Welcome,
And I hope that each one of you will come to find peace within yourself.
Today,
I'm going to talk about letting go.
And I think it's appropriate because in the last week or so,
I've also talked about acceptance and letting go and acceptance are really linked.
And letting go is a concept that's often associated with mindfulness and meditation.
And letting go is such a hard thing for most people to do.
But doing so will change your life.
Letting go.
Can refer to so many different things.
Physical things?
Emotional things?
Friendships that don't serve us anymore?
Because as humans we have this tendency to hang on to things.
We hang on to stuff.
And we're constantly hurrying.
Were rushing from place to place.
And I've said before that all these things we carry are like weights hanging on our clothes.
And gradually,
All these things drag us down.
They weigh us down.
And that causes us to have stress.
And on top of that,
Our lives are overwhelmed and overloaded with things to do and places to be.
And we fuel everything with caffeine in our coffee and tea and soda and energy drinks.
And we cause ourself all this anxiety,
But what we really need to do is just slow down.
To turn it all off,
To ignore all of it and just sit quietly.
Silence your devices,
Put your phone on do not disturb and notice the silence.
In this moment,
You don't need to do anything.
You know a lot of people,
If asked.
Think that letting go means stopping caring.
But usually I've found it's just the opposite.
It's caring enough about your own peace,
Or your own future,
Or your own growth,
To stop gripping something that's hurting you,
Or controlling you,
Or keeping you stuck.
Sometimes you let go of a version of yourself that no longer fits.
Like I did when I had strokes from the age 30.
Or you let go of resentment that keeps replaying in your head.
Or you let go of the need to control outcomes for others.
You'd let go of the expectations of other people,
Like partners or children.
You also have to let go of regret over decisions that you can't undo,
Which is basically all decisions.
And what really makes it difficult is that holding on often creates an illusion of safety.
Think about that.
Even painful things feel familiar and familiarity is comforting.
Letting go means stepping into uncertainty,
And uncertainty feels vulnerable.
But there's a difference between forgetting and letting go.
You don't have to erase meaning,
Memories,
Or love.
Sometimes letting go.
Just means things no longer dictate your emotional direction every day.
You have to ask yourself,
What am I protecting by holding on?
Or who would I become if I loosened my grip on this?
We're often all about preserving the familiar,
Even when it hurts us.
Close your eyes now and let's get in touch with our breath.
And it doesn't matter if you're sitting,
Standing,
Lying down,
Or kicked back in your favorite recliner.
The only thing that truly matters when you meditate is that you're comfortable and alert.
Now as we start to settle in,
Let's focus on our breath.
We're just breathing in and breathing out one breath at a time.
And then the next.
And then the next.
We breathe constantly,
But when you meditate,
Notice your breath.
Notice where you feel it,
A cool sensation in your nose as the breath flows in.
Or the movement of your chest and belly as the breath flows in and flows out.
Let's start to scan our bodies.
Relax your face.
Unfurl your brow and unclench your jaw.
You're too tense.
We're supposed to be relaxing.
Relax your neck.
I roll mine around.
You can do whatever makes you happy.
Because it's always your meditation.
And there is no right way to meditate.
And anyone that tells you that there is,
Has something to sell.
Relax your shoulders.
These are common places of tension in today's world because we're hunched over phones and tablets and laptops.
Relax your arms and your hands.
Maybe just let your hands drop where they will.
Look for any tension.
In your chest and belly.
Relax your legs and your feet.
And as you begin to relax,
Let's focus even more on our breath.
Our breath is our anchor.
It's there for us in all moments.
When we're happy,
When we're sad,
When we're holding on,
And when we're letting go.
And it's one of the only things in your entire life that you can exert some control over and make your life better.
And I guarantee you that.
So,
We're just sitting here breathing.
Breathing in and breathing out,
One breath at a time.
You have to remember that forever is now.
So now imagine you're walking along a quiet path in the early morning.
The air is cool.
Touched with the scent of earth and water.
Up ahead.
You hear a gentle murmur of a river.
Steady.
Ain't ya?
And unhurried.
And as you step toward it.
.
.
Notice how the world softens.
The river doesn't rush for anyone.
It simply moves,
Carrying what it carries,
Releasing what it releases.
Find yourself a place beside the water.
Feel the ground beneath you,
Solid,
Steady,
And patient.
Just let your breath match the rhythm of the river.
A slow rise,
A slow fall.
Now here I'm going to leave you for a moment to sit by the river and relax,
Just breathing in and breathing out,
And then I'll be back.
Now,
Here we are,
Still sitting by the river.
You can hear the water moving past.
It's babbling.
And the sunlight dapples everything as it comes through the trees.
Now imagine in your hands you're holding a small stone.
And this stone represents something you've been carrying.
May be a worry.
Or memory.
Perhaps attention.
Or a story you've told to yourself for too long.
You don't need to name it out loud.
Just feel its weight.
Notice how the stone feels.
Notice its temperature.
It's texture.
Its heaviness.
You've carried it long enough.
Now take a breath in.
And as you exhale,
Gently place the stone on the ground beside you.
You don't have to throw it.
You don't have to force anything.
Just set it down.
The river's presence reminds you that letting go is not an act of violence.
It's an act of mercy.
Now sitting here,
Watch the water move.
Notice how it accepts everything.
Fallen leaves,
Drifting branches,
The reflections of clouds,
And yet it still remains itself.
The river doesn't cling.
The river doesn't resist.
The river doesn't argue with what arrives.
It simply allows.
Let the river be your teacher.
With each breath,
Imagine the river flowing through you.
That is water.
But it is a quality of being.
Gentle,
Steady willingness to release what no longer needs to be held.
If thoughts arise,
Let them drift by like leaves on the surface.
If emotions swell,
Let them ripple and fade.
And if memories appear,
Let them pass downstream without the need to follow them.
You are the riverbank.
Spacious and grounded and witnessing.
Just now bring your attention to your shoulders and let them drop just a little more.
Let the river carry away the tension that gathers there.
Bring your awareness to your job.
.
.
.
And let it loosen just a little more.
And let the river carry the words you never needed to hold.
Bring awareness to your chest.
And feel the breath moving in and out like waves touching the shore.
And let the river carry away the tightness,
The armor,
The old stories.
Here by the river let your whole body soften,
As if the river is smoothing you like a stone.
Letting go doesn't mean forgetting.
It doesn't mean erasing.
Letting go doesn't mean pretending.
Letting go means you stop carrying what was never meant to be carried alone.
Feel the spaciousness inside you growing.
A quiet clearing.
A gentle openness.
A soft permission to be here just as you are.
Let the river whisper to you.
You can release.
You can rest.
You can begin again.
Take a slow breath in and a slow breath out.
And feel the ground beneath you again.
Feel the air around you.
Feel your body lighter and clearer and more spacious.
The river will always be here.
And you can return whatever you need to release.
Or to soften.
Or to remember.
Who you are beneath the weight of things.
If you wonder why I'm always so calm,
It's because I am the river.
Heh heh heh.
As we come to a close,
Open your eyes and come back into the room.
Wiggle your fingers and toes and stretch and feel how good it is to be alive in this moment.
At this moment,
Just breathing in and breathing out.
The river is always there for you.
I hope you carry this lightness with you.
And remember that you can always return.
Letting go is hard.
I know.
I had a lot of trouble letting go,
Especially after my strokes.
It takes time,
And it takes practice.
But I know you can do it,
Because I did.
I hope this has been a beneficial and calming session for each and every one of you,
And I'm so honored that you've invested some of your precious time here with me.
Till next time.
