I Let it Go

There is something you’ve been holding tightly onto, and you can now let it go.

The things we carry, the past, the pain, the incident, the belief, the habit, all become slowly familiar, and we learn to cling to them rather than release our grip. The familiar feels like home. Even if it is restricting, even if it is preventing us from another opportunity, or another lesson important for our growth. You don't yet know who you will be without this thing, because it has been part of you for a long time.

The New Year begs us to set intentions, reflect, and create resolutions. We embark on a new year as a chance to resolve issues from our past that have been holding us back. But before setting an intention, we must let go.

This week, the last week before the new year, you can make the choice to let something go. The letting go becomes its own invitation - because when we let something go, we are also asking for something new to arrive.

Our body and our heart speak to us. I say this all the time in these mantras and in my yoga classes. Our thinking mind does not always understand what our body might be saying. Our body might wince at a particular word or pose, and it's difficult to understand what the sensation means. As you read the words "let it go" what comes up? Are you listening?

For me, letting go feels scary and unnatural. I let go of control. I let go of trying so hard. I let go of making it work, of fitting in, of not listening to my own intuition. I walk about this world with expectations and force. I want things to be as I want them, because I falsely believe my way is right, or my way will make me happy (make everyone happy).

Letting go involves an amount of trust in something outside myself. If I do let go, will something else really arrive? Or will the letting go leave me empty, alone, and uncared for? If I let go, how will anything get resolved? Don't I have to keep at it?

Keep tending? Keep checking? Keep making sure?

The answer is no. Think about the seeds beneath the soil this time of year. No one can see all that is happening underneath. In fact, the only way to tell if the seeds actually took is when the flowers arrive in Spring.

I like to practice letting go whenever I am feeling discouraged or faithless, like nothing is happening. It's amazing how a simple thought to let something go is followed by a synchronicity every single time.

Tonight, before I sat down to write this mantra, I sensed some defeat, some sadness, and some heartache from my past. It's still hard when I am not with my boys, and they are with their dad. It's still hard to think back on my ended marriage and other ended relationships. It's hard NOT to carry past regrets and fears into current relationships. This is what I carry - the weighted guilt of my own past that I just can't let go.

Then I looked outside. Snow. White glitter dropping silently down onto the ground and tree branches.

I love a quiet snowfall, on a dark winter night.

My spirits immediately lifted. I smiled. Excitement rose into my gut and I remembered - the promise of a clean slate. The softness of falling snowflakes on my skin. The telling footprint in a space that had never been walked on.

Whatever it is, let it go. You will be catapulted to your true intention, and you will be given a new chance. Like the warm blanket of snow over seeds that are quietly moving underneath, your heart's desire for the New Year is germinating. Trust that the letting go is working. Trust that the flower will arrive. The energy is already churning, and this week is a time to let go.