Lean into resistance where spirit meets soul in the eternal now. So says the spiritual seeker andworld-renowned surfer Bear Woznick, author of Deep in the Wave – A Surfing Guide to the Soul (2012). Let us explore the implications of this paradox.

Whoever heard of leaning into resistance when, clearly, fight is indicated—instincts on rampage, inflating egos into prideful battlements? Instinctively, we engage our allies to hedge our demands. This is war! No matter the scale, whether the court of law, or the bridge table, or the backyard squabble over a neighbor’s messy trees, or the doctor’s prognosis. We want our way, and now!

And yet we are urged to lean into the resistance, to surrender to its ugliness, tinged with darkness, to see what is actually there. Slowly, we wake up to our self-imposed strife and squelch it. Then discern the discordant factions and the resulting tension.

Then strip off our defensive armor and humbly wait until the emergence of the still small voice, however heard: in solitude, through an honest friend, though a gentle breeze.

Such engagement activates our Warrior Spirit, moving us into Soul-silence and the Eternal Now—until the next upheaval, with more leaning, with new lessons for continuous growth. Such practices keep our gardens watered. No drought can touch us!