The Conversation: Let it go
Take a deep breath in through the nose. Fill your lungs all the way up to the very top and hold it for 3…2…1… and exhale; sigh it out through the mouth and let it all go.
Oh, if only it were that simple.
I hold on to things. Not so much physical objects, but thoughts and feelings. These thoughts and feelings mostly stem from how I think people see me and what they think of me. Am I a good person? Do I make my friends and family proud? Am I deserving? Ultimately…am I good enough? It takes a lot more than a big exhale to release myself from these feelings.
Taking a deep breath and being still with my thoughts doesn’t always come easy. I feel like I have the most clarity when I am moving. The physical practice of yoga allows my body to flow and move while my mind deals with all the shit that is going on in my head. Yoga helps me strip away all the layers and labels I have assigned to myself. *I* am the one who has labeled myself—no one else.
When I take away all the labels—daughter, sister, fiancée, athlete, yogi, dog lover, terrible driver—I am simply ME. Yoga allows me to see that everything I am holding onto, all these labels and expectations, are self-inflicted. When it’s time to step on my mat, all I can ask of myself is to flow with each breath, just like waves crashing on the shore.
For me, it’s not just about taking a big inhale and then releasing everything negative with the exhale. It requires taking inventory of everything playing through my head, sitting with it, dealing with it, and then when I have found forgiveness…letting it go.
The ability to confront and deal with all the bullshit in my head sees and honors that ability in you.
Then together we bow our heads and say Namaste.
Kellie