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"Let it go." I've been telling myself these words for about 2 weeks straight now.
I recently had one of those changes come up that felt like a slight shift of the floor from under my feet. It felt unfair and wrong. It felt like a 4.5 on the earthquake magnitude scale - "only slight damage to buildings and other structures". This change was all it took to remind me that when things shift unexpectedly, how totally uncomfortable it can be.
First, I want to say and clarify that I am GREAT! My family is healthy and happy - that is where I'm sending my gratitude. That thought alone is enough to put things in perspective. The shift that came up for me is in a professional situation, in a part of my life that I've put a whole lot of my heart into. I'll be sure it all works out ok in the end, but the shift - the unexpected change - definitely shook me and opened my eyes to something I would have preferred to not accept as what is.
In thinking about change as I've been doing my own soul searching this week, I realized that when I speak to change in my classes, it's typically in the sense of the word that it's an actively decided change. The kind that you think about and go for - and those kind of changes can be really difficult and floor-shaking still, although maybe just a little less jaw-dropping. UNEXPECTED change, though is a totally different story. It can come up on any level, tiny or huge and it often rattles us a little (or a lot) more. Change is such a regular in our lives, that it's quite necessary to expect it - although that doesn't really help it to be easier when it hits.
"Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control of what you don't."
In our yoga practice, we constantly tap into tools that allow us to work with change, to help balance ourselves, to bring the floor a little closer, to align ourselves and to assist with our practice. Yoga tools include our yoga mats, mirrors, blocks, bolsters, blankets, straps, etc. We utilize them so often - whether it be a familiar movement or sequence, or it's one that is different to us - that it's second nature to tap into this habit of utilizing tools when on our yoga mat. What tools do you have in place in your life off of the yoga mat to help ground you and bring you back to a place you can trust when you have a change come up?
For me, amongst practicing gratitude, dreaming/goal setting about what my change could mean in a positive way, and practicing self care, the main tool I've been working on is the act of LETTING GO. Oooo it's a tough one for me.
Cambridge Dictionary defines letting go as : to stop holding onto something; to stop thinking about or being angry about the past or something that happened in the past; to be more relaxed and enjoy yourself. (haha so just in writing this journal I'm obviously not quite there yet!!! It's a practice!). To me, letting go is realizing - accepting (that's maybe the word I need to focus on more) - that something which was a part of your history may not be (or does not NEED to be) a part of your destiny.
Letting go isn't easy. It's hard to accept when you feel wronged or feel like you don't have a voice or that your opinion doesn't matter. It's hard to accept when trust is broken or when you planned on something going one way and it doesn't end up being in the cards.
Although I'm still working on letting my situation go and accepting what is, this quote speaks SO STRONGLY to me, and I realize that it's true :
"The truth is...unless you let go, unless you forgive the situation, you cannot move forward."
The moving forward part....that's where the beauty lies.
How do you practice letting it go?