In Yoga, we often say “Let Go” during our practice. 

As we settle into our practice we try to let go of the tight muscles that might be hiding in our shoulders, neck, back, hips, or elsewhere in our body.  We try to let go of thoughts and stress and worries and the busy activity of our mind.  We try to let go of these things so that we can free ourselves up so that our breath can widen out into the space.

And, that’s the more subtle part of “letting go.”  And, it’s just as important.

Because, that’s often how we define ourselves.  We are our age, our height, and – oh my! – our weight.  We are our jobs, we are our education, we are our social standing, we are our bank account.

If we hold too tightly to those external “definers”, we will never reach our truest, purest spirit that hides under all that external stuff.

Today, I was part of a conversation and the topic was all the external stuff.  What they were getting their spouse for Christmas, how much they were spending, how indispensible they are to their job, how much they know.

We all do this. We all hold on.

I hold on, too. (If you’ve seen me in the past few weeks as I have prepared for my move to a new Yoga studio, you know how I hold on … and worry … and lose sight that Yoga is much, much more than having a perfect floor to practice on.)

Now, Yoga asks us to let go of the other things we hold tight. Who we are on the outside. That takes more effort.

The light at the very center of your being is pure and perfect. It is healthy, it is wealthy, it is wise. It is everything. But, to find it means you have to dig a little bit. And, you have to let go of everything that is getting in the way.

And, then, what you look like on the outside, or what you have, or what you want, begins to fall away on its own. It starts to become superfluous.

I’m just me.