The Power Of Release

The theme of this week is RELEASE.

Release, release, release. It's such a good word. To me it feels cathartic all in of itself.

However, even with the intention to release, we hold so much inside. We hold stories, thoughts, emotions, beliefs, physical pain, ailments, hurt feelings, so much more. As a trauma processing and healing facilitator, I see the complex inner workings of the human psyche and bodily consequences. It often breaks my heart to see how much pain good people are holding. For some, releasing is easy. It can be as easy as blowing out, shaking off, or saying "NO!" and the body and mind abides.

For others, releasing is hard. Subconsciously we are scared to release - as much as the holding is causing pain - because we don't know who we will be if we let it all go. It is so deeply ingrained, it becomes parts of our identity. Or we don't trust that we'll be safe if we surrender. The fear of the unknown wins and we subconsciously cling to what is familiar because we feel an illusion of safety in what we know. When we are able to release, the next step is to see how long we can hold that released, peaceful, surrendered state. Sometimes the release holds and sometimes we revert back to previous patterns of tension. The beauty is we can release again and again, at any time. We can open our body, mind, and soul to the Universal intelligence and let go.

Here are some of my favorite ways to release: 1. Gather your tension on an inhale, blow it out on an exhale. Repeat until you feel clear. 2. Notice what you are feeling and scream it out into a pillow.

3. Stand up and shake your body - shake each leg, shake each arm, shake out your hands and your wrists, shake your hips, and jump around. Keep shaking and jumping until you are so tired that you can't anymore, and then lay down and just breathe. Notice what it feels like to just be still after all of that release. 4. Imagine you are under a white light waterfall, and rinse off in the white light to release. 5. Forward fold (just hang upside down) and imagine the top of your head opening up and all that you are ready to release gets dumped out and spewed onto the floor. Then imagine wiping it up / cleaning it in some way until the floor below your head is empty again. 6. Write out what you are ready to release on a piece of paper and then burn it outdoors (safely please.) 7. Imagine being bathed in a sea of light, just like you are floating in the middle of the ocean and let the white light waves around you take away what you are ready to release. Here is a mantra to go along with your practice: Release, realign, restore

Hope this week brings you a big release of whatever you are most ready to let go of and may there be peace in your release.