Let go!

Last week I was at the physiotherapist. He was manoeuvring me, which involved him lifting my leg and trying to push my knee into my chest. Its all about loosening my glutes which are apparently very tight which as a result of the domino effect causes the back pain I had been experiencing.

He would push as much as he could and then stop. I had to take a deep breath, let go and he would push further than the time before. I realised I just had to tell myself to let go. He seemed very impressed and said that I had "got it" and didn't need to come back for a while.

I did get it. A lot of the tensing is self-induced. For the next few hours I monitored my body - I realised that without realising I "tense up" certain muscles. My chest is tight as I sit by my desk and concentrate and my glutes are squeezed. Can I let this go? Yes - I take a few deep breaths and let go and see what else is not relaxed. Let go let go.. I do this until I feel relaxed but I notice tension creeps in every now and again.

When I was walking home I realised my shoulders were tense - I let these go too. I realised letting go is a full time job.

Close your eyes for a second, take a few deep breaths. Is there any part of your body that you are aware of right now? Tell yourself to let it go. Take another deep breath is there anything else - As you breath out - let it all go. Repeat until you feel at ease.

This is what stress is - tension - it’s bracing - holding on to, not letting go. Worry is also not letting go - it’s a physical response as well as a mental response. You can do the same with your mind - me thinks.

I thought lot about letting go that day - and I'm wondering now if allergies - hay fever - is perhaps an example of not letting go - of tensing - of your body bracing itself. It sure is an inappropriate response by your body - releasing histamine - to a substance that is not really harmful - e.g. grass.

When I got home I put a cd into my computer - the Sedona Method (www.sedona.com)- to load it into my ipod so I can listen to it on my way to work the next day. It turns out to be a dvd and I am forced to watch it.

Although I was initially resisting watching the presenter Hale Dwoskin has this really infectious laugh and I was giggling in no time each time he did. And there was no particular reason to.

Anyway... I really liked the ideas. I tried them and they worked.

There are a few ways to let go.

To illustrate the first one - put a pen in your hand - now clench your fist with the pen in your hand - hold it for a few seconds. this is like the emotion / feeling you are holding on to. Now open your hand, palm facing upward with the pen resting in your palm. Let the pen roll around on your hand. Now turn your hand around and let the pen drop. That is how easy it is to let go of an emotion or feeling.

To facilitate the process you ask yourself three questions:

1. Can I let this feeling / emotion go?

2. Am I willing to let this go?

3. When?

Regardless of your answers you go through the questions a number of times.

I chose an issue I have with self-confidence. When I went through the questions - my answers were Yes, Yes and NOW and I did feel lighter each time.

The other way of letting go was allowing the feeling and welcoming it: be with the feeling - allowing it to pass through you, not resisting it.

They say you can do this with any pain you have - any dis-ease. I have only scratched the surface here - theres a lot more to discover but what I have realised is:

1. You can let go physically - its a choice - try it - keep at it and
2. You can let go of feelings & emotions

There's a lot more for me to discover here and this is now my focus.

Also see my post on Love - Ho'Oponopono is about letting go and experiencing the zero state - the divine state - where there is only love.