Letting go sounds so easy, you just need to relax! But often it’s not that simple, sometimes to really let go, it’s really hard. Sometimes we don’t realise but we are holding tightly trying to control our lives and trying to control exactly what is and will happen to us. We try to control our successes, to make things happen and even to control others. We walk around with everything constricted, subconsciously fearful of letting go. We fear that if we loosen our tight grip that everything we have worked so hard to create will fall away. This is why letting go can be so hard. The practice of letting go is trying to let go of our attachment to things, to thoughts, to ideas, to actions and to habitual patterns. It is letting our guard and control completely drop and to let things be exactly as they are. I didn’t realise why this was so hard until the first time I tried to meditate. The first time I ever tried to meditate I twitched for 15 minutes constantly sneaking glances at a clock, my feet were numb with pins and needles and I was irritable, my mind agitated by inaction. I couldn’t let go. I couldn’t let everything be and become still. My mind was so busy with all the thoughts of what I would finally be able to get on with once I finished the meditation. It was very frustrating. I didn’t revisit meditation for years afterwards but I did start a yin yoga practice. Yin gave me better tools to understand and practice letting go. Instead of just pretending I wasn’t having thoughts or sensations I started watching my thoughts and sensations. Everything I felt I would track and learn from without the need for an immediate reaction. I felt into discomfort and the emotions tied into that. I felt into release. Every time I practiced I noticed something different and I felt more at peace and calmer. I even felt better after stifling tears through an 8 minute pigeon. That pigeon was very healing! A few years ago I started meditation again. Each time I practice I practice with the intention of letting go and most times when I finish meditating I feel calmer and more at ease. From letting go of my worries and to do lists for 10 minutes I gain some perspective. I realise that most of the things I have been worrying about don't really matter and my body sighs a huge sigh of relief as it can finally relax. So although it is a practice, I would really recommend spending some time practicing letting go. Letting your body and mind know that sometimes it is safe and good just to be.
