Let's close our eyes.
Imagine getting ready for bed.
No matter what has happened during the day.
We are more than happy.
To let it all go.
And embrace going to sleep.
It's as if the hold that the mind had over whatever it was latching onto throughout the day.
Somehow this trigger of going to bed was enough.
To let that hold just relax.
We all do it.
We all do it every night.
Sometimes it is harder to do than other days.
But we all do it.
Nothing stops us from having the same attitude right now.
Whatever has happened up until now.
And whatever you think is going to happen later on can be let go of right now.
If we wanted to.
It might not feel natural for some of us.
But that's only because we have associated letting go with sleep only.
I want to bring the attitude in focus more than the action of sleeping.
The carefree attitude that we have of just letting go.
Only that attitude allows us to fall asleep.
The more we hold on to events,
Opinions,
Etc.
The harder it gets for us to sleep.
And we have all experienced this.
But most days we can just easily let go.
Maybe there's some reassurance in our letting go that when I do wake up in the morning I can pick it up where I left off.
As if it's a treasure that we don't want to be deprived of.
Although it feels like burden most of the times and only increases anxiety and suffering for us,
We treat it like a treasure.
I'm not sure why we are so invested in things that cause us grief.
But the reason is not important.
What is important is the attitude of just dropping everything.
It's like returning from a hiking trip or a big long hike carrying 50 pounds over our shoulders in a backpack.
We have walked hundreds of miles if not tens of miles.
And now we have come back.
And now we take that backpack off and just set it on the ground.
The journey is complete.
We can put our backpack down.
And if we need reassurance,
Yes,
This will be there for us to pick up whenever we decide to in the same pristine heavy condition.
Let go of the backpack.
What we are letting go of doesn't matter.
We are letting go of everything.
Whatever is needed in this moment,
We already have it.
We don't need anything from the past or the future right now.
If it helps to relax your shoulders and metaphorically just drop the weight down.
And try it.
And parts of our body get tensed up when we are carrying heavy stuff physically or emotionally.
So the attitude of letting go can be twofold.
One being the openness of letting it go in our mind and the other the openness of letting go in our body just like we do when we are going to sleep.
There is no pride in holding on to heavy stuff.
Let go.
And check for yourself right now.
If you didn't have any burden of the past or the future,
Would you be incomplete in this moment?
Or do you have everything that you need to just be okay right now?
Let your hips relax.
Really relax.
And unclench your jaw.
And relax your eyes.
Let go.
It's not uncommon to fall asleep while doing this exercise.
Probably because we have this chronic habit of holding on to things that doesn't let us peacefully sleep either some days.
We can try this exercise at different times of day,
Especially at night to ask ourselves,
Do I need anything from the past or the future right now?
Or can I let things be in the past where they belong and in the future which is unknown?
I'm completely safe here,
Complete here,
Ready to rest,
Ready to put my backpack down.
Let's go.
Let's go.
Let's go.
Thank you.
