Zero-Energy Noticing

This is not a “how-to.” This isn’t a practice to master. It is an invitation to recognize what you are already doing.

So much of spirituality is presented as work. A “practice” to do. A state to “achieve.” A self to “heal.” We are given a new, spiritual to-do list: meditate, be grateful, journal, do yoga, heal your trauma.

But what happens when you are in the dark? What about the days, weeks, or months when you are pinned to the bed by depression, burnout, or a deep, soul-level exhaustion? What happens when you are simply too tired to do anything?

You feel like a failure. Not just a “worldly” failure, but a spiritual one.

This is where the real path begins. This is the “Great Permission.”

What if this state of total “incapacity” is not a failure? What if it’s an involuntary, sacred monastery? What if the “practice” requires zero energy?

The “Practice” of Lying on the Floor

Right now, maybe you’re reading this from bed. Maybe you’ve been there for days. Maybe you’re thinking ‘I can’t even do this.’ Good. That’s exactly where this begins.

This is something I do myself. I lie on the bed or, even better, on the floor. I just… stop.

This is the “Zero-Energy Noticing.” It has only one “rule”: You cannot fail at this.

If you are too tired to “do” anything, you are in the perfect state for it. The practice is to simply be as you are.

It’s not about “trying” to be present. It’s about noticing the presence that is already here, holding you.

Here are a few gentle invitations. They are not steps. You don’t have to do them. They are just things to notice.

1. Notice the Ground. If you are on the floor or a bed, notice the feeling of it. Notice the simple, solid fact of it holding you up. You don’t have to hold yourself. Gravity is doing all the work. You are allowed to be this heavy. You are allowed to be this still. The floor doesn’t judge how long you’ve been here.

2. Notice the Room. Let your senses be a soft, open field. You don’t have to look for things. Just let the light in the room find your eyes. You don’t have to listen for sounds. Just let the hum of the fridge or the sound of a car outside pass through your awareness. They aren’t distractions. They are just the “isness” of the moment. You don’t need to find meaning in what you notice. The sound of traffic isn’t a spiritual metaphor. It’s just a sound.

3. Notice the Breath (Without ‘Practicing’). Don’t “do” a breathing exercise. Don’t try to change it. Just notice, for a second, that the body is breathing itself. It’s been doing it all your life. It doesn’t require any effort from “you.” Even this might feel like too much. That’s okay. The breath will keep happening whether you notice it or not.

When the Mind Ceases By Itself

When we do this, something quiet happens. We don’t fight the mind. We don’t have the energy to. We just… let it be.

And as I’ve found, the best is when the mind ceases by itself and thoughts become nonexistent, or distant at least.

This is the secret. You don’t stop your thoughts. You just get too tired to believe in them. They become distant, like clouds in the sky. You are the sky. The clouds are just passing. You don’t have to fly up and push them away. You just watch.

Sometimes, in this state, the “watcher” gets tired, too. And all that’s left is the sky. A quiet, open, “nonexistent” space.

This is not a goal. It is not something you “achieve.” It is the natural state that is revealed when you are finally, truly, too exhausted to maintain the “doing.”

Your exhaustion is the doorway. Your “incapacity” is the invitation.

Lying on the floor, too tired to move, you are not failing at spirituality. You are, perhaps for the first time, simply allowing it to be. You are not “doing” spirituality. You are spiritual “being.”

And that is always, always enough. You don’t need to get up. You don’t need to be different. You are exactly where you need to be.