In the middle of a little forest, there lives a little tree who loves his life and the splendid leaves that keep him cool in the heat of long summer days. Life is perfect just the way it is. Autumn arrives, and with the cool winds, that ruffle the little tree’s leaves. One by one the other trees drop their leaves facing the cold of winter head on. But not little tree – he hugs his leaves as tightly as he can.
I recently made a trip back home to my ancestral land in the Midwest. These last months since my mom’s passing, I have been sensing the nudge to return to this physical place of my young childhood. Of course, my logical mind kept pooh-poohing the idea, (“What do you want to waste your time and money doing this for?”, “It is way back in the past and it isn’t important now.”) while my intuition urged me to listen and follow the need for filing the holes of my memory and experience, pieces of unresolved grief, a letting go and forgiveness.
Letting go is the act of releasing attachment or surrendering control over something that is no longer serving us. It may be a relationship, beliefs, emotions, or past experiences that are causing us pain or holding us back.
What may you be “holding onto”?
Why is letting go so hard to do? Fear most likely, the uncertainty, the not knowing can be so anxiety-provoking to let go of resistance. We are familiar, comfortable with our current circumstances, albeit they may not be healthy, but we know the terrain.
Year after year little tree remains unchanged. His leaves, having long since turned brown and withered. What would he be without them?
When you let go, space is created for something new to happen.
Letting go is something that I have struggled with through the years. And I have had to learn how to do it. Here are some ideas that can help with letting go:
1. Recognize you are holding onto to something that is no longer serving you.
2. Process your emotions - allow yourself to feel and express any emotions that are coming up. This may involve talking to a friend, therapist, trying a creative expression practice, or journaling your experience.
3. Practice Self-compassion – Letting go is a process and may take time, be kind to yourself.
4. Release the attachment - This may involve prayer, meditation, forgiveness, acceptance, or simply acknowledging it’s time to move on.
5. Present moment awareness – allow yourself to experience the lightness and freedom that comes with letting go.
A friend and Reiki practitioner shared a meditation with me for the visit to my ancestral land; Ho'oponopono Meditation. It is an ancient Hawaiian healing technique that focusses the energies of forgiveness, love and gratitude into those areas where we are holding on to memories that are no longer serving us.
Be patient with yourself and trust that you have the courage to let go. And grow.