Mojo Monday: A Simple Zen Koan with a Big Life Lesson

In this episode of Mojo Monday, Carly Taylor explores the quiet wisdom of a Zen koan—a simple phrase that invites reflection on our human tendency to resist what is, and a gentler path toward clarity and purpose. If you're going through a struggle right no, this episode might offer another way to meet what’s here.

Carly Taylor is a Mental Fitness Coach and speaker who helps people live with clarity and purpose—even in the midst of life’s inevitable challenges.

Her approach is grounded in Japanese Psychology, particularly Morita-based therapy, which teaches us to accept our internal experience and take meaningful action. Carly also draws on tools from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), stoicism, and evidence-based counselling frameworks to support people in building emotional resilience and living in alignment with their values.

✨ Connect with Carly:
🌐 Website: www.carlytaylorcoaching.com.au
📸 Instagram: @carly_taylor_coaching
💼 LinkedIn: Carly Taylor

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hi everyone, Culy Taylor here and welcome to Mojo Monday. Today,
I want to share with you a zen Cohen and
it's one that I heard recently by a lecture that
I was listening to by a Japanese psychologist. And if
you haven't heard of a zen coin, it's a short,
often kind of puzzling phrase or question that isn't meant

(00:31):
to be solved like a riddle. It's something that you
kind of need to just sit with. And Cohen's a
designed to move us beyond our usual black and white
thinking and into more deeper reflection if we allow ourselves
the time to do that. They don't necessarily give us answers,

(00:52):
but instead a Cohen will help us become more comfortable
with ambiguity and open up sort of insight about life,
ourselves and our true nature. But the particular con that
I have chosen today is actually quite simple, now that

(01:12):
I've said all that, and this is it. Willows are green,
flowers are red. That's it. So it's a very simple statement.
And you might be thinking right now, so what, But
stay with me on this because it's in its simplicity

(01:33):
there's something a lot deeper. And I actually really really
love this. So often we move through life wishing things
were different. We try and fix and control and improve
and change. We judge how we feel. I often hear
clients say I shouldn't be feeling like this. You know,
my life is great. But that's resistance, and that's the

(01:58):
struggle that we often have. You know, we wish we
were more confident, or more calm, or less less anxious,
more successful. We wish other people wouldn't be the way
they are, you know, that they'd agree with our views,
particularly political views right now, which is causing a lot
of divide with people. You know, we wish people would

(02:21):
call us more often, or they'd complain less. Whatever it is.
But I'll read the con to you again. Willows are green,
flowers are red, So the willow can't be anything but
green right now, and the flower is simply red. And
if they wanted to be different colors, they couldn't. So

(02:44):
what if just for a moment, we stopped resisting, We
stopped resisting reality. What if even when we're anxious or
sad or frustrated, we allowed those feelings to be there.
What this does is really challenges our Western mindset, where
we focus so often on fixing and controlling, and that's

(03:08):
when we struggle because our emotions are inevitable. But what
if there was no fixing, so there was no judgment
and no commentary about our emotions or our thoughts or
other people just this is how it is. So that's
the invitation here today is to meet the moment, the feeling,

(03:31):
the person in front of you just as they are.
And this doesn't mean that we agree with every opinion
of other people, or we like everything that's happening, or
we like what we're feeling. It's not passive, and it
doesn't mean we're giving up. It just means that we're
really clear, this is what is here right now. So

(03:53):
Shima Marisa, the Japanese psychologists who was around the time
of Freud in the nineteen twenties, he spoke about the
gap between reality and how we want things to be.
So when we stop arguing with reality, we stop focusing
on the shoulds and the shouldn'ts, then that gap can

(04:16):
become smaller and we create kind of a space, a
space to a space to breathe. For starters, it kind
of gives this reprieve from the struggle, but it's also
a space to respond from wisdom rather than reactivity, and
a space to really choose your path. And that's what

(04:37):
mental fitness. This is really a part of being mentally fit.
So not pushing away difficult thoughts or emotions, but letting
them be a part of your present experience. So today
or this week, let that coen just sit with you.
If something challenging shows up, maybe you feel flat or

(04:59):
overwhel or you're behind in work or UNI, or maybe
somebody said something that hurts you, just say to yourself,
willows are green, flowers are red. This is what's here
right now, and then you can ask yourself what can
I do with what is This is the action part

(05:22):
of this. So when we can be fully present, make
room for all that's there without pushing it away or
needing it to be different, then we gain clarity. We
grain space to see what really matters, and then from
that place the next step becomes clear. So that's living
with purpose. So thank you so much for listening to

(05:46):
Mojo Monday this week. I hope you carry this little
zen moment with you through the week. I know I
will already have. I've asked myself for I've said that
phrase quite a few times willows are green, flowers are red,
just to help me get really present and stop resisting
what is. So I hope you all have a great

(06:09):
week and I will catch you next week. See you