Letting Go Of Worries And Regrets Meditation

Welcome my highly sensitive friends.

This is Tanya and welcome to your Letting Go of Worries and Regrets Meditation.

Find a comfortable seat,

Whatever that may mean for you today.

We'll elongate our spine and close our eyes,

Allowing our body to soften,

Our legs to become heavy,

Softening our shoulders away from our ears and releasing any tension we may be holding in our jaw,

Face and neck.

Take a few deep breaths now,

In and out through the nose,

Just to center ourselves and start calming our mind.

Now we'll take a moment to survey our body,

Adjusting it to make it as comfortable as possible,

Making as many adjustments as we need,

Not ignoring any small details where our body is still asking for attention,

Settling in until we're at ease.

Turning our attention to our breath now,

Inhaling through our nose and just being aware of the breath as it fills our lungs.

Our belly rises and without pause,

Begin the exhalation,

Continuing to breathe through our nose while allowing the belly to fall naturally as the air leaves our lungs,

Just allowing the rhythmic nature of the breath to take over as inhalation and exhalation flow effortlessly one into the other.

The intention of this meditation is to help us reduce anxiety as we focus on releasing the physical and emotional tension that comes with it.

Take a few moments here to soften any unnecessary tension in the belly and shoulders as we soften our gaze or close our eyes.

Rest our hands gently on our lap or knees,

Just in an easy,

Effortless way.

Taking a few moments now to scan through the sensations of our body and wherever possible,

Releasing and softening any more,

Any obvious areas of physical tension.

Just becoming more aware of our body,

Our body breathing,

Our belly rising and falling with each breath.

And now we'll imagine standing near the street outside of where we live and we're holding on to two very heavy suitcases,

One in each hand.

One of them is filled with all of our worries about the future and the other is filled with our regrets about the past.

As we're standing here near the street holding these two suitcases,

They just become heavier and heavier with each passing moment.

And yet we still can't seem to put them down.

We're thinking now about each one,

Maybe feeling a little on edge about the case that holds the worries about our future.

Maybe afraid to acknowledge that the future and all it holds will come to us no matter what and on its own terms.

But the heavier the case gets,

We slowly begin to see that whatever our future holds,

Most of what we worry about will actually never happen.

Now we begin to notice our other hand holding the case containing our past.

This one seems to be even heavier and our grip is a bit tighter.

And yet something inside of us still will not allow these cases to drop.

Physically we're tired of holding them.

Our hands,

Our arms,

And our shoulders are aching from the weight.

When we do think about trying to set them down,

Our emotions begin to stir within us.

They move through our body,

Each emotion attached to something that seems so crucial and compelling to our identity.

And we realize that this is completely natural and we don't need to do anything about these emotions in this moment.

We're just beginning to observe them,

Watching them from afar,

Just letting them be.

Bringing awareness now to how our body holds on to the past.

Noticing any tightness in our neck or in our chest.

Maybe we feel tightness in our hips or in our belly.

And we begin now to mindfully soften and begin to release some of these tense areas that are calling out to us.

Now we'll gently ask ourselves,

Do I have to continue to carry these stories packed away inside these heavy suitcases?

Do I have to carry these feelings of worry?

Must I continue to hold on so tightly to these feelings of regret?

Maybe is it time to let go?

And if it's not time,

We'll give ourselves compassion and space for not being ready to let go.

And if we would like,

We can say to ourselves,

Letting go,

Letting go.

Softly repeating the phrase,

Feeling our body soften,

And feeling any space that arises within us as we begin to let go.

As we remain still and quiet,

We'll just notice any feelings or thoughts that return to us during this time.

And when they do,

We'll simply return to the softening and the phrase,

Letting go,

Letting go.

Considering now how the past cannot be changed,

All we can do in the present is to learn from it.

And now we consider how the future cannot be predicted.

We cannot control it.

Feeling the weight of these suitcases while absorbing the wisdom of our own thoughts now,

We ask ourselves an honest and open-hearted question.

Do we want to drop the suitcase of worry about the future?

And if so,

Simply drop it.

Simply drop it.

And now,

Feeling lighter on one side but the suitcase still so heavy about the past,

We ask the question again.

Do we want to drop the case filled with regrets about the things that we cannot change?

And if so,

Just drop it.

Just drop it.

Understanding that letting go isn't about forgetting,

It's not about repressing or dismissing everything that's happened to us as if its impact doesn't matter.

It's simply about accepting what's happened along with its power over us so we may learn from it and then find peace.

We don't have to be fully recovered or feel fully restored because part of healing is acknowledging that we're not there yet but that we do want to be on that path.

Once we've dropped the two suitcases,

We'll walk back inside now into a safe place and take a seat,

Feeling lighter,

Rested,

And encouraged,

Feeling truly rested here and now in this present moment.

Just breathing,

Resting in the well-being of awareness itself.

Awareness which does not worry or regret,

Allowing ourselves to simply rest and feel relief,

A sense of peace,

Of joy,

Of well-being.

Repeating silently to ourselves now,

The past has no power over me.

Fear no longer holds me down.

I am ready to move forward.

The past has no power over me.

Fear no longer holds me down.

I am ready to move forward.

The past has no power over me.

Fear no longer holds me down.

I am ready to move forward.

Without carrying heavy suitcases with us,

Of worries about the future or regrets about the past,

Just noticing how we feel now.

Perhaps a bit lighter,

Maybe a little bit more at ease.

Bringing our awareness back now as we slowly begin to release this practice,

Allowing any sensations,

Emotions,

Or thoughts that we feel to just be as they are.

We'll slowly open our eyes when we're ready and connect with the space around us.

I wish you wellness,

Joy,

And freedom.