Hello and welcome to today's meditation on letting go.
The goal of this meditation is to teach us gently how to let go of the past,
But also how to let go of memories that hold us back,
Or limiting beliefs that we cling to,
Or any sort of narrative that keeps sticking around and we wish to release and to free ourselves from it.
Now before we begin this practice,
I would like to invite you to find a comfortable seated position.
Remember comfort is everything and in case you start to feel discomfort throughout the meditation,
Bring your awareness to this discomfort and make sure to mindfully change your position.
So we will begin this practice with a few moments to center ourselves in this moment,
Bringing our awareness to the upcoming in-breath,
Feeling its temperature,
Feeling how it feels entering our nostrils,
Entering our chest.
And so for a few moments we simply bring awareness to the act of breathing,
Not trying to change it or control it,
But simply bringing our awareness to this beautiful anchor that is always here at our disposition.
So before we begin focusing on learning how to let go,
I will just gently remind you why is it that you are here today for this particular practice.
Because just like emptying a glass or a cup,
Letting go of what no longer serves us leaves us free to receive,
Free to receive refreshed,
To receive while being awake.
And this is a beautiful part of our spiritual practice,
To learn how to open our heart and to replenish our energy.
And so with the next in-breath as you are paying attention to your body being breathed,
You can start by bringing into awareness a story,
A memory,
Could be a limiting belief,
Or any sort of reaction that you wish to let go of in this moment.
Now as you bring this event or memory or sensation or emotion into awareness,
Gently name it.
And as you name it,
Just allow it to exist in this moment.
As you breathe,
Allow this memory or limiting belief or sensation or feeling,
Allow it to just float,
Allow it to exist with you in this same space,
In this same moment.
And as you do now,
Allow yourself to feel the unhappiness or sadness or anger,
Whichever emotion arises,
Allow yourself to feel it,
Allow yourself to feel how would it be if I kept holding on to this.
How will my life feel,
My interactions,
My everyday life,
My inner thoughts?
And as you continue to feel this,
You can gently ask yourself,
Do I really have to continue replay this story?
Do I have to hold on to this?
Does it still serve me?
And continue by asking yourself,
Is it now time to let go?
And ask yourself again,
Is it time to let go?
Listen to your heart because in the end the heart knows best,
Can trust your wisdom,
Trust yourself that you know best if it's time to let go of this particular sensation or memory or story.
And as you ask yourself this question,
Feel the benefit of letting go.
How would your life feel,
How would your everyday feel if you let go?
What would be the benefits?
So as you feel this expansion and lightness,
You can start by telling yourself,
Let go,
You can repeat this as many times as you need.
And as you keep repeating it,
Tune into your body how it feels to let go.
You can imagine water draining out of a sink or out of a bathtub or water being poured out of a cup.
How does it feel?
You can feel your body softening around your eyes,
Softening in your jaw and your shoulders.
Let everything go.
And as you do,
Can you feel any space opening up,
Can you feel any space emptying up inside you with a sigh of relief?
As if you let go of a luggage of clutter that you no longer need.
Feel your muscles releasing,
Feel your tension in the body releasing.
And as you let go,
You can now imagine the future.
A circumstance where you live where you have let go successfully.
How does your life feel?
How does a day in that life feel when you have let go?
Allow yourself to really bathe in the lightness of that moment,
In the positivity of that moment,
In the peace that comes with the fact that you have let go.
It's natural that as you imagine this,
The narrative or story or belief may keep coming back,
Returning to you.
That's ok,
So you can just gently say,
Let go,
I let go.
Bring yourself back to the moment where you imagine how a life would be the moment you did indeed let go.
That innocence and peace and lightness of that moment.
And again if in that moment these memories keep coming back,
Just gently wave them back and wave them away and say,
I let go.
And so if in this practice these images keep coming back,
You can say one last time,
While bowing gently with your head,
I let you go.
I let you go.
Just breathe gently and softly.
Now as you continue repeating this practice,
These images might be coming back to you.
That is absolutely normal,
Especially if they have been around for quite some time.
But just like any practice,
The more you practice,
To gently and kindly send them off and repeat to yourself,
I let go,
I let go.
Soon enough these images will fade away,
Emptying up that space in your heart and in your mind.
That space of freedom and peace that comes with letting go of what no longer serves us.
So before we finish this practice,
I invite you to take a few deep breaths in.
And imagine each time you inhale,
You inhale innocence and freedom and peace.
And as you breathe out,
You're letting go of what doesn't serve you.
So with the next out-breath you can start to bring your awareness to your body and to your surroundings,
The smells,
The sounds of the street.
You can take a moment to thank yourself for taking this time to practice how to let go what no longer serves you.
This is a beautiful gift you give yourself.
Just before you open your eyes,
I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for spending this moment with me.
I wish you a beautiful and light day.
