What are you letting go of today? What can you release that no longer serves you?
We as a society talk so much about growth – grow, grow, grow. We get physically bigger, we buy bigger cars and bigger houses, our bank accounts get bigger.
Growth is great, growth is fun but for growth to be sustainable we have to also talk about what we are releasing while we grow. We can’t take everything with us as we grow in our lives.
I’m reminded the concept of release every time I look at my beautiful Dragon Plant Murph (yes, I did humanize my plant).
See, every once and a while, especially when he’s growing, some of his leaves turn yellow, dry out and drop. They drop back down into the soil, decompose and serve as nutrients that further his growth.
He releases his leaves because he no longer has a need for them.
Animals shed their fur seasonally to adjust to different temperatures and reptiles shed their whole skins when they grow.
Even we as humans shed our skin and hair regularly but that process most often goes completely unnoticed.
Why do we not notice our physical shedding?
Because we as humans haven’t yet normalized this process of letting go, releasing, and shedding that which we no longer need.
Yet, we *need* to shed what is no longer needed and compost the lessons we learned so that they may support our continued growth.
We can either do this from a place of sadness and feelings of loss or we can thank the things, the people, the experiences and fill our hearts with gratitude for having had the opportunity to grow.
One practice that I like to do weekly to help me release that which is no longer needed is two fold – one to clear my physical space and another to clear my mental/emotional space.
Release Physical Items
I like to find one item in my house that is no longer needed and help it find a new home. I use the Marie Kondo approach of thanking these items for coming into my life and being grateful for the gifts they brought me.
This week I used my local Buy Nothing Facebook Group and parted with two metal containers that had been used for entertaining and house parties. Post-kids, they haven’t seen any action. So now they are sitting in a teacher’s classroom and I feel lighter.
Release Emotional Baggage
Salt or Fire Ritual
- Write down on a piece of paper what mental or emotional thing(s) you are releasing – this could be behaviors, relationships, feelings that you wish to metabolize, anything that you are really to let drop.
- Once you have your pieces of paper, you can either grab a bowl and some salt (I use Epsom salt) and hot water or you can grab a fire-proof bowl and a lighter.
- Salt has a long history as a purification tool and fire as a transformational one.
- Take your pieces of paper with what you want to release and either soak them in the salt water or burn them in a fireproof bowl with a cup of water on hand.
- As you do this, you can thank the item/person for their support in helping you grow and let them know that you are moving on now without them.
- If you pray, this can also be a time where prayer can be added. I have some prayers I can share if you’re interested.
- At the end of the ritual, I will either take the completely cooled ashes outside to fertilize nature or pour the salt water over rocks (the salt will kill plants – so think driveway/sidewalk/patio). The idea is that you are taking the ashes or salt water outside and releasing it.
If you opt to use fire, please do so responsibly.
What practice do you have for releasing that which no longer supports you? Message me and let me know.
