The Taoist classics have a few old ideas worth trying on a worried mind. Here's how principles like wu wei ("non-action"), ziran ("naturalness"), and pu ("the uncarved block") can give you a different way to think about control, change, and simplicity.
Key Takeaways:
- Let Go of Resistance: Our reading of wu wei is that it asks us to stop forcing things and meet life's challenges as they come.
- Accept Change: We read the classics as treating change as ordinary, an invitation to adapt.
- Simplify Life: We read pu as a call to simplify, which may leave more room for what matters to you.
- Practical Tips: Take breaks, spend time in nature, and try mindful breathing. These are ordinary habits.
Taoist wisdom reaches us through translators, so every passage below from a classic names its translator and chapter.
Wu Wei: The Art of Non-Resistance
Understanding Wu Wei
Wu wei is a Taoist phrase for acting without forcing, and it runs through the Tao Te Ching, the text traditionally credited to Laozi. Our reading is that it invites us to move with the flow of life instead of fighting it. Psychologist Dr. Junhong Cao wrote in CNBC Make It in 2023 that research has shown wu wei can help lower stress and anxiety. She didn't name a study, so we treat it as one clinician's view.
"The Tao in its regular course does nothing (for the sake of doing it), and so there is nothing which it does not do."
That's chapter 37 of the Tao Te Ching in James Legge's 1891 translation. Our reading is that letting go of control can leave room for solutions to arise on their own. The text makes no promise about anxiety, so it offers a stance to test and not a cure.
Wu Wei in Everyday Situations
Here's how we'd apply wu wei to three everyday situations. The table is our own summary, and its last column is our reading, not a measurement:
| Situation | Traditional Response | Wu Wei Approach | Benefit (our reading, not measured) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work Deadlines | Forcing long hours and pushing through exhaustion | Working in natural rhythms and taking breaks | Possibly steadier energy |
| Difficult Conversations | Trying to steer the outcome | Listening openly and allowing dialogue to flow | Possibly less tension |
| Personal Goals | Strict planning with rigid timelines | Progressing flexibly and adapting as needed | Possibly steadier progress |
Chapter 8 of the Tao Te Ching uses water as an image for this way of moving. Legge (1891) renders the line as "The highest excellence is like (that of) water." When you're facing something hard, try asking yourself, "What if this were easy?" That question is our own suggestion, not a line from any classic, but it may help you notice where you're bracing.
Making Peace with Change
Change in Taoist Teaching
Our reading of the classics is that change isn't an enemy but a natural part of life. Stefan Stenudd, in his commentary on chapter 29 of the Tao Te Ching, writes, "We don't fail because we try to change things, but because we want to stop them from changing." We take that as pointing at grip more than at change, and worry can feel like an attempt to hold the future in place.
The Zhuangzi has a small story that fits. In chapter 2, in Herbert Giles's 1889 translation, a keeper of monkeys says they'll get three chestnuts in the morning and four at night, and they're very angry. They're well pleased when he offers four in the morning and three at night. Giles adds, "The actual number of the chestnuts remained the same, but there was an adaptation to the likes and dislikes of those concerned." Our reading is that their distress came from how the arrangement looked, not from what they'd receive. We tell the story in full in Zhuangzi's Three in the Morning.
Methods to Accept Change
The classics don't offer a method for anxiety, but one line of clinical research does draw on Taoist ideas. A 2002 trial by Zhang and colleagues in Transcultural Psychiatry (doi 10.1177/136346150203900105) randomly assigned 143 patients with generalized anxiety disorder in urban China to Chinese Taoist Cognitive Psychotherapy (CTCP), a benzodiazepine, or both. We've read only the abstract, which reports that the drug worked quickly but its effect was lost by six months, while CTCP worked more slowly and its effect was significant after six months. That's one trial, so it's suggestive, not settled. This Chinese Taoist Cognitive Psychotherapy overview from NYU Steinhardt (2013) is a readable introduction that calls for more research.
| Approach | Common Reaction | Taoist-Inspired Method | Benefit (our reading, not measured) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal Setting | Over-planning and control | Honest self-assessment and flexibility | Possibly less strain |
| Self-Assessment | Comparing with others | Focusing on personal growth | Possibly less comparison anxiety |
| Decision Making | Fighting circumstances | Adapting to natural rhythms | Possibly more ease |
Two ways to practice these habits:
- Honest Self-Assessment: Understand your strengths and limits before you set a goal. This is our own practical advice, not a quotation from any Taoist text.
-
Flexible Adaptation: Chapter 29 of the Tao Te Ching, as we read it, warns against gripping the world too hard. In Stefan Stenudd's translation it reads:
"The world is a sacred vessel that cannot be changed. He who changes it will destroy it. He who seizes it will lose it."
This doesn't mean becoming passive, since we read chapter 29 as warning against gripping and not against acting. A 2020 pilot of a Taoist cognitive therapy (five Chinese American immigrants, no control group) quotes a participant, given the pseudonym Mr. Lin, saying of his therapist, "She just want to help me to accept these things, how to apply it in my life, and how to change my attitude from different ways." That's one person describing the approach, not evidence that it works. If anxiety is getting in the way of daily life, please talk to a licensed professional, since these texts are reflections and not treatment.
Simple Living and Present Awareness
Simplicity as a Path to Calm
The Taoist idea of pu (the uncarved block) stands for simplicity. Chapter 48 of the Tao Te Ching contrasts two ways of living, and Stephen Mitchell's 1988 translation puts it this way:
"In the pursuit of knowledge, every day something is added. In the practice of the Tao, every day something is dropped."
We read the chapter as praising subtraction. Our own suggestions for simplifying include:
- Clearing out unnecessary physical clutter
- Cutting back on overfilled schedules
- Practicing the art of letting things unfold naturally
Simplifying is one way of not forcing.
Daily Mindfulness Methods
Once simplicity becomes part of your life, mindfulness may help you feel in step with life's rhythm. The classics don't lay out a daily schedule, so these are ordinary habits and not Taoist prescriptions:
- Morning Stillness: Start each day in silence before you turn to tasks, which may give you a little mental room.
- Mindful Movements: Focus on your breathing while commuting or waiting in line.
- Reconnect with Nature: Watch the clouds, listen to birds, or feel the wind.
Chapter 67 of the Tao Te Ching lists what Laozi calls his treasures, and Stephen Mitchell (1988) renders the passage like this:
"I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and in thoughts, you return to the source of being."
Translators differ here, since Legge's 1891 version names gentleness, economy, and shrinking from taking precedence. These further habits fit our reading of the spirit, though none are Taoist rules:
- Limit media consumption to what's necessary
- Eat slowly and stop when you're comfortably full
- Take regular breaks from screens
- Pay attention to nature's rhythms around you
Guided Meditation for Anxiety - Inner Child Meditation to Overcome Anxiety
Learning More About Taoism
These sources are a place to start, and we've described each by what it is, not by what it will do for your anxiety.
Book of Tao: Guide to Taoist Principles
The Book of Tao is our own site, with translations and articles on Taoist philosophy. Other resources:
| Resource | Description | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Tao Te Ching (Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English translation, Vintage, 1972) | A plain-English modern translation, paired with photographs | Reading the text itself |
| The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts (Pantheon, 1951) | Subtitled "A Message for an Age of Anxiety," it explores the search for security | Readers who like philosophy |
| The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff (Dutton, 1982) | Introduces Taoism through the Winnie-the-Pooh characters | Beginners |
| Living the Wisdom of the Tao by Wayne Dyer (Hay House, 2008) | Pairs the full Tao Te Ching with 81 short essays on modern life | Daily reflection |
Chapter 74 of the Tao Te Ching holds an image of a master carpenter, and Stephen Mitchell's 1988 translation reads:
"Trying to control the future is like trying to take the master carpenter's place. When you handle the master carpenter's tools, chances are that you'll cut yourself."
Mitchell's wording is freer, and Legge's 1891 version sets this image in a passage about death and who may inflict it, so the link to worrying about the future is Mitchell's reading, not what the text plainly says.
For structured study, you could also look at Personal Tao or The Watercourse Way. We haven't reviewed either in depth.
Chapter 15, in Legge's 1891 translation, asks a question that could pass for advice to a churning mind:
"Who can (make) the muddy water (clear)? Let it be still, and it will gradually become clear."
Our reading is that the answer is to wait and not to stir. A line about depression living in the past and anxiety living in the future is often credited to Laozi, but it isn't in the Tao Te Ching, as Stefan Stenudd's page of fake quotes on taoistic.com notes.
Conclusion: Finding Your Flow
The Taoist classics weren't written as anxiety manuals, but we read them as circling one question, which is what happens when we stop gripping. Releasing the need to control every outcome may sometimes leave room to let things unfold.
In chapter 4 of the Zhuangzi, in Giles's 1889 translation, Tzu Kao, Duke of She, is about to leave on a mission and tells Confucius, "I am in a state of great alarm." The Zhuangzi's Confucius answers that the climax of virtue is "To serve one's own heart so as to permit neither joy nor sorrow within, but to cultivate resignation to the inevitable." We read that as steadiness about what can't be changed, though Giles's word "resignation" leans harder than we would.
How to Incorporate Flow Into Your Daily Life
Here are a few ways to try wu wei, none of them clinically tested as Taoist practices:
- Observe your thoughts without judgment during everyday tasks.
- Accept that not everything needs to be perfect, and let go of forcing outcomes.
- Spend time outdoors and focus on mindful breathing.
In Victor Mair's 1990 translation, chapter 19 asks us to "Evince the plainness of undyed silk" and "Embrace the simplicity of the unhewn log," then to "Lessen selfishness" and "Diminish desires." We'd offer that as an invitation and not a cure.
Related Blog Posts
Other in
Mindfulness
.webp)
on our social media
Never miss an update with Tao Te Ching Translations. Subscribe to our email list.
YOUR EMAIL
JOIN NEWSLETTER
