A lot of focus in life these days is on letting go (and I’m not just talking about Disney’s Frozen), but as we were holding a hip opening pose in yin yoga the other day, I was reminded that some of the ‘stuff’ we store is actually ‘good shit’.
Yes, we hold grief in seemingly stiff hip joints, but we also hold joy—trapped perhaps in a place of pain that takes some serious unlocking.But if you let in (breath and joy, love and hope, etc.), you just might be able to let go.
Focus On What You Want, Not What You Don’t
For a long time, I complained (and internalized) that I have a dodgy right hip, blaming it for my running gait (or my lack of running, to be more precise) and using it as an excuse in balance postures in my yoga practice.
I convinced myself that this dodgy hip is the result of trapped negative energy from an ectopic pregnancy on my right side all those years ago. And given the real pain of pregnancy loss and my long history of infertility, that’s not so far-fetched.
But there’s only so much focus you can place on one part of your body that you think ‘can’t,’ without questioning whether you ‘can.’
It’s Yoga-Ahh, Not Yog-Hurt
While I can tell myself I’m justified in holding onto the pain, I’m pretty sure it’s only going to hang around to give me more grief.
And what if, in clinging to that old pain as if my life depended on it, I stop myself from experiencing the happiness that I’ve also stored there—not to mention the joy available to me right now?
Instead, what if I focused on the ‘ahhh’ of relief rather than the ‘hurt’ of release? What if I focused on the inhalation as much as the exhalation?
Let Go To Let In (And Let In And Magically Let Go)
If we strike a balance so that we let in as much as we let go – and if we let go in order to let in– then we shift the emphasis from the pain of release and all we have to give up, to the joy of receiving and all we have to gain.
The very same energy that feels like pain isn’t actually released but transformed instead into joy, and suddenly whatever was gripping at our hips (or tightening our shoulders) feels like an opening up.Loss turns into gain, like magic. Alchemy.
Breathe In Love, Breathe Out Love
My right hip may never be as open as I would like it to be, and perhaps some scar tissue never heals—but then, scar tissue doesn’t have any feeling. And when it comes to opening up, I’m learning that it’s not our hips that count so much as our hearts.
Breathe-in and breathe-out love and just see what happens. You might be surprised when you can’t feel that pain anymore.
What could you let into your life in order to let go?
