Hello,
My name is Hillary Lafon and I'm so grateful that you've joined me today to explore letting go.
This concept is near and dear to my heart as there are so many things in life that we hold onto that may hinder us from becoming our full authentic self.
So today,
Arrange yourself in a comfortable position,
However that finds you.
There's no right or wrong,
Sitting,
Standing,
Lying,
Walking.
Allow yourself the gift of being comfortable.
If maybe you're always sitting or standing or lying,
Maybe you change it up a little bit,
Challenge yourself and pick a new position.
Even if it's just one leg in front of the other,
Different,
Palms upright or closed.
Challenge yourself,
See what happens.
So beginning with our eyes closed.
If that doesn't work for you,
Eyes open and just have a gaze cast down,
Not focusing on one object.
Just letting your gaze be soft.
And allowing your body to naturally soften with each breath.
For a moment,
Notice any tension in the body.
Maybe turning your head right,
Left,
Up,
Down.
Rolling your shoulders back up and down,
Creating some space in the spine.
Creating some space between the ears and the shoulders.
Letting your belly be soft and hang heavy.
Feeling rooted and grounded,
Stable.
Ready for this exercise,
This practice.
For a moment,
Think yourself.
You chose to be here now.
Allow your lower half of the body to soften.
Allow your feet to be flat on the floor.
Energetically allow your hands and your feet to be receptive in whatever that means for you.
I encourage you to set an intention for today's letting go practice.
Some of us are here to open our hearts,
To forgive,
To let go.
What is calling to you right now?
Now bring your awareness to your breath.
Welcome this next breath,
Inhaling deeply through the nose,
Allowing your chest to expand,
Your stomach to rise.
Feeling yourself get stronger and more elevated.
And then when you can't take in any more breath,
Exhale slowly through the nose or the mouth.
Feeling the back body soften,
Melt.
A few more breaths like this,
Inhaling deeply,
Sitting upright,
Noticing if anything has tensed and just allow that tension to go as you exhale.
One more deep inhale through the nose.
And exhale,
Maybe sighing it out,
Having some movement,
Maybe shaking your palms,
Your hands,
Letting some energy go.
Breathing naturally for yourself.
Envision something in your life that's not too traumatic,
Something small that has a grasp over you.
Maybe something happened at work,
Maybe an email came in that got you riled up,
Maybe you saw something on the news or spoke with a family member,
Maybe you wished you'd eaten clean yesterday or drink more water today.
One thing that we can work on this practice of letting go.
As you breathe and settle,
Allowing this energy to take you,
Noticing where you feel any tightness,
Anxiety.
How does this situation affect you?
Thinking about your topic of letting go,
Noticing if there's any tension behind the eyes or in the back of the head.
Any sensations around the jaw.
Just noticing right now,
Noticing how being stuck,
Feeling stuck in a situation presents itself in our body.
We'll only sit here for a moment.
We're in a safe place,
Letting these feelings,
These natural human emotions wash through us.
Some of us might feel energy in our throats,
Some tightness,
Maybe you need to swallow,
Maybe there's something unsaid.
Noticing anything in the chest area.
What do you feel here when you're thinking about that one area to improve upon or to let go?
Noticing any sensation in the stomach,
In the palms,
In the low back,
In the feet or the legs.
Just bringing awareness to your body about how this situation feels when you cling to it,
When you let it take hold.
Now let's practice letting go,
Exploring,
Being curious like a child.
What happens if I wait a few minutes before I send that email?
What happens if I take a few breaths after that phone call?
What would happen if I didn't think over and over how it could have been different?
With letting go is a sense of acceptance.
Knowing what is,
What's taken place and realizing there's only so much we can control and we have control of.
So be curious with the concept of letting go for the sake of sanity,
For the sake of freedom,
Emotional freedom,
For the sake of creating space in our day,
In our mind for things that can actually build us up.
If your mind has wandered,
Come back to the breath and allow this idea of letting go to wash over you.
Envision a wave coming over you,
Spilling over the top of the head,
Inhaling and exhaling.
Allowing it to wash over your back body,
Your spine.
Allowing cells to relax and soften.
Exhaling and exhaling.
Letting go that which does not serve you.
Feeling the peace,
The space that's created.
Starting here for just a moment.
If your mind has wandered,
Come back to the breath.
Realizing the sense of lightness,
Noticing now how your face feels around the eyes,
The back of the head,
The mouth.
Noticing how thinking about that topic in which you were letting go.
What hold does it have on you now?
In your mouth,
In your throat,
Your chest,
Your stomach.
This doesn't always happen the first time where we can let go.
So if you're noticing any tension or tightness creeping back in,
Let your breath soften it.
Expand the cells.
Just breathe.
Thank yourself for spending time practicing,
Exercising your brain muscle,
Exercising your thoughts.
Just like going to the gym takes time to strengthen our physical muscles.
Just sit in mindful exercises.
Take time to strengthen our brain and our mindful muscles.
Allowing your body to soften and breathe.
Drinking in one more luxurious breath.
Holding on to this moment and then letting go.
Taking note how you feel now compared to when we started.
And again,
You will not always have the intended outcome.
But paying attention to the before and after can help you come back to these mindful exercises.
They're so powerful even only if for 5 minutes,
10 minutes,
15 minutes.
Tailor them to your needs.
Thank you for allowing me the precious gift of your time.
Until next time.
