Hopefully being able to let go of fear, or at least to be able to soothe it in the moment it arises, this still is a kind of automatic reaction to being triggered and i dearly hope that the brilliant idea i recently became to know by a dear friend really helps in the situations concerned, and if i may ask for it, prayers would be welcome., as for the moment being, it probably is of essential importance. To let go of a kind of inner resistance to parttake in exchange may be would be of help also. And like Elizabeth, to excnange coffee with tea in the morning is a good plan to realize now, i guess. May you all experience a happe new day.
I have been grateful for your wisdom for quite a long time now,
and will hold you especially in my heart,
dear Ose
with love
that all shall be well . . .
sparrow ♥
I can let go of a new habit I have started since January of using midday caffeine as a kind of “crutch” to try to cover up my sorrow over what is happening in our country and world. Whereas a nice cup of tea in the morning to get me alert and started with the day feels like a good, healthy thing; my new habit seems to be more about hoping for a boost of energy and happiness from the caffeine. It has felt disempowering to me because I am leaning so heavily on something external to me to try to bring happiness and energy. I do believe that I will overall feel happier and more energetic if I can let go of this habit.
Hi Elizabeth!
It’s good to see you here.
I know what you mean about feeling sorrow
over our country and around the world.
I’m not sure how much it is affecting my mood,
but I am very sad whenever I think about these things.
I too drink tea in the morning
and coffee or tea around noon for a pick me up.
Sometimes the cup around noon helps, sometimes it doesn’t.
For me, I have to focus on getting going
or I have to push myself to get started on things in the afternoon.
Sometimes I just want a nap.
Sending you love, Elizabeth. I was wondering how you were doing.
I have missed you. Don’t be a stranger. 🥰♥️♥️♥️
I am trying to let go of what is happening with Trump in the office but it is constantly there! It is all so nerve wracking!
On a happier note my daughters birthday is Saturday. She dedicated a facebook charity to Herren Project for her birthday. The organization that honored her with a sober living scholarship a year ago.
Stuff.
That was my immediate response upon reading the reflection’s question this morning, and seriously, I was thinking of that old nagging “clear out this closet!” sense I drag around inside me so consistently….. I even felt inspired to do something about it today….. but didn’t want to be so shallow (is that the right word?? I visualize it as the tip of the iceberg…) as to put it down in the reflections… but I really loved reading all the responses here so far, and I feel more comfortable coming back to my first response:
“stuff”! as many of you used the term and used it broadly. I hope I do some of that clearing today and enjoy it and give myself permission to think of all of you who expand the term to mean the deeper things! onward, Grateful Community! thank you!
When culling through my ‘stuff’,
dear Carol Ann,
I’ve developed a way of handling my reticence . . .
I say to the object I’m contemplating donation,
“You have given me great pleasure,
and I know there is another person out there
who will enjoy it just as much as I did.”
It helps. ♥
The limiting beliefs I have about myself. I put so much energy into believing I’m not enough, but what if I did the opposite? My family and friends and loved ones shower me with love and tell me how special I am to them , what’s the harm in believing what they’re saying? Nothing, there is no harm!!!! And for that, I am grateful 🧡🙏🏽💐
I’ve mentioned my improv classes and how much I love them. They’ve increasingly freed me to let go of inhibitions and any worry about “failing”. The only failure in improv is not trying! They also help me let go of the mind’s tendency to run ahead and focus on what I’m going to say next rather than what the person in front of me is saying right now. I have to listen for the gift they’ll give me, then give them a gift in return, not be the one who has the right answer about everything.
I get to take all of this to a new level in the coming weeks and maybe months. My instructor and some of the best students are starting an improv troupe that will perform and they invited me to join. We’re planning now for our first recruitment rehearsal at the end of March. When we head into the public performance phase I’ll need to let go of any embarrassment because I’ll be actively recruiting friends and family to come watch us.
sounds GOOD, Barb – good luck. what a great framework to be exploring and applying to the realms of your world outside of the class and rehearsals. It also makes me think of how important it is to me to find people who are willing to “play” with me – to agree to be willing to spend time and enjoy the give and take for just what that is. thanks for sharing this.
THIS, Carol Ann. My weekly improv classes usually give me the chance to have an honest to goodness belly laugh. Getting to play as adults can be so rare.
oh, PKR – I wish you well. I wish you comfort, and perhaps new gentle energy with which to look forward. Perhaps other “my people” for you now – I wouldn’t know, but I do hope for good things for you. 🙏
Yes,
dear Nairoby . . .
addressing your diagnosis
is the first step
on a very powerful path.
I applaud you for your strength and courage
as you move through this hard work,
and hold you in my heart
with love . . . ♥
Thanks for sharing this. I know the feeling well. It all starts with self awareness and willingness and a desire to learn and dig deep. When I feel safe with someone, and I open up to them, I am always rewarded with an honest and deepened connection.
Luckily, the stigma around mental health is quickly becoming a thing of the past.
I should let go of so many things. Grudges, embarrassments, jealousy’s, self righteousness,
and the list goes on. I like the Buddhist theory of non attachment. It seems to sum up and is a possible way out of all this suffering.
Oh, embarrassments is a good one for the list, Charlie. Every so often I have a sudden flash of memory, something I did when I was young, thoughtless, occasionally unkind, sarcastic, and I wish I could find someone to apologize to.
I can let go of some fear.
Adding meditation into my day would help. /
Clearing clutter in my house would help
to clear clutter in my mind.
Deciding to have a mind
that comforts me when I’m sad or afraid
and looks for new, interesting, creative, and fun things to do.
And as Carol says, tell the bully in my mind
to sit down and shut up,
or at least sit down and chill out. 😇🥰
I can let go of the fear of not being good enough along with the fear of having imposter syndrome. And I also need to stop taking things personally. I have gotten better with it, but it sprang up yesterday evening when I went to a yoga class. Weird place for it to come up, but this particular teacher just started teaching this year, which I think is amazing! I told him several weeks ago that I was in a YTT program online and remember seeing the judgment on his face. He asked questions about it, which I gladly answered, and we moved on. I haven’t done his class for almost a month since I’ve been mixing it up, but I went yesterday. He asked me how my program was going, I told him, and I mentioned that I did a trauma-informed certification while I was waiting to hear back on a submission before I could move on with the next section in my YTT. We started talking about certifications in general, and then he basically said that he didn’t think additional certifications were necessary, that we learn all we need in the basic YTT programs. Thankfully at that moment, the other students started arriving and it was time for class. He read a few announcements, and one was about a Rise & Resilience workshop this weekend – and then he mentioned that both teachers were both trauma-informed certified (insert laughing face). I’m grateful it was time to get into the class at that point, but I was initially offended by what he said… I took it personally. I know better, and I know that his personal beliefs are his, and because he did his YTT in person, he seems to have a judgment regarding doing this learning online. Clearly it triggered me, but I know I don’t have to let it affect me. Typing it out actually makes me feel better 🙂
well done, Sunnypatti – getting that down and out and to your conclusion.
It was nice to read and find you arriving there…. “here”.
I kept thinking, “it’s not about him, Sunnypatti!”. I enjoyed your small narrative. pleasing.
It was a lesson for me, for sure. While it’s frustrating to know that online programs are judged the way they sometimes are, I just have to keep going, knowing that I’m doing what’s right for me. I was thinking his ego was big, but mine was the one that allowed me to get upset!
One of my best friends is a yoga teacher, Sunnypatti, and encountered deep judgment from the person she had trained with for years who refused to write a letter of recommendation for her to get certified despite having paid her to teach classes for many of those years. The concept of ahimsa seems to get lost in some of the “yoga ego world”. I love the ending to my friend’s story, which was that she wrote an email to David Garrigues, who had taught a workshop she’d taken, and he happily wrote her recommendation. So the local studio owner (and friend!) wouldn’t do it but the nationally recognized teacher would. I want to say “get over yourself, please” to some of them who don’t welcome all of us as students at any level if they bring their ego into the room and onto the mat.
Guess I haven’t quite let go of some resentment of that teacher, whose studio I went to for years specifically because my friend was such a great instructor because of who she is and the nonjudgmental energy she brings into the space. Maybe someday–but not today, haha.
I’m sorry that happened to your friend. Ego is talked about so clearly on the yoga path, but some still allow it to lead the way. That’s not my kind of yoga!
Oof this is a tough one for me. I read your story and totally identify with this situation. …being triggered…taking things too personally…all so familiar to me. …and yes, we know we don’t need to let it affect us….that doesn’t make it any easier 🩷
It’s not a fun place for our heads to be in! Hearing him say what he did was challenging for me, but I know anything that sparks my mind the way it did is an opportunity for me, even if it didn’t feel that way in the moment.
I am also working on this. It sucks when that old stuff gets triggered. I’m getting better at being criticized and letting it go. But it can take a minute. 😁
Some days are easier than others! “Take a minute” reminds me of the power of the pause. If we can pause, we can find some peace (even if temporary) to be able to move forward.
Getting them out of our heads and onto the screen or a piece of paper…thoughts need somewhere to go! Great job moving past it. I hope it was a good class. Namaste 🙂
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I can let go of the past that bind me limited and in despair.
I hope you will come back here,
dear Alpha Jem,
and share your experience here. ♥
Live in the present,
dear Alpha Jem . . .
the past is gone,
and you no longer need to live in despair. ♥
Hopefully being able to let go of fear, or at least to be able to soothe it in the moment it arises, this still is a kind of automatic reaction to being triggered and i dearly hope that the brilliant idea i recently became to know by a dear friend really helps in the situations concerned, and if i may ask for it, prayers would be welcome., as for the moment being, it probably is of essential importance. To let go of a kind of inner resistance to parttake in exchange may be would be of help also. And like Elizabeth, to excnange coffee with tea in the morning is a good plan to realize now, i guess. May you all experience a happe new day.
I have been grateful for your wisdom for quite a long time now,
and will hold you especially in my heart,
dear Ose
with love
that all shall be well . . .
sparrow ♥
I add you to a morning prayer, OSE. beautiful sunrise today – Happy new day to you, too.
Sending prayers, Ose. May all be well.
I can let go of a new habit I have started since January of using midday caffeine as a kind of “crutch” to try to cover up my sorrow over what is happening in our country and world. Whereas a nice cup of tea in the morning to get me alert and started with the day feels like a good, healthy thing; my new habit seems to be more about hoping for a boost of energy and happiness from the caffeine. It has felt disempowering to me because I am leaning so heavily on something external to me to try to bring happiness and energy. I do believe that I will overall feel happier and more energetic if I can let go of this habit.
Hi Elizabeth!
It’s good to see you here.
I know what you mean about feeling sorrow
over our country and around the world.
I’m not sure how much it is affecting my mood,
but I am very sad whenever I think about these things.
I too drink tea in the morning
and coffee or tea around noon for a pick me up.
Sometimes the cup around noon helps, sometimes it doesn’t.
For me, I have to focus on getting going
or I have to push myself to get started on things in the afternoon.
Sometimes I just want a nap.
Sending you love, Elizabeth. I was wondering how you were doing.
I have missed you. Don’t be a stranger. 🥰♥️♥️♥️
Thank you so much, Mary! ♥️♥️♥️
I am trying to let go of what is happening with Trump in the office but it is constantly there! It is all so nerve wracking!
On a happier note my daughters birthday is Saturday. She dedicated a facebook charity to Herren Project for her birthday. The organization that honored her with a sober living scholarship a year ago.
I feel the same about the state of our country, Robin.
Loving birthday wishes for your daughter!♥️
Stuff.
That was my immediate response upon reading the reflection’s question this morning, and seriously, I was thinking of that old nagging “clear out this closet!” sense I drag around inside me so consistently….. I even felt inspired to do something about it today….. but didn’t want to be so shallow (is that the right word?? I visualize it as the tip of the iceberg…) as to put it down in the reflections… but I really loved reading all the responses here so far, and I feel more comfortable coming back to my first response:
“stuff”! as many of you used the term and used it broadly. I hope I do some of that clearing today and enjoy it and give myself permission to think of all of you who expand the term to mean the deeper things! onward, Grateful Community! thank you!
Stuff was my first thought too, Carol Ann
When culling through my ‘stuff’,
dear Carol Ann,
I’ve developed a way of handling my reticence . . .
I say to the object I’m contemplating donation,
“You have given me great pleasure,
and I know there is another person out there
who will enjoy it just as much as I did.”
It helps. ♥
That is the first time I have heard/read the word “culling” outside of its use in the world of livestock, dear Sparrow.
I had to look up the word reticence as I never heard that one before, LOL
no worries Sparrow – I appreciate learning new words! I have done that many times here, looking up words not familiar to me.
Sorry,
dear Michele . . .
I grew up with word lovers 🙂
It works well
in a lot of other places as well,
dear Joseph . . . 🙂
Yes it does dear Sparrow.
an enlivening thought, Sparrow. thank you.
The limiting beliefs I have about myself. I put so much energy into believing I’m not enough, but what if I did the opposite? My family and friends and loved ones shower me with love and tell me how special I am to them , what’s the harm in believing what they’re saying? Nothing, there is no harm!!!! And for that, I am grateful 🧡🙏🏽💐
You wouldn’t want to think of them as liars, now would you? 😀
I’ve mentioned my improv classes and how much I love them. They’ve increasingly freed me to let go of inhibitions and any worry about “failing”. The only failure in improv is not trying! They also help me let go of the mind’s tendency to run ahead and focus on what I’m going to say next rather than what the person in front of me is saying right now. I have to listen for the gift they’ll give me, then give them a gift in return, not be the one who has the right answer about everything.
I get to take all of this to a new level in the coming weeks and maybe months. My instructor and some of the best students are starting an improv troupe that will perform and they invited me to join. We’re planning now for our first recruitment rehearsal at the end of March. When we head into the public performance phase I’ll need to let go of any embarrassment because I’ll be actively recruiting friends and family to come watch us.
So awesome, love it!
Way to go!
You are very brave,
dear Barb! ♥
Woohoo Barb
How fun! Good for you.
sounds GOOD, Barb – good luck. what a great framework to be exploring and applying to the realms of your world outside of the class and rehearsals. It also makes me think of how important it is to me to find people who are willing to “play” with me – to agree to be willing to spend time and enjoy the give and take for just what that is. thanks for sharing this.
THIS, Carol Ann. My weekly improv classes usually give me the chance to have an honest to goodness belly laugh. Getting to play as adults can be so rare.
I can let go of the past. I can let go of all the sadness I feel over the loss of “my people” in the last few years. 💔
Yes,
dear PKR,
I too,
believe that new people will come into your life
if you let them.
The world abhors a vacuum. ♥
Dear Sparrow, thank you for your kind thoughts. I will try to remember “the world abhors a vacuum”. Very wise words, concept…so very true.❤️
oh, PKR – I wish you well. I wish you comfort, and perhaps new gentle energy with which to look forward. Perhaps other “my people” for you now – I wouldn’t know, but I do hope for good things for you. 🙏
Carol Ann, thank you for your good wishes. ❤️
I want to let go of the shame that accompanies my recent mental health diagnosis. I’m in therapy working on this and I hope to see progress over time.
Glad you are here and thank you for your vulnerability.
Yes,
dear Nairoby . . .
addressing your diagnosis
is the first step
on a very powerful path.
I applaud you for your strength and courage
as you move through this hard work,
and hold you in my heart
with love . . . ♥
Good for you Nairoby
“yes” to your progress, Nairoby, and respect to the process.
When you’re here you’re in a very accepting space, Nairoby. Welcome and peace to you.
Thanks for sharing this. I know the feeling well. It all starts with self awareness and willingness and a desire to learn and dig deep. When I feel safe with someone, and I open up to them, I am always rewarded with an honest and deepened connection.
Luckily, the stigma around mental health is quickly becoming a thing of the past.
I should let go of so many things. Grudges, embarrassments, jealousy’s, self righteousness,
and the list goes on. I like the Buddhist theory of non attachment. It seems to sum up and is a possible way out of all this suffering.
Oh, embarrassments is a good one for the list, Charlie. Every so often I have a sudden flash of memory, something I did when I was young, thoughtless, occasionally unkind, sarcastic, and I wish I could find someone to apologize to.
Isn’t it amazing, Barb?
They still sting, all these years later.
Yes,
they do,
dear Charlie . . .
old humiliations too. ♥
Another good reason not to live in the past or for that matter the future.
Expectations
I can let go of some fear.
Adding meditation into my day would help. /
Clearing clutter in my house would help
to clear clutter in my mind.
Deciding to have a mind
that comforts me when I’m sad or afraid
and looks for new, interesting, creative, and fun things to do.
And as Carol says, tell the bully in my mind
to sit down and shut up,
or at least sit down and chill out. 😇🥰
🙂
Hopefully! the past and the future.
The urge to fix or override fear. It was an urge that served me as a kid, when we couldn’t show any fear, but today, I need to befriend fear.
Dear Drea, I was there as a kid, too. Had to be tough. Wise words
Thank you Carol.
I can let go of the fear of not being good enough along with the fear of having imposter syndrome. And I also need to stop taking things personally. I have gotten better with it, but it sprang up yesterday evening when I went to a yoga class. Weird place for it to come up, but this particular teacher just started teaching this year, which I think is amazing! I told him several weeks ago that I was in a YTT program online and remember seeing the judgment on his face. He asked questions about it, which I gladly answered, and we moved on. I haven’t done his class for almost a month since I’ve been mixing it up, but I went yesterday. He asked me how my program was going, I told him, and I mentioned that I did a trauma-informed certification while I was waiting to hear back on a submission before I could move on with the next section in my YTT. We started talking about certifications in general, and then he basically said that he didn’t think additional certifications were necessary, that we learn all we need in the basic YTT programs. Thankfully at that moment, the other students started arriving and it was time for class. He read a few announcements, and one was about a Rise & Resilience workshop this weekend – and then he mentioned that both teachers were both trauma-informed certified (insert laughing face). I’m grateful it was time to get into the class at that point, but I was initially offended by what he said… I took it personally. I know better, and I know that his personal beliefs are his, and because he did his YTT in person, he seems to have a judgment regarding doing this learning online. Clearly it triggered me, but I know I don’t have to let it affect me. Typing it out actually makes me feel better 🙂
I know you will be an awesome yoga instructor once you do get your certification and am excited to hear when that happens.
Thank you, Michele! I’m finally getting close to my goal!
well done, Sunnypatti – getting that down and out and to your conclusion.
It was nice to read and find you arriving there…. “here”.
I kept thinking, “it’s not about him, Sunnypatti!”. I enjoyed your small narrative. pleasing.
It was a lesson for me, for sure. While it’s frustrating to know that online programs are judged the way they sometimes are, I just have to keep going, knowing that I’m doing what’s right for me. I was thinking his ego was big, but mine was the one that allowed me to get upset!
One of my best friends is a yoga teacher, Sunnypatti, and encountered deep judgment from the person she had trained with for years who refused to write a letter of recommendation for her to get certified despite having paid her to teach classes for many of those years. The concept of ahimsa seems to get lost in some of the “yoga ego world”. I love the ending to my friend’s story, which was that she wrote an email to David Garrigues, who had taught a workshop she’d taken, and he happily wrote her recommendation. So the local studio owner (and friend!) wouldn’t do it but the nationally recognized teacher would. I want to say “get over yourself, please” to some of them who don’t welcome all of us as students at any level if they bring their ego into the room and onto the mat.
Guess I haven’t quite let go of some resentment of that teacher, whose studio I went to for years specifically because my friend was such a great instructor because of who she is and the nonjudgmental energy she brings into the space. Maybe someday–but not today, haha.
I’m sorry that happened to your friend. Ego is talked about so clearly on the yoga path, but some still allow it to lead the way. That’s not my kind of yoga!
Oof this is a tough one for me. I read your story and totally identify with this situation. …being triggered…taking things too personally…all so familiar to me. …and yes, we know we don’t need to let it affect us….that doesn’t make it any easier 🩷
It’s not a fun place for our heads to be in! Hearing him say what he did was challenging for me, but I know anything that sparks my mind the way it did is an opportunity for me, even if it didn’t feel that way in the moment.
It gets less difficult over time,
dear Lauryn.
Practice, practice, practice . . .
you’ll soon be able to recognize it more quickly. ♥
I am also working on this. It sucks when that old stuff gets triggered. I’m getting better at being criticized and letting it go. But it can take a minute. 😁
Some days are easier than others! “Take a minute” reminds me of the power of the pause. If we can pause, we can find some peace (even if temporary) to be able to move forward.
good point – “take a minute”. I can use that, Charlie, next time I feel myself triggered…..
Patti journaling/writing always helps me as does sharing with folks who won’t judge. Thanks for sharing with us.
I appreciate the non-judgment 🙂
Getting them out of our heads and onto the screen or a piece of paper…thoughts need somewhere to go! Great job moving past it. I hope it was a good class. Namaste 🙂
Thank you, KS. Namaste!