Letting Go: A Practice Of Surrender And Stillness

Good day,

Everyone.

My name is Stephen Hick,

And welcome to my letting go meditation.

If you're using this meditation as part of my book entitled Mindful Compassion,

This would be for weeks 31 to 33.

So let's begin by just settling into our meditation posture.

Again,

Whether in a chair,

On a cushion on the floor,

Or lying down,

I'm just finding that upright,

Dignified posture that's also comfortable,

Something that you can hold for the next 30 minutes.

And lying down is fine if that's what best serves you today.

Allowing your eyes to gently close or your gaze to be on the floor in front of you,

Taking a moment to simply arrive,

Coming into stillness,

Letting the body be still,

Perhaps setting the intention to allow stillness in the body for this period of formal meditation.

Allowing the breath to find its natural rhythm,

Not trying to change or interfere with anything,

Coming to the stillness and resting in the rhythm of life.

This is your time to just be,

Noticing where attention is right now,

If it's in the mind,

In the thoughts,

Just allowing your attention to drop from the head down deeper into the body,

Feeling your awareness settling deeper into the body,

Letting gravity help you drop down out of the head and into the chest and the belly,

Sensing what's in the entire body,

Going down into the pelvic area,

The buttocks,

Perhaps feeling the touch of the cushion or chair on the sit bones and feeling the hips and the upper part of the leg,

The front of the leg and the back,

And sensing into the knees,

The lower part of the leg,

Sensing into the ankles,

The feet,

And the toes,

Feeling the feet grounded on the floor,

Allowing your attention to be grounded,

Anchored in the body,

Noticing any areas in the body that might be tight or holding or tense.

You don't need to fix or change anything,

Simply noticing,

Bringing attention to those areas.

We're not trying to force them to release or open,

But rather to offer them your kind attention.

Sometimes just noticing is enough to invite a softening.

And if the tension remains,

That's okay too,

Simply letting it be there.

It's not about trying to make something happen.

It's all about noticing and allowing.

Just continuing to rest in this way with body sensations.

Now,

Gently bringing your attention to the breath,

Feeling the breath move in and out of the body,

Noticing the inhale,

Noticing the exhale,

Just allowing the breath to be the focus of attention and recognizing that this can be your anchor or home base,

A place you can return to if you get lost in thought.

The breath is always in the present moment.

So,

Continuing with attention on the breath as it is,

Moment by moment,

Noticing the space around the breath.

There's breath,

Then there's this space,

This quiet field in which the breath appears.

Letting your attention rest in that space,

Feeling the breath rising and falling within that silent space.

The breath is moving and flowing,

But the space of stillness remains and holds it all.

This space isn't something you need to create or conjure up.

It's already and always there.

It's always been there.

It's the still space within which all experiences arise,

Including the breath,

Allowing yourself to rest into it.

This space is what we let go into.

Letting go doesn't mean pushing away or getting rid of anything.

It simply means no longer clinging,

No longer struggling to control the moment.

Whatever is here right now,

We're simply welcoming it.

Whatever sensation,

Whatever thought,

Letting it be.

Letting go of any desire for the moment to be different.

Letting go of the urge to analyze,

To judge,

To want to change it.

Simply resting in this space of stillness and allowing sensations,

The breath,

Thoughts to simply flow through it.

You may notice that thoughts arise,

Just kind of random thoughts,

Perhaps a thought,

Am I doing this right?

Or the thought,

Nothing's happening.

Whatever the thought might be,

Whenever it arises,

Greet them,

Welcome them kindly,

And then gently but firmly return to the breath or the quiet space around it.

Each return is an act of letting go,

Letting go of judging,

Letting go of control,

Letting go of identity,

Letting go of the need to know.

Letting go into the moment just as it is.

Sensation,

Thought arising through this silent,

Still space of awareness.

If it helps,

You can visualize the sensations,

Thoughts,

And sounds passing like clouds passing through the sky.

The sky is this still space that is always and already there that the clouds simply pass through.

The sky doesn't hold on to or push away particular clouds.

It's simply allowing and welcoming whatever clouds,

Whether they be storm clouds or other clouds.

If that's helpful,

You can imagine that welcoming,

Still space like the sky and the thoughts and sensations like clouds always moving through.

It could be light and fluffy clouds or dark and stormy clouds.

And whenever your mind attaches to or clings to a particular thought or emotion,

Just gently acknowledging that this has happened.

This is a moment of mindfulness without judgment and letting it float away,

Perhaps using the image of the cloud,

The awareness of your breath.

Each time you release an attachment to a thought or sensation,

You create more space for letting go and for greater freedom and clarity and presence.

If you find yourself struggling to let go,

You can return to your breath and gently remind yourself that everything's temporary anyway.

Why hold on to it?

It's coming back to that breath of the space around the breath.

I'm just sensing deeper into that still space that's always and already there.

And realizing that you can allow any thoughts,

Feelings,

Or sensations to flow freely without holding on to them.

This is a gentle practice.

It's not about forcing a letting go,

But about acceptance and patience with whatever's arising.

Letting go means letting be,

Resting in the space where things don't need to be named,

Fixed,

Or changed,

Where nothing needs to be added or subtracted.

You're simply here,

Breathing,

Being in the moment as it is,

Applying this non-judgmental,

On-purpose awareness to all aspects of your experience.

If sounds come in,

Simply be aware.

If thoughts come in,

Simply notice them.

Body sensations come in,

Simply observe them.

We're not being aware and observing to make something happen.

We're simply being aware just to be aware.

And if judgment does arise,

That,

Too,

Is not a problem.

It's simply noticing,

Observing this.

If desire for something different happens,

Noticing this.

It's all just a continuous process of noticing and letting go,

Letting go into the still space of awareness,

The sky,

Moment by moment.

You're noticing any subtle impulses to make something happen.

For example,

For a better meditative experience,

Simply noticing these subtle,

Undercurrent impulses,

Letting go,

Nothing to do except to be aware,

Allowing whatever happens within this space or field of awareness,

Letting all of your experience in the moment just be reflected in the mirror of awareness.

And now and again,

You might feel like you've lost this thread of awareness.

That's fine.

Perhaps you're caught in a memory or drifted off into planning.

This is natural.

When you notice,

You can even smile.

That noticing is the return.

The noticing is it.

And once you've noticed coming back to the breath,

To the space around the breath,

Letting go of any judgment,

Recognizing that each breath is a new beginning to let go deeper and deeper.

You're resting in the truth of the moment,

Realizing that you can carry this nonjudgmental,

Nonreactive mindset out into the world,

Letting go,

Letting be,

Just being moment by moment.