In 1973, Leonard Cohen walked off stage mid-concert in Jerusalem. The renowned poet and musician, then at the height of his career, disappeared into a small room backstage. His band waited. The audience waited. But Cohen couldn't perform. Because of what he later called "paralysis of the will."
In his book "The War of Art," Steven Pressfield calls it Resistance. That invisible, destructive force that blocks artists, entrepreneurs, and spiritual seekers alike. "Resistance," Pressfield writes, "is experienced as fear; the degree of fear equates to the strength of Resistance. Therefore the more fear we feel about a specific enterprise, the more certain we can be that that enterprise is important to us."
But long before Pressfield named this force, the Yogis had already mapped its territory. They called it "mental inertia." An opposing force we all feel when facing our highest aspirations. The resistance that makes us delay meditation, postpone exercise, or abandon creative projects.
Yogi Ramacharaka captured this dynamic perfectly: “The lower part of the mind is content to drift; it seeks the line of least resistance. The Real Self must assert its mastery and compel it to act.”
It's a battle between two aspects of yourself. The higher Self that yearns for growth, and the lower mind that craves comfort and familiarity. Procrastinating is not a flaw. It is an eternal struggle that manifests in different intensities. From the subtle urge to check your phone instead of tackling chores, to the paralyzing force that drove Cohen from the stage that night in Jerusalem.
Yogi Ramacharaka offers a solution that balances acceptance with action. We first acknowledge this force of resistance, fighting or denying it only makes it stronger. Then, we must decisively assert our Will. As he explains:
"The will is the weapon of the Real Self. When you feel that you do not care to act—then is the time to assert the will. Say to yourself: 'I am the master, and not the slave.' Each victory gives you added strength."
It's in those small, daily assertions of Will. In choosing, moment by moment, to act despite resistance. To remember that just because you procrastinated doesn’t mean that you are a procrastinator. To remember that you are the consciousness watching those habits unfold, the Will that can overcome them, the Self that grows stronger with each small victory over inertia.
Take one small action now. The rest will follow.
