These days carry a transforming energy.
For me, rituals are a tool for shaping the events in my life in a meaningful way. Rituals help me to perceive the miracles in life and to marvel at the miracle that is life.
The end of the year is approaching, it is the perfect time to become clear and aware of what you want and are willing to let go. What energy do you want to release, what is allowed to flow? It is not always easy to wonder what we want to let go of. Often that what we hold on to so tight has become familiar to us. Even though this doesn’t serve our highest good, we fear what will happen if we let it go.
The ritual “Release what isn’t yours “ can help you to become aware and to commit to what you wish to release. This ritual helps you to enter the process of letting go with an open heart and courage and to do what it takes to create space in your life. Know that you are supported, nurtured and carried by your higher self. Know that you have everything inside that enables you to let go, and by doing this you will experience inner freedom.
Try the ritual below as a way to commit to what you are releasing. Trust that with an open heart and the courage to let go, you are doing the work that needs to be done. Know that you are supported, you are seen, and you have everything you need to let go and be free.
1. SET UP: Find a comfortable space to sit in. Have a pen and a piece of paper. Be sure the paper is not from your journal, as you will be releasing it. Make your space sacred for this ritual – light a candle, burn some smudge, play aligned music, and dress in the way that expresses how you want to show up in the world. This is an initiation ceremony for this next big and beautiful year.
Put on this music and let the voice lead you into your body.
2. TO BEGIN: Close your eyes and take five deep breaths. Breathe in through your nose and exhale out of your mouth. Know that with each exhale you are releasing tension, worry, and doubt. After 5 breaths, repeat this mantra out loud: “I am ready to release what does not serve me. I now release and renew.” Say it slowly a few times and feel how it lands in your body. Even if there is still doubt or resistance to the possibility, know that you are well on you way to freedom.
3. REMEMBER: There is no need to feel guilt or shame during this experience. We all have heaviness that we must release. Part of being human is the recognition of when it’s time to let go, and the practiced knowing that though it may be hard, we have everything we need to continue towards our highest, lightest selves.
4. WRITE at the top of your paper: I have released… Line by line, write what you are ready to give over, let go, or put down and never pick up again. Start each line with I have released. It is important to write in past tense, as if this already happend. It is already so! If there is something that has been causing you a lot of pain, spend a little time writing about how and why this makes you feel without getting into the details of the story. Continue to write. No need to edit or revise, let the pen move. You can write the same statement multiple times as a way to imprint your conviction to its release.
5. WHEN YOU FEEL COMPLETE: Place the pen and paper down. Close your eyes and take 5 breaths. After your breaths, repeat the mantra again: “I am ready to release what does not serve me. I now release and renew.”
6. REVIEW: Open your eyes and take your paper in your hands. Rip it up into small pieces. Continue to rip it apart until you have a collection of small shreds of paper. Option to light it on fire (in a fire-safe container of course), burry it in the earth, or throw it away outside of your home. Be sure to dispose of your paper shreds. Know that this physical embodiment of release is communicating to your energetic body that you are truly ready to let go.
7. PAUSE: Now, notice how you feel. Trust that you have created more space in your body, heart, mind, spirit, and life. In the coming weeks if/when you find yourself triggered, recall that you have released what does not serve you and breathe deep into your body in that very moment.
8. REJOICE: To complete this ritual, grab one more clean piece of paper. Write down 1-3 words that will represent your 2022 year. Let these words be bold, clear, and truly YOUR words in their raw and current form (not old expectations of you). Repeat them to yourself a few times and let them enter your being. Place this paper somewhere you will see it. Come back to these words internally whenever you need a boost, a reminder, or a balancer so that you stay close to your bigger vision.
9. THIS RITUAL IS YOURS: Return to this exercise anytime you feel weighed down, overwhelmed, or that knowing voice inside of you says it is time.