Letting go can happen in an instant or can happen over time but cannot be forced to happen. Just because you want to let go, you know you need to let go, everyone is telling you “to let it go”, doesn’t mean you are going to be able to. There has to be a change in perspective, a release, a grace that happens for you to truly let go of an unwanted feeling, thought, belief or resentment. It’s something you can’t just will to happen.

So how do you truly let go? Well, Let It Go Yoga is one way to begin. The series of yoga poses in this practice are designed to reach areas that are common places where we store deep emotions. Within the poses you learn to observe your thoughts and feelings and can begin to get in touch with emotions that you are holding on to. Once you have some awareness as to the deeper cause of your feelings you are getting closer to being able to release. You can then begin to work on letting go “outside of your yoga practice” in a way that is meaningful to you.

For example, I noticed that in the past when I was holding the Knee to Chest pose in my Let It Yoga practice, I often had unpleasant childhood memories come up, memories that I was aware of but it still felt odd that, seemingly out of the blue, these thoughts would come to mind in this particular pose. OK, I got the first clue… I needed to work on letting go of the past and coming to peace with events that had occurred when I was a child.

I began experimenting with tools from teachers and therapists that have helped me work on the letting go process. In our online course we have incorporated our most successful techniques for letting go that have worked so well for us and many others.

One of our students, Beverly Ryan, shared how she created an art journal to help her work through her thoughts and feelings as they came up in the Let It Go Yoga online course. Here are her suggestions:

 “As I was taking the online course, after completing several lessons I felt the need to go back and review the first lessons. That is when I noticed the journal suggestion, right there in the introductory message. Well, I don’t keep written journals or diaries. I’ve tried and it just doesn’t happen. But I have been having fun with art journaling for a few years, or I should say, with my own version of art journaling. So that became my approach to a Let It Go journal. I found it useful for reinforcing lessons and to jot down comments or reactions. It is also a good place to keep the downloaded documents. I attached them to journal pages to keep them together and accessible. And I decorated many of the pages. By playing with the pages I found I was actually writing more than if I had set out to ‘write in my journal’.
Am I an artist, do I draw beautifully? No. But I can trace designs, make collages, add relevant quotes or pictures, decorate pages, and generally have fun while learning. I also left blank pages so I can add to it later. So find something to use as a journal, get out your glue stick and colors, cut up magazines, color in a mandala design, maybe add some stitching to a page, and have fun.  Also, do a little, or a lot, of writing.
I keep mine out where I can see it as a reminder, and to look at it any time I feel the need. It’s just a small journal but it very meaningful to me”.

An art journal is a great idea!  Letting go can be fun – really, use  whatever helps you to become more aware of your thoughts and feelings. Our course suggests journaling, to write emotional release letters (we call them Love Letters), to use affirmations and to take an honest  look at life and relationships, and of course, to continue a personal Let It Go Yoga practice.

Sometimes I can “just let it go” and the release happens fast. Sometimes, I may have a good cry during my practice and let go that way. Some deeper traumas have taken me years to resolve. Some matters I am still working on and I have more work to do. Let It Go Yoga is not the end all, it is a tool or a guide for letting go. I never know what will happen during my practice but I do know that when the release happens, it’s real and occurs on a deeper level than the intellect.
Fast or slow, it’s well worth the effort!

Here are some of Beverly’s entry’s from her art journal.

Sue Anne Parsons 500 EYT, CYT – owner of Let It Go Yoga since 1986

Want to know more about Let It Go Yoga? Click here to view your free Diaphragmatic Breathing Video!