Photo by Armand Khoury on Unsplash

'Let it Go' and don't Look back!

It's human nature to ruminate and hold onto situations or feelings, but when we hold on too tightly, we end up experiencing a raft of unwelcome emotions, including stress, anxiety, and unhappiness.

When we teach ourselves to realise that there's nothing to hold on to in the first place, or that situations change and evolve, then we can start to live in the present with positive emotions and feelings.

Here are some useful techniques and exercises to help you achieve this.

Breathing

• Focus on your current breathing and practice inhaling and exhaling naturally without force.

• Just as your breathing takes care of itself, apply this to other parts of your body. Unclench these parts and let them relax.

• Move this technique into the room around you. Select an object and let it relax.

• Visualise a person who is in the same room or in a nearby building and let them breathe.

• You have just learnt to let go and let every element be as they are, without the need to control them. By accepting them as they are, you have already started to let go.

Floating

• Start by imagining yourself in a large pool, trying to grab onto the edge, but it's too far away. You're likely to feel stressed and panicked as you try to touch something that's not there.

• Break this thought by pausing, breathing in deeply and acknowledging that the edge of the pool doesn't exist. You can choose to continue to flail in the pool or accept the calming ambience of the water and float in relaxation.

• You'll immediately notice an inner peace. You're in control and you have chosen to let go and embrace the moment.

Reframing

• We often attribute meaning to things without taking the time to ask what else this could mean.

• Reframing these thoughts can broaden our perspectives, allowing us to deal with troubling thoughts that are making life difficult.

• You may have completed a large project at work or done an excellent job on a task but when you send it to your manager, you don't immediately receive positive feedback. You may be feeling upset as you put a lot of effort into this work, and you may be thinking they're not happy.

• Now check in with yourself and think about whether you are 100 percent certain that the story you are telling yourself is true and could there be another reason that you haven't received feedback. Take time to think through this and take note of how you are feeling.

• Situations like this can happen daily, so be mindful and aware of challenging your subconscious stories whenever they arise.

Renewing

• Letting go also involves renewing and cementing your faith in yourself. This includes being brave enough to live with uncertainty, being willing to embrace your intuition, and not falling back into the assumptions that you have previously held onto.

• Believe that you have enough, and you are enough.

• Accept others as they are and embrace life as it is.

• Celebrate today's progress and wake up tomorrow ready to practice it all over again.

• You'll end up renewing the faith you have in yourself.

Challenging and changing your thought patterns and beliefs will take time, but if you follow this advice, you'll find that letting go is easier and more satisfying than holding onto emotions and situations that don't serve you well.

Author: Peter Robinson
Team Leadership Services