The Discipline and Practice of ‘Letting Go’

We’ve all heard the phrase, ‘Let go and let God.’ Can you? Are you sure? Is it easier said than done? HOW is it done? I’ll share something that may work for you.

We’ve got attachments. Do we have to really work on recognizing and releasing our attachments to outcome? Usually we do; additionally working through the frustrations of self-criticism along the way. But, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Oftentimes, we find ourselves in a vicious vortex of self-destructive patterns. It’s a pattern we repeat everywhere. That same vortex can just as quickly release us when we know how to let go of our critical subjective nature, acknowledge the feeling, allow the feeling without denial, choose to release it, observe its release and accept a better feeling. Sounds so simple in theory, yet again, doesn’t it?

What if it really is?

This practice is a relatively simple yet profound tool for transformation and transcendence. You might already realize the advantages. What you will be doing is synergizing your breath with your feelings, releasing the emotional blocks or bottlenecks to your true freedom and flow.

Depending on what you uncover in your emotional patterning, it can work quickly or take some time. The process, once perfected, can be used anywhere at any time. The results are experienced in many ways as they offer deeper understanding of your own emotions and feeling patterns.

We can either respond or react to any situation, depending on our perspective. By responding, we pause and reflect before we act. The observer within allows us to step away from the emotional attachment to outcome, yet helps us define those attachments because we have become aware of them now.

Once aware, we can choose how to respond rather than react out of some unconscious pattern of old behavior. This is especially helpful when dealing with races from other planets that have a higher frequency than most humans. That may seem a lot to consider, but the news lately certainly creates the possibility.

Personal growth does not have to be painful, even though it often is. Why would we want to continue to experience pain, then? We can observe and not be engaged by the disturbance. So recognizing that the observer is a really powerful place, how do we find it?

The focus of this exercise is to move beyond disturbance in your emotional patterns, the blocks or resistance to change or growth, and become the observer of your process. Emotional attachments cause blockages in energy flow in the circuitry. Our neurocircuitry operates on energy flow, electrical impulses that move through it, or not.

Sometimes we have enough awareness to be able to ask why we reacted to a situation in such an inappropriate or incongruous way. That question is an opportunity to explore the deeper causes of our reaction. The following exercise is designed to allow you to garner greater awareness and control of your responses to stimuli. When you can ‘watch’ then you can respond more appropriately on the fly.

Exercise:

Find a place where you can completely relax and be uninterrupted for at least a half hour. Create an environment you feel totally protected and supported in whether you include items like crystals, incense, calming music, etc. or not. They aren’t necessary. Then, when you are ready…

Close your eyes and recall a situation where you reacted emotionally out of control, or one you currently are experiencing.

Remember the feeling/action/words that triggered the reaction from as many perspectives as possible. You’ll no doubt have at least a few.

Feel the feeling as deeply as if it had just happened again. Embrace the feeling as though it was totally present right now. Notice the sense of it in your body and hold onto it as though it was the most precious thing in the world. Love it. Yes, seriously, love it just as it is. This is not an intellectual exercise.

Now, take a deep breath and, just let it go. On the exhale, feel yourself relax and release it fully, or as much as possible. It may only feel slightly different. That’s okay. It is still different now. It’s likely a different way of handling the situation will emerge simultaneously though we still hold on a bit, for whatever reason.

Breathe deeper, yet again and imagine that feeling taking a physical form, like a Frisbee, and launch it from your gut as you release your breath. Imagine it disappearing out of sight. Feel the tension leave your body as it is replaced by a sense of freedom just from breathing. The imagery often helps, too.

Notice that you feel better, less stressed and less tense. Consistency will free your body and mind even more. Breath work is essential in any kind of stress-relief practice.

If you don’t know how to release the feeling, just imagine you are free of the disturbance it has caused… completely… like it never happened and you feel completely loved and surrounded by a sense of safety and security. Feel like nothing can harm you, period; like you are in the arms of your parent, protector or God. Be fearless in that moment.

That is the process. It is that simple. You probably had forgotten about the feeling, right? Still, if it came up as you focused then it has been there, deep in your subconscious, and affecting your life without your awareness. There could be a bit of residual emotion still. That, too, can disappear with practice. Imagine if you took conscious breaths on a regular basis.

Other Considerations

Sometimes past lives, whether you believe in them or not, can affect your current life stream. Your karma is just as easily worked out by and through this process as it is called – forgiveness. We think about forgiveness, but it is a process of releasing. It may be a genetic memory, too, passed generation to generation because the energy had never been released. Regardless, the practice in the present restores the intimacy with life you may have been missing.

Most world religions include teachings on the nature of forgiveness, and many of these teachings provide an underlying basis for many modern day traditions and practices of forgiveness. Some religious doctrines or philosophies place greater emphasis on the need for humans to find some sort of divine forgiveness for their own shortcomings. Others place greater emphasis on the need for humans to practice forgiveness of one another, yet others make little or no distinction between human and divine forgiveness.

There is a feeling beyond forgiveness once one has processed their bottlenecks. It is a feeling of being imperturbable – nothing can trigger you. It is where one becomes completely impervious to inner and outer emotional tugs. It is a place even beyond bliss.

Don Juan, who was Carlos Castaneda’s guide, taught of ‘sealing the egg’ which required severing all psychic cords to others. It’s rather deep shamanic work that needs a bit more guidance. The ‘egg’ is akin to one’s aura, the luminous egg that surrounds each or us like a cocoon. It is another opportunity in the process of ‘letting go.’

To further enjoy your opportunity, you can get Zen’s workbook that includes many more tasty tidbits of  Transformation.