.....I let go

Yogis,
I start this week by offering an experience. It involves your breath, a mantra and an intention.

Settle in and begin by noticing that you are breathing. You might find that when the breath is noticed it changes slightly, but you are not trying to control it in any way. All I would like you to do is place a gentle awareness on your breath. A light touch.

Oh, hello breath!

Notice the tactile experience of the breath. Sensations arise in the body. First there is a coolness in the nostrils as the air rushes in, yet as it leaves it has been warmed by your body. In the torso a feeling of inflating as you draw breath in, and then deflating as you send it back out. In and out……in and out. Life’s rhythm.

You can also ‘see’ the breath with your inner gaze. The way it rises through the center when you inhale. Then how it falls on the exhale. How the ribs spread and open to create more space and then draw quietly back together. Gentle movements at the navel. How the breath brushes your heart.

There are also distinctly different energies that ride on the two parts of your breath. When taking the breath in a lightness is created. A lifting away from the earth. If you were going to try to levitate, you would do it on the inhale. The exhale, on the other hand, makes you heavier and grounded. If you didn’t want to let me pick you up you would naturally push out all of the breath and root yourself to the earth.

Our exhale also carries the energies of relaxation…..emptying…..and letting go.

Once you feel you are synched to the pattern of the breath, I would like you to add in a mantra. A mantra is a set of words repeated consciously and with intention. The mantra for today is ‘I let go’, so we will pair it with the exhale.

Sit back now. Spend the next minute with your eyes closed watching yourself fill on the inhales and each time you slowly exhale, mentally say to yourself ‘I let go.’ I let go….. Intend to let go.  Expect it to happen. Come back when you are done.

In and out…..in and out.

How was it? Did you sense what ‘letting go’ feels like? We talk about the need to let go, but it can’t happen through thought or words. There is an internal process that is required for any form of letting go. An exhale.

Letting go of the past. Letting go of worries. Desires, thoughts and attachments. Letting go of the need to control. Of viewpoints and beliefs. The need to be right. Letting go of the future and how you wish it to be. Opening the hands and relaxing the grip. Loosening the jaw. Allowing an emptiness to pervade.

True letting go means leaping into uncertainty. An act of bravery. And what is left when we let go?

This enormously beautiful messy present moment which contains absolutely everything. The excitement of not knowing. An openness to living life one breath at a time.

In and out…..in and out.
SARAH