Letting Go--Day 30

This prompt is actually perfect for my month long yoga immersion program--where the entire purpose of being at Shoshoni is to let go.

"React to this term: letting go."

One of the biggest parts of letting go is to follow the breath. It sounds simple enough, but we tend to breathe only in the lungs; taking deep, conscious breaths to the belly helps us live in the present and to not feel like we're going to implode any second. This has helped me a lot more than simply watching the breath but not manipulating it, because when my mind doesn't have enough to do it starts thinking about what kind of jeans I should buy and if $50 of lip gloss is going a bit too far.

It is, for the record. But hey, YOLO.

I guess the yoga version of that should be "YOLF." You only live forever--woot, reincarnation.

While I have my fair share of "why did I?" moments, it's really the "what if?"s that take over my brain. And that's where living in the present helps tremendously. I mean, it really does nobody any good when you take that road less traveled, and it ends up taking to some shady forest (hah, get it) where a bunch of elves dance around and tell you that you can only eat pie and walk on your left foot, and you're all "man, I should've taken that other trail."

So the present moment. That's a fun time.

Another thing that helps to let go is taking care of yourself. And I'm not talking bubble baths and million dollar spa treatments. Just basic eating and exercise is enough to feel so much freer. When your body is in check, it allows your mind to focus on much more interesting things, like mourning the fact that the Pterodactyl never actually existed.

Damn you, false dinosaur science.

Plus, when you're trying to balance on your forearms and put your legs behind your head, you really can't help but stay in the present moment. Unless you're this guy:

The Boulder contortionist

But letting go doesn't always mean sitting completely still and thinking about not thinking. One of the most helpful ways to let go of the self, is to stop focusing on the self. Like, if you read about some fairy who lives with a mountain lion, it's easier to not think about how many calories you burned running after your pet chicken than if you were sitting on a cushion for an hour.

Reading provides that escape from the incessant self-examination. We tend to view escape as a negative thing, but I mean, Houdini was a celebrated guy. Being introspective has its positive moments--a better understanding of the self allows us to get past our patterns. In that sense, meditation is helpful. But it's getting past the self that requires some tools. And since I'm no good with power tools, books are my weapon of choice.

It's not the most yogic answer, but I've always been stubborn.

Namaste.