There is an old yogi tale…that of a yogi who was walking on The Path.
He hears a cry, “Help ME!” and leaves the path, to find a man, completely
Entangled in a a rosebush. Thorns around arms, completely entangled and wailing,
“Help me I cannot take this anymore!”
The yogi offers, “I may help you, if you do everything I say.”
The man assures, “I’ll do anything, I’ve been here for years! Help!”
The yogi instructs, “Take your left arm to your side…” and the man pulls his arm free, “Now the right arm out, and the man pulls his arm free of branches, thorns pulling out and dropping to the ground… Now Take a step back, and the man does, feeling a fresh breeze of freedom assuaging his chest, ahhhh… he sighs…. And then he jumped back on the rosebush.
In this story, the ancient Buddhist and yogic philosophy that it is our Attachments=pain.
And that Letting go is a process.
1. What is your rosebush? What is something that you keep regrasping onto, even though it doesn’t feel good anymore?
2. Acknowledge it. Don’t change immediately, it’s ok. Just observing yourself takes away the knee-jerk reaction, and you can begin to see clearly your relationship with the rosebush. A mechanic doesn’t just start tinkering, they look at things first to what needs fixing.
3. Give yourself permission to release one arm, then another, and to practice letting go. Yes, you will have to repeat over and over, “Not Mine.” and let go. But you can start, anytime…