The problem with 'JUST' letting go- Part 1
*Part 1 - Honouring The Past*
I am sure you have been in a Yoga, Meditation or Sound Healing class where you've been asked to “let go”, to “release” and “shed” what no longer serves you.
But what does this really mean and why is it important?
In life we will go through many phases and countless experiences. One of the greatest challenges is learning to recognise and relinquish the energy and stories of these past memories, in order to move forward without carrying old patterns into our present life or potential future.
Often simply shedding the light of awareness on these aspects is enough. By acknowledging them, we release them from the shadowed spaces they were banished to exist in, unseen. Other times the process requires more conscious awareness, action and perhaps support as we guide that energy through us and modify mindsets.
So we go to a Yoga/ Meditation class or Energy Healing session, perhaps we attend a full moon circle or workshop in the hopes of “letting go”.
Although this sacred practise of “letting go” is a powerful part of honouring the cycles we go through in life and creating space for new chapters, there are afew things that seem to have been missed in the over-simplification of such rituals.
But before we dive into this, I invite you to consider the ways in which you already "let go". Maybe it's monthly with the full moon, perhaps it’s with a fire ceremony, maybe it is part of a regular somatic journalling practise or or in an Energy Healing session. What process do you go through? Are you seeking to rid, to banish? Or to alchemise?
Perhaps it is not yet something you have explored but want to.
When I was young, we were encouraged to say our prayers before bed, never in a particularly religious way but always in a spiritual sense of connecting to a "higher power" at the end of each day.
Handing over my worries of the past and hopes for the future became a sacred and soothing practise that has always carried me through my most turbulent times. But there was one part of this practise that always stuck in my mind. I was told that "if you are asking for something, be sure to give thanks first". This became endlessly engrained in my routine and is now a cornerstone in my releasing rituals.
Give thanks first.
We can become so stuck in a world and a mindset of constant evolution and 'upgrades' we can forget to appreciate the distance we have already come and the space we now occupy. We are constantly setting intentions for growth and development without perhaps a moment of gratitude for where we are now and where we have been.
So when it comes to "letting go" I encourage you to employ the same practise my mum encouraged me to find in my evening prayers.
To give thanks first.
Because those parts of yourself that you are so keenly shedding now because they "keep you small" were the same parts that once kept you safe. The parts you are seeking to now let go of, are the same parts that once protected you in some of the most challenging times throughout your life. Those outdated stories, although no longer relevant, were once pivotal in bringing you to this chapter safely.
So as we let go of past versions, as we shed old stories and release protective layers, we don’t do so with haste, shame or force for it was that very shame that sought to force them into concealed and shadowed spaces. Instead, we give thanks and we honour the former parts of ourselves we wore as protection. We honour the past versions of ourselves that helped us get to this point in life and we do so with immense gratitude. With gratitude for the ebbs and flows of the tide that brought us here.
So, the next time you feel called to '“release” and “let go”, perhaps you find a moment of gratitude to honour the past version of you that so bravely brought you to this place, in this moment, reading this e-mail.
And as you feel into this space, you release the grip, letting the weight of the past melt away in a moment.
Allowing yourself to let go.
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From my heart to yours,
Antonia