The Modern Taoist

Weekend Check In: What Taoism Is and Isn't

Many people discover Taoism during a difficult season of life. A relationship ends. Work becomes overwhelming. Anxiety starts taking up more space than it used to. Naturally, we begin looking for something that can fix the problem. But Taoism was never meant to be a problem solver. In this Weekend Check-In, we explore one of the most misunderstood aspects of Taoist practice: the difference between solving life's challenges and learning how to meet them with clarity, presence, and less resistance. The difficult conversation still has to happen. The uncertainty is still there. The challenge doesn't magically disappear. What changes is the quality of your relationship with it. We'll look at the "second layer" of suffering that so many of us add to our difficulties through judgment, urgency, self-criticism, and resistance, and why Taoism is far more interested in that layer than in providing quick solutions. If you've ever wondered why spiritual practice didn't make your problems go away, this episode may help you see what it was actually offering all along. Taoism won't fix your life. It can, however, prepare you to face it. The Modern Taoist is available wherever you listen to podcasts. New full episodes every Tuesday.

The Unfixed Mind

What if not everything requires a response? And what if not every meaningful moment needs to be recorded? In this episode, we explore Chapter 49 of the Tao Te Ching and the Taoist idea of the “unfixed mind” — a mind that meets life openly instead of arriving with reactions already prepared. From social media arguments and news cycles to our constant urge to document experiences before they’ve fully happened, modern life encourages us to react quickly and capture everything. But what might become available if we slowed down long enough to simply receive what’s in front of us? This episode examines the hidden cost of compulsive responding, the difference between experiencing and documenting, and why Lao Tzu believed genuine wisdom begins with openness rather than certainty. A practical exploration of attention, presence, and learning to let some things pass through your life without needing to comment on them, save them, or turn them into something else. Listen now and join the conversation. https://linktr.ee/daoananda [https://linktr.ee/daoananda]

Weekend Check-In: The Monday Dreads

Why do so many people start suffering for Monday before Monday even arrives? In this Taoist Check-In, we explore the familiar feeling of Sunday dread and the habit of mentally living in the future before it happens. From work stress and unfinished tasks to the simple fear of another busy week, the mind often turns tomorrow into a problem long before tomorrow gets here. Drawing from Taoist principles, this episode looks at the difference between responsibility and resistance, why anticipatory suffering drains so much energy, and how returning to the reality of the present moment can change your relationship with the week ahead. A practical reflection on anxiety, attention, and learning to stop carrying tomorrow before it's time. Listen now and join the conversation

The Strength You Were Born With

What if the exhaustion you feel isn’t coming from doing too much… but from forcing too much? In this episode, we explore Chapter 55 of the Tao Te Ching and one of Lao Tzu’s most surprising images: the newborn child. Not as innocence. Not as weakness. As a picture of natural strength. We look at what happens as we grow older and slowly trade ease for performance, natural response for self-management, and real strength for the exhausting work of holding ourselves together. Why do some forms of effort leave us energized while others quietly drain us? And what happens when the version of ourselves we maintain starts costing more than the life we’re actually living? This episode is about harmony, depletion, identity, and the possibility that the strength you’re searching for may not need to be built at all. It may already be there. Listen now and join the conversation. https://linktr.ee/daoananda [https://linktr.ee/daoananda]

Weekend Check-In: Desire vs Need

We spend a surprising amount of life treating desires like needs. Not because wanting things is wrong, but because somewhere along the way we begin believing peace can only arrive once the next thing does. In this Taoist Check-In, we explore the difference between desire and need, why modern life constantly blurs the line between them, and how attachment quietly turns ordinary wants into sources of suffering. This isn’t about giving things up or pretending not to care. It’s about learning how to pursue what matters without making your inner stability dependent on the outcome. A short reflection on sufficiency, attachment, and one simple question that can change the way you move through life. Listen now and join the conversation.