Wouldn’t it be great if you could be totally productive and creatively expressed without stressing yourself out and cranking? I swear to you, it’s possible. I blame our externally obsessed culture for- well for most things actually- but definitely for the collective distrust around incubation and allowing things to come together in their own mysterious ways and timeframes.

I don’t like working hard. It makes me bitchy. I like working deep. I like working smart. I like working with fullness and joy and complexity and freedom. I can even deal with overwhelm. But hard? So over it.

But waking up to new ways of engaging work and life and actually untangling a lifetime of habit are different beasts.

In this practice series, we’ve worked with lightening up the effort and tracking our energy levels for refuelling. This week, let’s incubate (and chill the f out) around what’s not in form yet. Watch and see what I mean.

Practice: Take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour for this.

Walk away from whatever you’re trying to figure out, complete or bring into form or clarity. Get all cozy and open. Lay down with your whole front body open- a relaxed and receptive posture.

As you lay here, listen. Not like listening for answers, not like listening for what you should do or how to make something happen (although sometimes inspiration strikes!) But listen for what’s mysterious. Listen to the silence. Listen to nothing happening. Don’t make anything happen. If you’re a doer, this’ll feel crazy making and maybe even dumb. If that’s the case, do it more often.

I realize this will seem very counter-intuitive. But I promise you, as you get more comfortable actually allowing incubation to happen, when it comes time to create and produce, you’ll have more clarity, insight and power to work with and then…POW! Seriously. I mean it. Trust me.