Letting Go

A short practice that explores the quote from Rumi "Life is a balance between holding on and letting go". You will be guided to experience what it can feel like to hold on and let go using the breath and the hands. For people living with chronic pain, it can be common that we hold onto some aspect of our health journey and this offers the opportunity to release...to let it go.

Transcript

Hi it's Mandy here.

Welcome to a letting go practice.

So just taking a few moments to settle into the meditation posture that you've chosen.

You can do this practice sitting,

Lying or standing,

It's up to you.

Just choosing a position that makes you feel comfortable and relaxed.

If you're sitting in a chair maybe just allowing yourself to feel upright yet not stiff.

Have your legs uncrossed and your feet flat on the floor.

And if sitting doesn't work for you today maybe you can lie down with a pillow beneath your knees taking a bit of a strain off the lower back.

I'm just remembering you can change or alter your posture at any time throughout the practice.

Just listening to what your body needs.

When you feel ready you might like to close your eyes or just have a soft relaxed gaze.

Begin by feeling into the support beneath you.

Noticing the parts of the body that are in contact with the chair or the floor or the bed.

Seeing if it's possible to let go a little with each out breath.

And a way that you can explore doing this for yourself is to just take a couple of deeper breaths.

Really rising up and filling the belly on the in-breath and then just relaxing and softening on the out-breath.

You might even like to make an audible sigh.

Just giving the weight of the body up to gravity knowing that you're fully supported in this moment.

And start to gather your awareness now around the process of breathing.

Where do you feel the breath most strongly in your body?

Maybe it's the stretching of the abdominal muscles as your belly rises and falls.

Perhaps it's in the chest as your lungs fill and empty.

Or maybe you can feel the breath of the wind coming in and out of the nostrils.

No need to force or alter the breath in any way.

Just breathing naturally and normally.

Connecting to that tidal rhythm of the breath.

Receiving the in-breath and letting go on the out-breath.

Just receiving and letting go.

And just remembering that the breath in the body can be a safe place to rest your attention.

So at any time throughout the rest of this practice if things feel a bit overwhelming or you become lost or your attention gets diverted,

Your mind starts wandering,

You can always just spend a few moments coming back to the movements and sensations of breathing in the body.

In this practice we're going to explore what it feels like to hold on to something and what it feels like to let go.

Rumi once said,

Life is a balance between holding on and letting go.

So we'll start this by exploring the sensations of holding and letting go with our breath.

If it feels okay for you just taking a couple of deeper breaths now.

And you might like to extend the pause that happens at the top of the in-breath by holding your breath for a short moment.

Just noticing how it feels in the body.

And then letting go with a strong,

Slow,

Steady exhale.

Breathing in and holding.

And then letting go.

And just exploring that a little bit in your own way,

In your own time.

Noticing how it feels to hold the breath and how it feels to let the breath go.

And allowing the breath to return now to its normal rhythm.

Just noticing it entering and leaving the body.

Just breathing here.

And now you might like to explore what it feels like to actively tense and let go of your hands.

So if it feels okay,

Making a fist,

Gripping your fingers tightly,

Feeling the pressure of the tightness in your fingers,

Then letting go and releasing.

Noticing what sensations that generates through the hands.

And maybe just exploring doing this a few more times.

Making a tight fist,

Feeling the tension there.

Tension through the fingers,

The palms,

Maybe the wrists.

And then just letting go.

Allowing the fingers to gently curl open.

What happens when you tense your hands?

And what happens when you let them go?

And just allowing the hands to come back into stillness now.

Feeling the movement of the breath in the body as you sit here or lie here.

And now we might explore what it's like to hold on to something through our thoughts and emotions.

Perhaps as you cast your mind back there might be something that you're holding on to.

Perhaps a situation or experience in the past.

If you're living with chronic pain there might be something that you experienced through health care settings.

Maybe a challenging doctor,

Perhaps your initial injury or illness.

Perhaps there's been friends or family who haven't provided adequate support to you.

Just exploring some of these things that perhaps you might be holding on to.

And then just noticing what it feels like to explore these things.

What sensations might be generating in the body.

Just bringing a sense of curiosity.

Just noticing these things that you might be holding on to,

Whether they're causing you to suffer in any way.

Perhaps they're affecting the way you experience current events as well.

Just allowing this to be here as best you can.

And seeing if it's possible to maybe get a sense of the possibility of letting this thing go.

Acknowledging that sometimes pain,

Sensations,

Stories and histories they're there and that's okay.

Just breathing into any places that might be hurting.

Allowing them to be heard but also held.

Held gently but not gripped.

Gripped on too tightly.

Just letting go.

Perhaps you might notice that sometimes when we let go of things you might want it back because there feels like a sense of emptiness or space that's left behind.

And a part of letting go is learning to be with that empty space and it might feel uncomfortable.

So just remembering your breath is here to guide you through this moment and breathing with any part of your experience as best you can.

Checking in to see if there's anything you might need to do to nurture yourself in this moment.

You might like to place a hand on your heart or another part of the body.

Just offering a little bit of self-compassion.

Taking some deep nourishing breaths.

Directing that breath to the place in your body that might be hurting.

And just as we experience with holding the breath and with making a fist,

When we hold on to something there can be tension and maybe slight uncomfortable feelings.

And you might have also noticed that letting go brings a little bit of softness and release.

So can you get a sense of that in this moment as you explore what it is you're holding on to.

Feeling the release might feel like a weight has been lifted from your shoulders or another part of the body.

Really cultivating a sense of open-hearted curiosity.

As best you can letting go of any judgments that might be bubbling up about this practice,

About yourself,

About other people.

Just being with sensations as you find them.

Being with that balance that Rumi was talking about.

The balance between holding on and letting go.

Being with things just as they are.

Not getting caught up in narratives,

Thoughts,

Allowing emotions to take your attention away.

Just noticing how things are in this moment.

Just right here in this moment receiving the in-breath and letting go on the out-breath.

And just taking a few moments now as we bring this practice to a close.

Bringing your attention back into the room you're in.

Perhaps opening your eyes if they've been closed.

Taking in the sights and sounds around you.

Might like to wriggle fingers or toes.

Bring a bit of movement into the body.

And just remembering that you have a choice in any moment to hold on or to let go.

Thanks.

See you next time.