David James Lees

David James Lees Taoist Monk + Emotional & Spiritual Health Teacher & Consultant // Co-Founder Wu Wei Wisdom

☯️ FREE articles out NOW in David's Journal...✨ Gentle Becoming ✨You want to grow, but something within whispers, “It’s ...
22/10/2025

☯️ FREE articles out NOW in David's Journal...

✨ Gentle Becoming ✨
You want to grow, but something within whispers, “It’s not safe.” What if that voice isn’t your weakness, but your Inner Child asking to be seen? This gentle journey invites you to lead with presence, not pressure—and to realign, softly, with the Tao.

✨ Ungraspable Path ✨
Have you ever felt lost in the effort to be enough, fixing, pleasing, performing, yet never truly belonging? The more you bend to fit, the further you drift from yourself. In this journey, we gently uncover the silent maze built by childhood survival and learn how to walk free, not by force, but by aligning with the quiet strength of our Shen and the graceful flow of wu wei.

✨ Rewriting Reality ✨
You don’t have to chase inspiration; it’s already whispering within you. When you stop forcing, comparing, or controlling, life begins to speak. What if your quietest moments held the greatest power to guide you back to your truth?

✨ PLUS… Moments of Inspiration ✨

🌐 You can subscribe to David's Journal now for free (or join the paid subscribers 'Inner Circle' for weekly bonus resources) HERE: https://davidjameslees.substack.com/

✨ TAO DIALOGUES  #12: Dancing With Change | How to Find Ease & Flow in a World of UpheavalWe've just published the twelf...
18/10/2025

✨ TAO DIALOGUES #12: Dancing With Change | How to Find Ease & Flow in a World of Upheaval

We've just published the twelfth episode from our Tao Dialogues series, David's powerful yet gentle teachings about authenticity, spirituality and finding emotional balance and flow in everyday life, which expand upon popular posts on David’s Substack blog.

Ever wonder why even positive change can feel unsettling?

In this Tao Dialogue episode, we explore:

- Why red-light emotions (fear, anxiety, frustration) are not enemies but messengers.
- The Golden Thread Process — tracing emotions back to their root beliefs.
- How to guide your Inner Child back to balance through Shen, your inner truth.
- The Taoist art of non-doing — how to act with presence, not pressure.

Learn to let go of control, trust life’s rhythm, and transform uncertainty into liberation. Because we are not here to control the wind — we are here to learn how to move with it.

**LINK TO EPISODE + the original blog post are in the comments below**

You can also subscribe to David’s Substack Journal here:
https://davidjameslees.substack.com/

☯️ FREE articles out NOW in David's Journal...✨ Steady Knowing ✨You stand at the edge of a choice, wondering if staying ...
13/10/2025

☯️ FREE articles out NOW in David's Journal...

✨ Steady Knowing ✨
You stand at the edge of a choice, wondering if staying true to yourself might cost too much. But what if peace isn’t in the answer, it’s in the way you listen, question, and respond from Shen? In this journal, we return to that steady knowing that was never lost, only waiting.

✨ Worthy. Full Stop. ✨
Have you ever wondered why no amount of praise, love, or success seems to settle that quiet question inside, “Am I enough yet?” You may have followed every emotional rulebook, performed every part flawlessly, and still, something feels missing. In this journal, we’ll gently unravel that question and offer a Taoist path back to wholeness, not through striving, but through remembering.

✨ Returning Without Resistance ✨
You’ve spent a lifetime trying to prove, fix, or control, only to find peace slipping further away. What if your effort is the resistance? This journal post invites you to stop striving and start listening, to rediscover harmony not through effort, but through effortless effort, the path of wu wei.

✨ PLUS… Moments of Inspiration ✨

🌐 You can subscribe to David's Journal now for free (or join the paid subscribers 'Inner Circle' for weekly bonus resources)

HERE: https://davidjameslees.substack.com/

** NEW EPISODE: Overwhelmed? An Inner Child Meditation to Bring You Back to Peace **Enjoy our new Inner Child guided med...
11/10/2025

** NEW EPISODE: Overwhelmed? An Inner Child Meditation to Bring You Back to Peace **

Enjoy our new Inner Child guided meditation to help you replace emotional overwhelm with inner peace...

So many of us live spinning—mentally, emotionally—tied to old cycles of reaction. Round and round we go: anger, shame, fear, self-doubt. It may be familiar, but familiarity is not truth. That’s the voice of our Inner Child, clinging to certainty.

But now, we can choose something different. We can choose to understand and accept that we no longer need to ride this emotional carousel —we can choose calm, stillness and clarity...

** LINK POSTED IN COMMENTS **

The episode is also available on the Wu Wei Wisdom Podcast on APPLE PODCASTS or SPOTIFY, or wherever you get your podcasts!

☯️ FREE articles out NOW in David's Journal...✨ Emotional Architecture ✨You speak of emotions, hoping they will explain ...
06/10/2025

☯️ FREE articles out NOW in David's Journal...

✨ Emotional Architecture ✨
You speak of emotions, hoping they will explain the storm, but what if the storm is only a signal, not the truth? Your peace begins not by managing feelings, but by unearthing the quiet beliefs that built them.

✨ Breath of Becoming ✨
When someone leaves your life, by choice, by chance, or by chance, do you lose a part of yourself too? Or is that emptiness simply the space where your truth is waiting to return? In the quiet after loss, the Tao reminds us: the breath we reclaim is the self we rediscover.

✨ Resigning the Role ✨
Have you been living a life that no longer fits you, wearing masks crafted from childhood expectations and silent obligations? Perhaps you’ve mistaken endurance for love, or control for care. This is your invitation to pause and consider what might happen if you gently put the burden down.

✨ PLUS… Moments of Inspiration ✨

🌐 You can subscribe to David's Journal now for free (or join the paid subscribers 'Inner Circle' for weekly bonus resources)
HERE: https://davidjameslees.substack.com/

✨️ NEW EPISODE: How to Stop Emotional Overwhelm and Step Off The Carousel of Despair ✨️💌  Have you ever felt stuck in an...
04/10/2025

✨️ NEW EPISODE: How to Stop Emotional Overwhelm and Step Off The Carousel of Despair ✨️

💌 Have you ever felt stuck in an emotional loop where pain, fear, or self-doubt keep circling back, no matter what you try?

In our new Life Lesson, you’ll learn how to gently step off that ‘carousel of despair’’. We explore how reconnecting with our Inner Child, working with our emotions instead of against them, and embracing the concept of wu wei (effortless effort) can lead us to emotional freedom and inner peace.

** LINK TO EPISODE IN COMMENTS **

☯️ Out NOW in David's Journal for 'Inner Circle' subscribers...✨ Unquestionable Worth ✨Have you ever offered compassion ...
03/10/2025

☯️ Out NOW in David's Journal for 'Inner Circle' subscribers...

✨ Unquestionable Worth ✨
Have you ever offered compassion to others that you deny yourself? You soothe their mistakes with grace, yet demand perfection from your own spirit. This journal explores how the Tao and wu wei can guide us beyond this inner double standard, towards the quiet, unwavering truth that our worth was never missing.

✨ Exclusive view of Verse 35 of the Tao Te Ching with full commentary from David's upcoming new book. ✨

✨ Unbroken Light ✨
Have you ever believed that something vital was missing from you, something taken, withheld, or never given? Perhaps it was love, safety, or the presence of a parent. But what if nothing essential was ever truly lost, only hidden beneath the stories you were told and the ones you told yourself?

✨ PLUS… Moments of Inspiration ✨

You can subscribe to David's Journal now for free (or join the paid subscribers 'Inner Circle' for weekly bonus resources)
HERE: https://davidjameslees.substack.com/

TAO DIALOGUES  #11: YOU DON'T NEED TO PROVE YOURSELF | YOU ARE ENOUGHWe've just published the eleventh episode from our ...
27/09/2025

TAO DIALOGUES #11: YOU DON'T NEED TO PROVE YOURSELF | YOU ARE ENOUGH

We've just published the eleventh episode from our Tao Dialogues series, David's powerful yet gentle teachings about authenticity, spirituality and finding emotional balance and flow in everyday life, which expand upon popular posts on David’s Substack blog.

Have you ever believed that your worth must be earned, proven, or validated by others? Do you often find yourself chasing approval, striving to be “good enough,” only to end up exhausted and unfulfilled? Do you sometimes hear the voice of your Inner Child whispering, “Will I ever be enough just as I am?”

David explores these questions and offers a gentle path back to the truth of who you already are.

The Tao teaches that just as rivers flow and mountains stand tall without needing permission or applause, we too are worthy by our existence. There is nothing we must do to earn this worth. No approval we must gain. No role we must play.

**LINK TO EPISODE + the original blog post are in the comments below**

You can also subscribe to David’s Substack Journal here:
https://davidjameslees.substack.com/

☯️ Out TODAY in David's Journal for 'Inner Circle' subscribers...✨ I Ching Hexagram 61 ✨Have you ever mistaken the storm...
26/09/2025

☯️ Out TODAY in David's Journal for 'Inner Circle' subscribers...

✨ I Ching Hexagram 61 ✨
Have you ever mistaken the storm of a feeling for the truth of who you are? In the quiet teachings of the Tao and the still rhythm of wu wei, we are reminded: your emotions are not your essence. This journal is your invitation to gently step back from the noise within and return to the calm clarity of your spirit.

✨ The Addiction of Familiarity ✨
You know the outcome, yet you walk the same path. Why? When comfort becomes a cage and repetition feels safer than truth, the Tao invites a gentler way. This journal is your quiet step out of the known and into the flow of who you were always meant to become.

✨ Silent Contracts ✨
You give, you hope, you wait, but the love, validation, or recognition never arrives. Could it be that you're living by a hidden agreement no one else signed? This journal gently uncovers the quiet deals our Inner Child makes and guides us back to truth, where effort becomes effortless and love flows freely.

✨ PLUS… Moments of Inspiration ✨

🌐 You can subscribe to David's Journal now for free (or join the paid subscribers 'Inner Circle' for weekly bonus resources)
HERE: https://davidjameslees.substack.com/

☯️ FREE articles out NOW in David's Journal...✨ Thought Before Feeling ✨You may believe your emotions tell you the truth...
22/09/2025

☯️ FREE articles out NOW in David's Journal...

✨ Thought Before Feeling ✨
You may believe your emotions tell you the truth, but what if they’re echoes of old beliefs you've never questioned? When every feeling seems urgent and real, can you pause long enough to ask, “Is this truly me, or just the voice of my Inner Child still seeking safety?” In this journal, we explore how reclaiming your clarity begins not by fixing your emotions, but by understanding the thoughts that create them.

✨ Misguided Mercy ✨
You’ve said “yes” to keep the peace, only to find yourself quietly drowning in regret. Why does doing what feels kind often lead to deeper chaos? This week, we unravel the silent cost of emotional surrender—and how wu wei offers us a more truthful way to love and lead ourselves.

✨ The Maze of Confusion ✨
Have you ever doubted yourself so deeply that even the clearest choice felt uncertain? Or found yourself walking in circles, knowing something was wrong but unsure how to step out? The Tao teaches us that clarity doesn’t come from force; it flows from truth, honesty, and integrity. This journal gently guides us from confusion into calm, from survival into alignment.

✨ PLUS… Moments of Inspiration ✨

🌐 You can subscribe to David's Journal now for free (or join the paid subscribers 'Inner Circle' for weekly bonus resources)
HERE: https://davidjameslees.substack.com/

✨️ NEW EPISODE: Gentle Law of Attraction Meditation for Authentic Manifestation✨️💌 In David's new guided meditation, we ...
20/09/2025

✨️ NEW EPISODE: Gentle Law of Attraction Meditation for Authentic Manifestation✨️

💌 In David's new guided meditation, we explore the Taoist Law of Attraction, a way of being that invites us to let go of striving and instead align our intentions with the natural flow of life so that we can attract what is right for us. This practice is not about forcing results, but about clearing resistance and reconnecting with the deeper truth of who we are...🤗

** LINK POSTED IN COMMENTS **

The episode is also available on the Wu Wei Wisdom Podcast on APPLE PODCASTS or SPOTIFY, or wherever you get your podcasts!

☯️ Out TODAY in David's Journal for 'Inner Circle' subscribers...✨ Tao Te Ching Verse 17 ✨You don’t need to lead loudly ...
19/09/2025

☯️ Out TODAY in David's Journal for 'Inner Circle' subscribers...

✨ Tao Te Ching Verse 17 ✨
You don’t need to lead loudly to make a difference. When you release control and honour your path with quiet truth, the Tao begins to speak through you. This is your exclusive first look at David’s upcoming Tao Te Ching, Verse 17, complete with full commentary and six meditations to guide your way back to peace.

✨ Dumped in the Maze ✨
When stillness turns into a storm, do you wonder why your peace is so easily drowned by emotional noise? Your Inner Child may not be sabotaging you, but simply crying out for certainty through chaos. Together, let’s explore how Taoist wisdom and wu wei can guide us gently out of confusion and back into the flow.

✨ Quiet Courage ✨
Do you ever catch yourself rehearsing pain that hasn’t yet arrived, preparing for rejection, bracing for failure, guarding against a storm that may never come? This is not foresight; it is fear dressed as protection. Together, we’ll explore how to replace those anxious rehearsals with the quiet courage of truth, presence, and wu wei.

✨ PLUS… Moments of Inspiration ✨

🌐 You can subscribe to David's Journal now for free (or join the paid subscribers 'Inner Circle' for weekly bonus resources)
HERE: https://davidjameslees.substack.com/

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