So, I'm going to go on the assumption that everyone has had to let go of something somewhere in their lives. Whether it's a grudge, a relationship, a promotion, a holiday, or an emotion, I assume that everyone has gotten to a stage where they realise that holding on is only making matters worse. Or where you realise that holding on is the root cause of a vast majority of your current misery. One aspect of this assumption also stems from the hope that, if you've experienced that sort of misery, that you have also experienced its opposite - a free, unbounded joy and mirth that makes you feel light and peaceful and completely content. Besides, we cannot see the light if there was no dark to distinguish it from, and vice versa.
So, if letting go can lead to such lightness, then why do we hold on in the first place? Is it fear? Of the unknown? Or of making the wrong decision? Or fear of losing what we have come to know so well, despite the misery? Can the grass really be greener on the other side of this clinging to what we know, to what we're comfortable with? Is it doubt?
Personally, I think that one knows when it's time to let go when you've been so preoccupied with something that you feel the urge to write a nonsensical blog about it. When you start to struggle to see anything else, despite knowing that there is so much more to life, that there are still so many roses to smell, or when you forget not to take it all for granted (Or, like me, forget to add the "not" into that phrase).
This all suggests that there is a place and time (or a reason) for holding on, and I can agree with that. As long as the learning and the growing and the appreciating is still happening, or still noticed, then hold on. Learn from it. Explore the misery. But don't go to a point where you struggle to see the light, the good.
Of course, the how can be done through yoga :) Whenever you realise that you (or your ego) have latched onto getting into a certain pose, despite your body, or your heart, or your mind screaming for you to stop, stop. Meditate, if that works for you. Or just listen. Be still, tune in, and listen to yourself. If you stop trying so hard now, it doesn't mean that you will lose all hope of getting into the pose some other time, but it isn't now. In fact, pushing for it at the wrong time is usually more likely to prevent you from ever reaching it.
Just saying.
K, so, I'm gonna go do some yoga now and try to let go a bit. And in letting go of balancing in a handstand, I will attempt to translate the lesson into other matters of my life. Wish me luck!
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| Sometimes you gotta just let loose a bit. Do yoga in the snow. Lift a leg in downward dog. Go crazy. Thanks to Daven for the photo :) |
