Spring Cleaning: the art of letting go

We all develop attachments from the beginning of our existence in this world. We hold on to the material, physical world when we don’t know how to interpret the emptiness inside us. Instead of embracing the emptiness and replacing it with spirituality, most of the time we are in denial and just live our lives without any meaning. Sometimes our ego and fears dominate our existence to the extent of not being able to survive without certain people or things in our lives. And most of the time, we make the mistake of calling it “LOVE”. Our physical existence; meaning  the looks, bodies, status, money, careers,sexual pleasure are not here forever. If you love someone for one or more of the reasons above, let’s face it , it is NOT real love. It is just attachment , extension of the ego self.

If you love the soul, heart and mind of a person, and you focus on loving them in the present, accepting that it may eventually end one day; there is a good chance it may be a real love. Most of the time, we only cling to the past ,focus on the past of the other or on our future with them, only to let our fears  take over the relationship in a form of attachment. This is where the fear of letting go takes place, although we are very unhappy and empty inside. We are so afraid of being alone or losing our status in the society that we attach to people or things to look good in the eyes of others who judge or even hate people for being happy without the material or simply on their own.

In this physical world, there is only one person you can depend on forever: It is YOU. So, before anyone or anything else,  learn to love and accept yourself the way you are. This is the only way to find the real love that has no conditions or is not the opposite of hate.

In the past weeks, I have been loving myself, living in slow motion as planned, trying to minimize or eliminate stress  factors in my life. When we understand the art of letting go, a spring cleaning comes as an inevitable step , helping to make a room for the better in our lives. It may seem  difficult to consider  cutting off people or situations  but if someone or a situation is constantly pulling you down and has a negative influence in your life, you should be strong enough to wish them well and move on. They came to your life for a reason, to teach you something  about yourself and when it is time, you should let them go. You need to  make room for all that lifts you high, encourages and supports you for your dreams and have the  LOVE  for who you are…

This cleaning requires a lot of courage and strength so during this time ,I have focused on core strength sequences of Yoga  consisting of Dog variants, plank variants, triangles, crow, dolphin…etc. When you practise these postures regularly, you will eventually find the strength and confidence to practise the art of letting go,  detach yourself from anything that doesn’t make you happy anymore…

On the final note, maybe most people or things will not stay forever but I know yoga will be here for a lifetime. As it doesn’t require any performance and respects my body’s limits, I know that I will be able to practise it until I am very old. It will be there when it is dark, sunny, cloudy, lonely, happy, rainy and most importantly anywhere, any time…

CORE STRENGTH BASICS

Start your practice with some meditation and sun salutation.

From Half Dog position, I am moving to crow ,( not only running or walking is difficult on the sand , I have experienced yoga practice is a great challenge too! 😉 )

 

Plank variations to strenghten the arms and  reinforce the balance during sunset and even in dark 😉

Triangles help to burn the toxins