A Guest Blog by Mind Oasis Teacher and Friend, Shari Pitts

Much has been made in popular culture, and in meditation, about letting go.  

My 9-year-old granddaughter can’t go more than a day without singing about it.  And I am regularly invited to do it in the guided meditation and yoga classes I attend.

And while, in some areas of my life, like de-cluttering my closet, I find it relatively easy to let go of what’s no longer necessary or helpful, that’s not the case for me with difficult physical sensations, emotions or thoughts.  

Typically, when I’m invited to let those go, I find that nothing lets go.   I don’t seem able to make it happen.

What then?

Hanging On

Stress often feels like we’re hanging on to something that’s flying around, moving every which way.  

And, even if it feels bad, and we don’t want to hang on anymore, we can’t let go.  

If we could let it go, we would.  It would be that easy.

Letting Ourselves Be

When I hear the invitation to let go, and it feels like an impossibility, I now convert it to “let it be.”  

Letting ourselves be is completely different.  

Letting ourselves be is an invitation to rest with ourselves exactly as we are.  

Becoming Curious

As we rest with ourselves exactly as we are, with no agenda to let go, fix or change anything, we can find ourselves naturally becoming curious about our experience.  

As we follow that curiosity and explore our stressful experience, we can begin to feel how there’s something here that doesn’t experience stress, something that isn’t hanging on to anything.

We can notice how that something is aware of the stress, and aware of the hanging on, and is not involved in it.

Connecting with Calmness

The direct experience of this aspect of ourselves that doesn’t hang on to the sensations, emotions and thoughts that cause us stress can be a game-changer in how we navigate the ups and downs of life.  

We can discover how resting with ourselves as we are connects us with our true nature — a natural, spacious, calmness that’s here along with whatever else we may be experiencing.   

An Open Invitation

While we may again find ourselves feeling pulled this way and that from the stresses in our life, we can remember there’s always an open invitation to be with ourselves exactly as we are.

There’s room for it all – the stresses we are experiencing and the something here that doesn’t experience stress.

Let It Go or Let It Be

When an invitation to let it go doesn’t feel right, there’s always the option to let it be.  There’s a pretty famous song about that, too.

~Shari Pitts, Mind Oasis Instructor

Through life’s inevitable ups and downs, and twists and turns, Shari invites participants into an exploration of deep rest and self-discovery. She is a Certified iRest® Meditation Teacher known for her calm, soothing voice.  Click here to experience a short guided meditation with Shari!