Hey friend,
Thanks for hitting play today.
Because today is a celebration.
How so?
Well,
It's the day you let go of whatever has been weighing you down.
We are going to embark on a short practice,
Where we are going to let go of something
that is worrying us,
Concerning us,
A problem we have in our life,
A limiting belief that's
holding us back,
Or any burden that is weighing us down in our lives right now,
Disrupting
our inner peace and clouding our mental clarity.
So before beginning this practice,
It's good to have in mind a particular worry or concern
that is troubling you right now,
Or a particular problem you want to let go of.
Because the truth is,
The things that weigh us down and the problems we carry with us
only get intensified when we crave for them to get resolved,
When we elevate their importance
and become so attached to finding answers and solutions.
However,
The secret of getting beyond our worries and finding some relief is found by
releasing the grip we have over them,
Or that they have over us,
I should say,
By letting
go of our compulsion to fix them.
The moment we let go of our need and desire for our problems to go away or find a resolution
to them is the moment we create space from them.
They no longer control us,
And we free up energy within ourselves,
Around us,
And all
throughout our lives for these matters to just unfold as they will.
And in the process,
We give ourselves grace,
We give ourselves some peace,
And we give
ourselves permission to live our lives without feeling consumed by the things that are not
how we want them to be.
So I invite you to find a comfortable position,
Either sitting or lying down,
And settle in
to where you are right now.
If you are sitting,
Feel those wonderful feet touching upon the floor beneath you.
Feel your body against your chair or bed,
And gently close your eyes.
Let's take one giant deep breath in,
Filling your stomach all the way up,
And when you
get to the top,
Hold it for a count of three.
Three,
Two,
One,
And release all the way to empty.
Let's do another round of that,
And take it at your own pace and time.
Taking one giant deep breath in,
Expanding your stomach all the way out,
And hold your
breath at the top for the count of three.
Three,
Two,
One,
And release all the way to empty.
Now I'm going to count backward from ten to one,
And on each descending number,
I want
you to feel yourself becoming more and more relaxed.
On each number,
You slow down just a little bit more.
On each number,
You feel your body softening and surrendering.
Ten,
Nine,
Eight,
Seven,
Six,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One,
And release all the way to empty.
One.
I once heard there's a tradition in Hawaii that a worried person would create a picture
of all the things that worry them and put them in a canoe.
Then they would watch that canoe sail out off to sea and keep watching as it sailed
right over the horizon.
Over the horizon and out of their life.
So imagine yourself,
Right now,
Standing at the shoreline of a beautiful ocean.
It can be anywhere in the world.
It's the most beautiful ocean you have ever laid eyes on.
Feel the warmth of the sand beneath your feet.
Hear the gentle sound of the waves.
Maybe they're not so gentle.
Maybe the waves are rapidly crashing onto the shore,
Swiftly engulfing your feet.
Feel that coolness of this bright,
Blue,
Beautiful water.
Splash around in it if you like,
Because remember,
After all,
Today is a celebration.
It's the day you let go of what has been weighing you down.
Speaking of which,
Call to mind that burden.
Call to mind that one specific problem,
That one limiting belief,
That one issue causing
you great concern and worry.
What is that one thing you would like to release?
As you hold it in your mind,
Allow yourself to fully acknowledge its presence within you.
Where exactly do you feel it?
Give yourself permission to connect with its energy,
That energy that seems to hang over
your life.
Feel it.
You can do that by visualizing this burden as a tangible object.
Maybe it's a heavy stone,
Or maybe it's a giant suitcase filled with all the heaviness
from your burden.
Or maybe it's just a portrait,
A detailed photo perfectly capturing the essence of what
is weighing you down.
Imagine holding this object in your hand.
Feel its weight and the energy it carries.
You can even place your hand out and clench your fist like you are squeezing this object.
Now I want you to see that there's a canoe floating peacefully a few feet away from you
on the shore.
Walk over to this canoe,
And with your burden in your hand,
Take one last look at it,
Bless
it for the gifts it has been offering you,
And gently let it go,
Releasing it into the
canoe.
As you do though,
I want you to capture that moment in your mind's eye of you letting it
go and dropping it into the canoe.
See it clearly fall from your hand and into this beautiful vessel of surrender.
You can even see yourself giving the canoe a gentle nudge now,
Pushing it away from the
shoreline as it starts its journey of floating away into the ocean.
Take a mental snapshot of this sacred act of surrendering your burden and tell your
mind to remember it.
Now let's just watch and observe.
Watch that canoe slowly drifting inch by inch by inch away from the shoreline,
Carrying
your worry or limiting belief with it.
See yourself standing at the shoreline,
Just observing and watching.
Notice how the canoe containing that object of worry gradually becomes smaller and smaller
as it moves towards the sun's horizon,
And you start to feel lighter and lighter.
Just watch.
Watch this burden,
This limitation,
This problem,
Just sail out off to sea,
Wow,
And keep watching
it as it sails right over the horizon and out of your life for good.
As the canoe and your burden now fade into the distance,
See this lighter,
More self-assured
version of yourself standing at the shoreline.
Imagine a sense of joy and relief washing over you.
Feel the freedom that comes from releasing this burden once and for all.
How does it really feel?
How would it really feel in your body,
In your heart,
And in your mind?
I invite you to linger in this space for a little bit as we come to the end of our guided
practice.
I'd like to empower you,
Though,
To consider what your life would be like if you didn't
have this worry,
If you didn't have this burden or problem,
If you didn't have this limitation.
When you are ready,
Slowly and gently bring your awareness back to the present moment.
Put your hand on your heart,
Open your eyes,
And breathe deeply,
And ground yourself in
the here and now.
The nice thing about this exercise,
Friends,
Is that we can use it for almost anything
in our lives that we need to create space from,
Anything we need to let go of.
So I invite you to return to this visualization for anything else in your life that is weighing
you down or concerning you,
Because let's face it,
A big part of our path as human beings
is constantly learning to surrender.
And no matter where we are in our journey,
There will always be something in our lives
we are being called to let go of.
Thanks for sitting with me today.
Take care of yourself.
Much love.
