of tension, tightness, and whatever you've been holding onto without even realizing it.
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and start shaking. Your hands, your arms, your legs, your whole body. Just let everything loosen and bounce.
Lee Holden
www.holdenqigong.com
