December: Letting Go
Posted December 1, 2023
Letting go, in theory, sounds great - but how do you do it? I picture someone closing their eyes and squeezing their closed fists like someone trying to teleport themselves or become invisible. It feels like a magic trick. The reason is, you simply can’t just will yourself into letting go.
Letting go is an act of surrender that happens naturally without effort once you’ve set yourself up. The hard part is that when you are doing all the work to prime yourself to let go of resentment, attachments, expectations, or even a person, it can feel like you are working so hard and then nothing is happening. You can feel like you are in the midst of something you will never get over. For instance, after a break up, someone can feel like they are trying to heal and focus on themselves, date someone new, distract themselves with other people and activities, but they are still just as sad. And then one day after all the work, it just starts to feel easier.
That is how letting go works! And while it is a passive act, the magic is all the subtle emotional labor and care you put into priming yourself. This is the tricky part because so many of us are never given the tools to really figure out how to get there. That is why we want to break it down for you.
There is nothing more rewarding than ending the year feeling just a little lighter and shaking off the dust of everything that you want to leave behind.
Here are a few reflections that will help you get there:
What were you grieving in 2023?
How did you grow in 2023?
What gains did you have in 2023?
What are you most grateful for in 2023?
After you go through these reflections, you should feel like you have a clearer picture from further away of what this year really brought into your life. Now that you’ve done this, think about what it is that you want to leave behind?
If you need a little help, whatever you marked as your growth for the year will typically allow you to see what it is you have outgrown and are ready to shed.
Write it on a piece of paper and just set that paper somewhere - maybe at the bottom or a drawer or somewhere out of sight. Keep the idea there and take some time to think about what you’re letting go of without force or intention. Set a calendar reminder to revisit that intention in a month.
Reflect on the changes you feel and if you want more support letting go, you can rinse and repeat! Do the same process again. Your heart and mind will let go just as you’re ready!
Throughout the month, we will be providing you with more tools and rituals to add in through our Portal and classes for your journey of letting go of 2023!
From everyone at YoJo, we wish you a very happy holiday season and new year.