A lesson in letting go 💫

Since arriving back from training I have thrown myself into teaching head first, teaching and practicing daily.. I guess in a way it has softened the difficulty of 'leaving the yoga-bubble' we experienced at teacher training.

Now I sit on one of my first real days off from teaching and am able to sit back and try to get perspective on where I'm at with everything. A lot of things are changing and evolving in my life right now.. Being at teacher training was life changing, in so many ways. I have come out the other side not a different person; but simply a clearer version of myself. In the hours of meditation and personal practice during training I have been able to find such clarity on myself. To learn to let go of the things which no longer serve me, the attachments I had made to things which really served no good purpose in my life; fears, self-judgement, perfection. To let go of the ideas I had about my life and direction and where I thought I needed to be. To expectations and the things we are conditioned by our society to believe to be important. 

I have learnt that this is the key to self- growth, to inner contentment and peace. When we stop trying to hold on, to ourselves or anything else, we actually become free to live in peace. Meditation is such an amazing way to practice this. When we meditate, we notice how thoughts, sensations, and events are momentary. Through meditation we observe our thoughts and practice letting go—rather than getting caught up in ourselves and taking everything so heavily and personally, we learn to live more lightly. If we attach ourselves to our pain, to struggles, to loss, to diss-ease and suffering; then we shall suffer. As the Thai meditation master Achaan Chah put it: “If you let go a little, you will have a little happiness. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of happiness. And if you let go completely, you will be free.”

Letting go is the key to unlocking yourself. 

Once you identify that you aren't the self you think you are and that the ego that resides in all of us is controllable by the true Self, you realise that nothing can steal your peace. 

The ego self, the part of us that drives and thrives off of self-judgement, expectations and desires, can be incredibly self-destructive to the soul. We have to learn to connect more to our inner, higher Self.. the part of us that is all knowing and pure. When we can connect more to this, we can begin to ignore the thoughts of the ego-self. The ego will destroy us if we let it, the ego is the heart of all suffering of the self. During meditation and personal practice I have learnt how important it is to let go of the ego self, I have learnt that my ego was fueling a lot of desires and expectations I had about myself and my life. Since I have learnt how this wasn't serving me and my growth and happiness, I have been able to begin to let go. 

I have learnt that the expectations of others do not matter, don't get me wrong.. the feelings of others do matter, a lot.. but their expectations and judgements do not. We really need not bother ourselves with what other people think about our selves.. I understand this more and more every day. I used to think I didn't care what people thought of me; but not I am understanding the reality behind this. 

We have to let go. We have to be brave and connect to our deepest self and say fuck it to the rest. Be selfish with yourself in this way.. If you can't honour, love and respect yourself enough to be true to your higher Self and let go of the rest, then you cannot expect others to love, honour or respect you either. 

Sometimes it feels painful to live the way we truly desire, sometimes letting go is painful.. but it is necessary pain. This pain is purification of the soul. Understand that and pain will never to suffering. Understand that and you will be a happy man. 

Namaste.

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