Principle 5: do not strive

The principle of ''no striving'' may sound contradictory, especially in an achievement-oriented society.

However, in the context of mindfulness, it has a very precise and profound meaning. It does not refer to laziness or passivity.

It refers to the wisdom of not trying to force results, especially in our inner world.

When we strive to bring about a change in our emotional state (''I need to relax'', ''I must stop being sad''), we often generate more tension and resistance.

This striving is based on a judgment: that how we feel now is wrong and must be changed. This internal struggle, as we have seen, is counterproductive.

The principle of no striving invites us to let go of that struggle. It encourages us to focus on the process, not the outcome.

Instead of striving to ''achieve calm,'' we simply sit and observe our breathing.

Calm may or may not arise as a byproduct of such effortless attention, but it is not the primary goal.

This principle teaches us to distinguish between what we can control and what we cannot. We cannot directly control our emotions.

But we can control where we place our attention. The effort must be directed toward the practice itself: sitting, observing, and being aware.

And we must let go of the expectation of achieving a specific outcome. Paradoxically, when we let go of striving to change our experience, that's when real change has the space to occur naturally.

Summary

The principle of effortlessness in Mindfulness does not impl