Letting Go: Tuesday's Reflection

Saturday I attended a retreat at Wisdom Ways facilitated by the gifted teacher/writer Karen Hering. How perfect, I thought, to attend a retreat on Epiphany--a day of gifts from wise beings. 

Karen led us through a breathing exercise to simulate how the body feels when it stops clutching and is able to let go. We each know what it means to hold on to something when it no longer serves the person we were created to be, but still we cling to the emotion, the thought, the belief, the habit, the person, the job, the possession. 

As we inhaled we closed our palms tightly into a fist, and then after holding our breath, feeling that tenseness, we exhaled through our mouths. Loudly. And as we exhaled, we opened our palms. 

Such a good feeling. 

During writing time, we each made a list of everything in our life we need to discard.  I've done that before and no doubt you have too. Maybe not formally, but in your head when you snarl to yourself and say, "I wish I wasn't so...." or "Why do I always ...." or when you open an overfilled drawer or closet and admonish yourself to do something about that soon. 

I didn't have trouble making my own list, a boring, often repeated one.

What felt different this time was the next part of the writing prompt. Complete the phrase "letting go now... ." Here's what I wrote:

Letting go now
        I have more space.
        I create spaciousness for all I was created to be, for my own essence.
        I am able to move forward lightly, but at the same time deeply,
honoring myself and being present to the fullness of my life.
        I am lighter.
        I am able to be more present to the movement of God within and around me.
        I feel hope. I feel gratitude. I feel joy.
        I feel possibility. I feel contentment.
        I am able to listen to each Sacred Yes, but also each Sacred No as they appear in my life. 

Trust me, I have not done the complete work of letting go--I cling to far too much--but this exercise helped me envision how letting go feels and for a moment I was in that spaciousness. It is worth moving towards that reality. 

May this new year be one of discovering what is means to let go now. 

An Invitation
What's on your Letting Go list? How would you complete the phrase, letting go now....? I would love to know.