New Year's Intentions: Letting Go to Wholeness

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​“The art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.”
     -Havelock Ellis
 
A loving yoga teacher once explained to me that achieving difficult poses or sitting in meditation for longer and longer periods shouldn’t be my goal in yoga.  Yoga, she explained, is union of the self.  It’s a gathering of our scattered parts and bringing them back to wholeness.  Yoga poses, meditation, Nidra, breathing, all these things, are tools to get us closer to union with ourselves.  But it may not always be about what I add in my practice such as achieving an impressive handstand.  It just might be more about what I let go of, what I can dissolve in order to achieve wholeness.  We need to discern which yoga tool is required in the moment to bring us to the state of union. That’s the simple and great philosophy of yoga. 

I definitely feel scattered!  My mind is off in many different directions: what I need to do, what I wish I could do, what I’m afraid to do, what I’m afraid I cannot do.  I feel physically scattered  with moments of  anxiety, burdened with less sleep, a few extra pounds, and arthritis in my toe reminding me daily that I’m getting older.  We all have energy drains and extra concerns. They may not be the same for all of us but they have the same effect.  A scattered self.
  
My intentions for this year no longer focus on what I will do better in my yoga practice or what in need to add in my life to be happy and successful.  I intend to dissolve the layers that keep me from wholeness.  I intend to find my core, and live from that place that is my truest nature.

Right now, I’ve identified this layer.  Fear.  Fear leads me to anxiety, anger, assumptions and defensiveness that cause pain to myself and others.  Not my best self for sure.  Fear has been the root cause for strained relationships and for giving up on many opportunities that I wish I’d taken.  It may take all year, or longer, but this is what will get me a step closer, or a layer closer, to union with myself.

Try asking your inner wisdom to help you peel away whatever keeps you from wholeness.  Try resting comfortably in savasana or in meditation each day for a few minutes or longer.  Maybe write in your journal if that’s your thing.  Ask yourself the following questions, let them float around in your head and heart without labeling anything for a while, then trust your inner wisdom to show you either symbolically or through insight of some sort what the answers might be.

*What habit could you lose to feel closer to your authentic self? Not because you need to give it up, but because it brings you closer to union.

*What energetic drain to you hang onto that would make you lighter if you let it go?

*What do you need to let go of in order to draw you closer to your heart’s true calling?

​*What are you ready to finally release?

Let’s all intend to release what doesn’t serve us any longer, release what keeps us from living our soul’s purpose, and release what keeps us from union with ourselves. 

​Wishing you a blessed year in 2017!


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