Doing Nothing Meticulously

In this video from the 2020 Embodied Men’s Leadership Training, John asserts that the capacity to do nothing is a skill that is sorely needed by most men and masculine beings, especially those moving through a period of “groundlessness.”

This practice is a structure to help ground you while you’re moving through periods of “groundlessness.” We flail when we feel groundless. It’s human nature. We try to hold on to something—practice, money, relationship—rather than relax into the groundlessness.

To do nothing meticulously is a practice of regeneration—letting life gently and slowly fill you, in the way she wants to.

Here is the practice:

• Sit on a comfortable couch, or a comfortable spot outside, for an hour. And do nothing, meticulously. Sit up. Be alert. No phone. No meditating. No breathing exercises. You can have a notepad to log any ideas that come to you.

• Let your body be in the moment. Let everything happening—all of your thoughts, feelings, etc. cycle through.

• This is a practice to be with “now” in the most relaxed physical and energetic way you can. And to see what comes up from there. It’s hard. But worth it.

• Can you feel the part of you that is dissatisfied with what’s true now? That’s a reflection of the chronic masculine experience that “now” is wrong.

• You may get inspired to do certain things, like change a lightbulb or go for a run. When that happens, stop, write them down on your notepad, and then go back to doing nothing.

• Attend to the things that come through while you’re doing nothing, when you’re done doing nothing. That’s your “To Do” list. Trust the things that come through while you’re in that completely receptive, open space.