The notion of letting go can conjure images of giving in. From the point of view of the ego, surrendering may seem like we are giving up and losing. But looking deeper, we see that nothing could be further from the truth.
We may not be aware of the fears that drive our lives. The push to make money, to succeed, to gain approval, to be loved are some of the fears that rumble under our thoughts and form the ways we behave, until we pause and go within to look at them more closely. When we find the courage to befriend these fears and stop resisting, we gain the ability to let them go.
When we are stressed, our field of perception narrows. This is from our past need to run for our lives when chased by a lion in the jungle. Focus served our need to survive. But as a day-to-day stress response, narrow sight means we tend to miss a lot. By allowing ourselves to let go of the fear of the proverbial jungle lion (our boss, partner, parents…), we see more fully and tap into a field of possibility that flows within a greater whole. In this way, we have access to more options, more choice, more power. As we let go, we get out of our own way and learn to receive the support that inherently exists within nature.
The chrysalis goes within to become a butterfly. Does it doubt, resist or stress over the process? Or is it in a surrendered state held perfectly within an intelligent whole? Really think about it. When the leaves let go of their branches are they riddled with “gotta get it right” or “gotta work harder”? Or are they simply being, expressing a flow within the whole?
How many of us wake up supposedly refreshed, yet already feel stressed? That is not our fullest, most natural self, but a habituated self, usually an expression of the ego’s distorted cry for love we perceive to be missing. We tend to hold on to stress, fearing the jungle lion even when the lion exists only in our heads. This fear exists because deep down we don’t feel loved.
But is there no love? Do we need to rely on our push/pull? Ultimately, does that not make us suffer? Would nature take perfect care of the chrysalis and abandon us? Or have we somehow let go of our connection to nature? We believe our perceptions and run because a coiled rope looks like a cobra to our dulled eyes. Nature is not doing that “to” us. We do that to ourselves. We place the disconnected story on each perfect moment.
For nature, life is. To rest into “isness” is surrender. Surrender is gentle, quiet, powerful, active, vital. It relies on a state of interconnection, being part of it all. We are held within the whole, cradled in a life-force cocoon, loved and supported. Our minds may be attached to thoughts that tell us otherwise, but that does not change the fact that the loving support already is, if we are willing to let go and receive.
Next time you feel the impulse to rush to your next meeting, or feel that feisty urge to make you right and others wrong, or you want to push through to the next to-do item on your agenda, remember that tiny cocoon and know that you are one and the same. In every moment, you are cradled by an immense love that fully supports you through whatever you are experiencing. That love is always available, 24/7, unconditionally. It is your human birthright.
Parvati Devi is the editor-in-chief of Parvati Magazine. In addition to being an internationally acclaimed Canadian singer, songwriter, producer and performer, she is a yoga teacher and holistic educator, having studied yoga and meditation since 1987, and developed her own yoga teaching style called YEM™: Yoga as Energy Medicine. Her current show, “Yoga in the Nightclub”, brings forward a conscious energy into the pop mainstream.