By Kimine Mayuzumi
In my last blog post, I explored Nothingness — the fundamental notion of Eastern philosophy — using a furoshiki metaphor.
Here, I ask the next questions:
What can I learn from Nothingness?
How can I apply it to my daily life?
Based on what I have learned through contemplating Nothingness (無) and practicing Tai Chi with Daoism behind it, I want to share my responses.
Before that, in addition to the furoshiki metaphor, let me introduce Wuji as another dimension of Nothingness — one that has deeply shaped these reflections.
Wuji
Wuji (無極) is Nothingness as understood in Daoism.
It refers to a state of no extremity and no polarities — the beginning stage of everything.
In other words, everything starts from Wuji, from Nothingness.
Returning to the furoshiki metaphor, Wuji is the moment when a furoshiki is fully open and spread on the floor, with nothing placed on it yet.
It is calm.
It is empty.
In Tai Chi (Taijiquan), the preparatory posture requires this Wuji state.
I often remind myself to cultivate it in my own practice.
Before beginning the form, I allow my entire body to relax into a centered alignment and a sense of tranquil ease (Zhongwen, 2006).
As I empty my cognitive mind, I become ready to move into the opening form and then into the sequence of movements shaped by polarities — yin and yang — that coexist and reinforce each other.
These polarities (such as open and close, full and empty) are all permeated by the Wuji state.
How Nothingness can help us in daily life: 6 ways
Through reflecting on Nothingness (and Wuji), I came to see six ways it can support me — and perhaps you too — in daily life.
The book Dao De Jing: A Qigong Interpretation (Yang, 2018) was especially helpful, offering several passages that stayed with me.
Nothingness allows us to:
1. Have an effective and essential starting point
Wuji represents Nothingness at the beginning stage.
It invites us to be mindful of a brand-new, empty state.
As Yang (2018) describes this Wuji state:
In this [wuji] state, there is no discrimination of yin and yang. It is the neutral state of everything. Therefore, nothingness here means the emptiness of the emotional mind and material world.
In order to reach this state, the first step is to keep your mind in its extreme insubstantial state and the physical body in its ultimate calmness. (p.102)
I return to this description as a reminder of how simple — and how challenging — this state can be. A soft invitation to come back to emptiness, again and again.
When we begin from Nothingness, there is nothing to judge and nothing to analyze. It is blank.
There is no good or bad, no distinction between subject and object. There is no worry, nor excitement — only calmness and emptiness.
To bring ourselves into this state, breathing practices can help. Meditation can help.
We gently return our attention to the breath — an anchor we can come back to whenever the mind begins to scatter.
2. Start fresh and make a creative and/or wise decision
When we enter a new day, a new week, or a new space from the Wuji state, we access fresh energy.
We are less entangled in yesterday’s thoughts or future anxieties.
Wuji, as Nothingness, frees us from emotional disturbance, rigid beliefs, and attachment to outcomes.
Like a blank sheet of paper, it invites us back to the basics.
From there, creativity and wisdom can emerge — rather than simply following familiar patterns or the loudest voice in our head.
3. Create a worry-free state
The Wuji state is like being an infant — untethered to past or future.
Infants live fully in the present moment.
They play.
They express their needs directly.
When they are hungry, uncomfortable, or sleepy, they respond without hesitation.
Nothing holds them back.
In this way, Nothingness allows us to reconnect with the subconscious mind rather than the cognitive mind that tends to judge, analyze, and regret.
“This subconscious mind and feeling is the root of our connection to nature” (Yang, 2018, p.30).
4. Understand polarities (yin & yang) as one
Awareness of Nothingness is also the beginning of understanding yin and yang — not as opposites, but as a unified whole.
Yin and yang coexist, complement, and reinforce one another.
Yang (2018) offers an analogy that I keep coming back to:
Most people are looking for beautiful colors, exciting music, and various stimulating tastes. However, they have forgotten that the most important root of color is the colorless. From the colorless, all colors can be derived.
The foundation of sound is silence since all sounds are generated from no sound. … [O]nce you have become habituated to strong tastes, you will forget the feeling of tastelessness. For example, water is tasteless compared with all other tastes. However, it is from water that all juices and other drinks are generated.
Once you are accustomed to the special taste, you will soon forget how good “the taste of the tasteless” is. Therefore, you should not forget the root, the origin, and the foundation of everything. (p. 80)
Each time I read this, I am reminded to return to the root.
To pause.
And to savor what is often overlooked.
Therefore, it is important to have a break or downtime in our busy life.
Downtime as yin allows us to function and shine through yang.
5. Feel less guilty about non-productive time
We now know that Nothingness embraces the polarities and reinforces the importance of yin.
So having downtime as yin — or insubstantial, as opposed to substantial — often labeled as “non-productive” time, becomes not only acceptable, but essential.
This is what allows the yang state of “having” and “productive” time to emerge.
When we begin to value Nothingness, we also begin to value Being (or “having”).
And from there, the guilt around rest or non-productive time can soften… or even fade.
6. Relax our body and mind
The Wuji state in Tai Chi requires us to relax both physically and mentally.
Qigong, the way qi (energy) flows and works, which is central to Tai Chi, is not about control, force, or physical strength, but about consciousness (Zhongwen, 2006).
With a relaxed body and mind, practitioners are guided to:
– sink the shoulders rather than lift them,
– drop the elbows comfortably rather than raise them with force,
– and loosen the entire body rather than make it firm and stiff.
From this place of Nothingness, movements can become more effective — not through effort, but through ease.
I hope this essay can be a gentle starting point.
A quiet doorway into reflection, learning, and how we move through our days.
For those of us drawn to the power of Nothingness.
Modified on March 23, 2026