As I sat down to write this week’s thought, I went through my past blog posts (over 300) to see if I had this as a previous theme and/or title. Much to my surprise I did not! The reason for it to be surprising is that the topic of letting go seems so fundamental to the practices of yoga and meditation.
Some of the first yoga teaching cues I was taught was to “let go of judgment, let go of competition and let go of expectation”. Those three suggestions have firmly stuck with me, partially because when I first began practicing it had never been suggested to me that this was a starting point. I was often judgmental without much of a second thought, have always been competitive and held all sorts of expectations (both high and low). When I was asked to let go of it, it was a completely new way of being in my world. But I liked it…the confronting began to awaken my own awareness as to how often I held onto judging, competing and expecting. Those words were powerful and as I began my role as teacher I began sharing them with others.
Over this past week I have watched the students reaction when I said the words of the week were to “let go”. In the pause between that announcement and what was next said, I watched faces of recognition and contemplation as though those words held some personalized meaning to each nodding head. It’s as though many of us know on a subconscious level that holding onto thoughts, things, words and beliefs will create our own suffering. A part of us fundamentally recognizes that in the end it’s about being free of our “stuff”. It’s in the unclenching of our rigid fists that we begin to find true liberation.
So throughout this week we practiced different ways of letting go. We began with letting go of the exhaling breath. Our breath is on loan for our entire lives. At no point do we own the breath, but rather simply pull in what we need and then release it back into the greater atmosphere. But focusing on seeing and feeling the breath leave and dissolve into the greater realm, we have a momentary insight of letting go.
Another perspective is to look at the path of our lives in relationship to the body, mind, spirit paradigm. If we break our life into three parts the first chapter would be focused on the body. As we are born and grow we find our physical way in the world through seeking food, learning how to move and in creating relationships with others. The second chapter is about using our mind to establish who we are in the world. Our attention is on education, family, career and placing down our roots. It’s the time where we seek to discover what our role in the larger scheme of life looks like. The final chapter, having let go of the first two, is spent in delving fully into our spiritual self. It’s the time for contemplation, introspection, reflection and passing wisdom along to others. If we are fully in this practice the ultimate letting go of our bodies as we die is something that’s a natural transition rather than one of regret or surprise.
A third perspective is learning to let go of the heavily ingrained reactions we all possess. Pema Chodron describes this as shenpa, or the act of not biting onto the baited hook. The easiest place to get hooked is from our familial relationships as they are typically the longest. We are so used to having our buttons pushed, that to have a different reaction seems remote. However, when we begin to see the bait and decide not to bite down on the hook we have that moment of awareness where we can choose a different path. We let go of what might have been familiar and open up to a freer path.
As I end this weeks thought, take a moment to see if there’s something that you’re ready to let go. A toxic relationship, self-judgment, an unfulfilling job or a momentary habitual reaction are all great candidates for finding more liberation. Realize that in letting go, we find freedom. Deep breath in, slow exhale and see all returning to the whole.
