It's time to release the pressure.
I know you've been stressing,
I know you've been grasping or just feeling overwhelmed with the stuff and it's normal.
It's normal for pressure to pile up as we accumulate thoughts and things to do,
As we cling to our desires and goals,
Holding on for dear life.
We struggle to make big decisions,
Maybe re-ingest the unrealistic expectations of other people or maybe that pushy fearful part of us.
Maybe like me you sometimes struggle with perfectionism.
Maybe you think you can and need to control or fix everything.
Maybe you're in the habit of saying yes a bit too much,
The fear of being the one who missed out or the one who disappointed someone.
So all of these little habits that we have lead to overdoing,
Overthinking,
Overwhelm.
And all that precious energy that we have,
That divine energy,
That divine energy that wants to play,
That wants to create,
That wants to laugh,
That wants to love,
Just gets drained.
And so it's important for us to pause now and again,
To take the bag off our back and just look inside.
What am I carrying that I don't need to be carrying?
Do I need this brick in my bag?
Do I need this really awkward shaped container?
Do I need these stones?
And with our awareness we can then choose to let go of some of that.
So letting go is a really important skill to release all this extra pressure that we and people and just this mad process of life seems to put on us.
So three steps to releasing.
Number one is observe.
So knowing that we are feeling pressure,
Recognizing this is what pressure feels like,
And also being curious about the source.
Is it a belief that I have?
Is it this should,
This idea of should,
Oh I should do this,
I should do things this way.
Everyone else does things this way or everyone else expects me to do things this way.
So observing the feeling and the source,
What is the source of the pressure.
And once we do that,
Once we have a degree of awareness,
Then as I said we can start to let go.
Number one is that observe,
Awareness,
Noticing,
Knowing.
And number two is release or let go.
So that may be letting go of a particular thought track,
Which is the source of the pressure.
It could also be releasing physical tension,
So noticing how psychological and emotional pressure feeds into your physical experience in your body,
And softening that tension,
Which may be as easy as stretching,
Stretching your body,
Dancing,
Walking,
Or simply inviting the body to soften.
And letting go or releasing could also look like just releasing the unnecessary tasks,
Things on your list that you've told yourself that you need to do and you need to do by this state,
Which actually is BS and is not something that's necessarily in alignment.
So with this letting go,
This releasing,
There's a sort of experimental curiosity of what happens when I let go,
What happens when I shift my attention,
When I allow my body to be soft.
So step one is observe,
Step two is release,
And step three is deepen or let in.
So when we let go of something,
We then make room for something else to emerge.
So just as when we breathe out,
We can breathe in.
We can't inhale unless we exhale first,
So it's that same principle that when we let go,
We can let in something higher,
Something nourishing.
So it's noticing when I release this thought,
When I release this expectation,
When I say no to this thing that actually isn't in alignment,
What emerges in that space.
And deepening into that,
Deepening into that feeling,
Or deepening into that knowing,
That trust,
That wisdom,
Deepening into the feelings of unconditional worth,
Deepening into space.
So just to reiterate,
Number one is observe.
So I feel pressure.
Where do I feel it?
How does it feel?
And what's the source of it?
Where is it coming from?
Step two is release.
So releasing our holds on thoughts,
On ideas or beliefs that are fueling this feeling of pressure.
Releasing physical tension,
And also releasing the tasks,
The actions,
Maybe,
If that's relevant for you.
And step three is deepen.
So when you let go,
What emerges?
And allowing yourself to rest in that,
To trust it.
It is the real you,
At least much more so than the worry,
The to-do list,
The overthinking,
The resistance.
This is a non-linear process.
It's like a way of life to repeat as often as necessary.
Not a one-and-done thing that you can judge yourself about if you forget to do it.
Okay,
So observe,
Release,
And deepen.
And if you'd like to deepen into this process,
Then see my meditation practice of the same name.
Thanks for listening.
