Letting Go

Posted on August 22nd, 2009

Letting go is a practice of releasing; having let go is a state of freedom.

dandelionLetting go into who you really are is the greatest gift you can give the world. As you let go of problems, judgments, resentments, and most importantly, all the beliefs and messages that are not your highest truth, you become free to express your authentic self with others and share your true gifts with the world.

Imagine a world where all the people have let go of their old baggage - past conditioning, limiting programming, judgments and resentments - and they are light, loving, accepting and joyful. Imagine the connection between people and the synergy within groups, communities and nations.

Letting go involves releasing the past and starting fresh in the present moment. It means trusting that you are more than your roles, beliefs and stories. Many are reluctant to let go because they fear they will have nothing left. They cling to problems, unhealthy situations, and outworn roles and relationships because it feels safe in its familiarity. They don’t know who they are underneath. They haven’t experienced their true, authentic Self bursting with energy, waiting to express its true nature in the world.

So how does one touch into this state of freedom where they can be themselves, uninhibited, light and joyful? By letting go, bit by bit. By first noticing where they hold on, where they resist, and where they struggle, and then slowly, gently, releasing the hold and embracing what’s underneath.

Practice Letting Go
Get into the habit of letting go of stress, tension, problems, the past, resentments, false beliefs and anything that limits you from feeling free in life. Spend at least 5 minutes each day at the beginning, middle or end of your day with your eyes closed, centered within, doing the following letting go practices.

♦ Focus on simply letting go of your breath. Let your breath fill your lungs naturally and then focus on the breath leaving your lungs. Notice the release, feel the relief. Notice how naturally your lungs refill. Letting go of your breath doesn’t mean you stop breathing, it allows life to continue flowing.

♦ Let go of stress and tension. Notice any tension in your body - where are you holding? Simply let go of holding and watch the tension release. Scan your whole body to find another place where you are holding and continue letting go until your whole body is relaxed.

♦ Let go of thinking. Listen to your thoughts and then let them go. Watch as they arise, let them pass through, and then tune into the spaciousness that surrounds them and the stillness behind them.

♦ Let go of resentments. Carrying resentments around is like carrying someone else’s baggage on your back. If there’s nothing useful for you in the luggage, why carry it around? Notice any judgments or resentments you have towards yourself or others and imagine placing them on the ground. Feel the relief from doing this. Now imagine walking away into freedom.

♦ Let go of old stories. What stories do you keep retelling that locks you into repeating them in your life? Be willing to explore the depth and expansiveness of who you are underneath past roles and stories. Imagine taking them off like a piece of clothing or stepping out and away from them like leaving a room. Tune into who you are without your stories.

♦ Let go of limiting beliefs. What beliefs hold you back from expressing yourself and living your life freely? Bring them to your awareness so you can let them go. Dig deep into the core beliefs such as not being good enough, not having love, not being big enough and so on. Look at these beliefs and know they are just untrue messages in your space. Be willing to release them and discover your truth underneath.

creating-sunlightAs you practice letting go your body will be more energized, your mind more peaceful and your soul free to shine through and light your way in life.

Are you ready to let go?

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2 Responses to “Letting Go”

  1. mesila Says:
    March 6th, 2010 at 1:45 am

    Letting go sounds good, but you make it sound so easy…when it really isn’t, sometimes.

    Sometimes, I will attempt to let go of, say, my resentment for the woman who ’stole’ the lover that I had for 10 years, and used devious duplicitous means to get to the point where she could do that. I “let it go” over and over again but it keeps clinging to me like some kind of vicious creature that won’t let go of ME. And I have wasted 3, almost 4 years of my life completely wrecked, and made null, by all this. I don’t want to waste any more time; my mom’s death last month showed me that we only get so much of it, a limited number of years. And I won’t ever get those ones back.

    Your suggestions sound a little too chicken-soupish. Just writing down ideas one wants to let go and getting rid of the paper…or declaring empowering affirmations…all that’s really striking me as mere wishful thinking. Maybe there needs to be more ‘wishful acting’, for stuff like this to actually work, and translate to a successful improvement of a messed-up state of things? And acting that’s not merely symbolic, too?

  2. ginigrey Says:
    March 6th, 2010 at 12:33 pm

    Hello Mesila,

    Thanks for your honesty in your comment. I agree, letting go isn’t always easy, yet as you’ve learned from your experience with your mom’s death - life is short so the more we can let go of old hurts and baggage the sooner we can get on with living life and enjoying it more fully. I can understand how painful it must have been to have your lover leave you for another, yet holding onto the view that they were ’stolen’ from you implies ownership. Each person is responsible for their own choices. I think people have a hard time with these painful situations because they are unwilling to forgive and let go of their pain. When people process their anger and sadness then they can release themselves from the bondage of pain by forgiving others as well as taking responsibility for their role (there are not victims in these love relationships - we all play a role).

    I do make letting go sound simple, because in reality it is (but as you say, it’s not always easy to go there and do it) - it’s just letting go of whatever story, pain etc we are holding on to. This also means letting go of the payoff for the pain (victimhood has lots of payoffs - it’s been an ongoing process for me to let go of the places where I feel trapped and a victim, yet when I do it is so freeing and empowering). Our ego mind wants to keep our identity in tact by holding on to our victim stories or our hero stories. These are all just passing roles and we are so much bigger than these. I wish I had a clearer way to write about letting go, but it is an experience so I’m offering simple tools to try - sometimes letting go is a practice people need to do with the smaller things in life so they can feel safer to let go of the bigger things. Starting with thoughts or as you refer ‘wishful’ thinking is a great place to begin for many people.

    I hope you find powerful ways to let go and free yourself of pain.

    Take care,

    Gini

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