19/02/2026
If I reflect back on my life, specifically on the how I have mostly done things, the behavioural traits of effort and drive are the ones which have mostly been celebrated.
While these are necessary attributes associated with achievement and success, our collective manner of "working hard", "training hard" and continual "pushing" has a tipping point - where does a healthy amount of striving turn into forcing, misalignment and burn-out?
As you are chewing on that thought, I'd like to introduce the antagonist of surrendering or allowing to counteract this perpetual "go-go-go, do-do-do" culture which we find ourselves in.
Here are 7 ways to embrace this "no-push, flow-state" approach this year, in any aspect of your life you want to focus on:
1. Establish Boundaries: Protect your time and energy by saying "no" when you need to without needing to provide a long justification.
2. Create Optimal Conditions: Instead of forcing focus, create a calm environment, reduce multitasking, and engage in tasks you genuinely enjoy. By adopting these practices, you move away from the pressure of perfection and toward a more nurturing, sustainable way of living.
3. Surrender Forced Control: True flow happens when you stop trying to engineer or force outcomes and instead trust the process.
4. Choose Alignment: Shift from "hustle" to "flow" by asking what feels peaceful and aligned, rather than what is urgent.
5. Embrace "Soft" Living: Move away from punishing, rigid routines and allow yourself to move easefully.
6. Focus on Energy, Not Results: Prioritise actions that energise you over those that drain you.
7. Feminine "Unresolutions" to Set Intentions, Not Deadlines: Focus on how you want to feel rather than what you have to do.
I have embraced these 7 flow-state practices since opening the studio at The Shala (situated in the peaceful village of De Kelders, Gansbaai) in April last year - and 9 months later (a beautiful pregnancy of time) I am proud of how this soft and aligned approach is now part of the integrity of the space.
