Welcome to LET GO (formerly called “Dissolve” and both still work).

The thematic architecture holding our next 10-day cycle together.

It’s a doozy :)

And we begin this theme on the day that marks the very middle of the year.

This whole time in 40 Early Mornings can feel similar to how we might feel at the beginning of a new year, new quarter, new season, your birthday.

Bright signs of growth and hope (resolutions! SMART goals!), mixed with things today simply being exactly as they are.

How do we hold both? 

Nature herself does this well: being present in one season, while quietly always in process for what’s coming next, and often with remnants of what was still present.

(I see that in my garden right now, all faded spring blossoms, all full summer green, and a tinge of things turning golden already, the hint that fall is next.)

Us, not always so much. 

In other words, how do we stay present when the past and the future also matter so much? When even in this moment of “now,” something is always in transition in the background?

A definition of yoga that I love is from the Yoga Sutras, one of the ancient, philosophical texts we study in yoga, and it's instructive here:  

“Yogas chitta vritti nirodha.”

Sanskrit for something like this: 

“Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind stuff.” 

Which is exactly what the practices in our next 10-day cycle begin to offer us. 

Not a quick-and-easy “solution.” Not a complete panacea. Not a guarantee. Certainly not a way to hold back the waves of despair of this world. 

But a start. 

A start to create just enough space between the “stuff” of the mind, to be present with what is (not the story), to let things go, to prepare for what’s next — to see that life rises like a wave and recedes like a wave. To try and surf it all with some grace.

So let’s start simply with today’s meditation.

It’s one of the MOST powerful practices I know to work with the storylines that our full spectrum of emotions can lead us too (aka what it feels like to be human). We’ll come back to this one again and again to loosen the grip around our stories and hopefully create some bright spots between the fluctuations of our minds or the headlines.

LEAVE A COMMENT: What are you ready to let go of?

Welcome to this rich, fertile, challenging 10 days of 40 EM :) I’m right here with you! 
Cath

DAY 11: EARLY MORNING MEDITATION (15 MIN)

DAY 11: QUIET EVENING WIND DOWN PRACTICE (25 MIN)