Letting Go

I promise that not every entry in January will be about reflection and new beginnings, but it's relevant and it's what I spend the majority of my time thinking about as of late, so, hey, I'm going with it.

Thanks to a Groupon deal, I tried a new yoga class at a relatively new studio in Durham yesterday. For me, yoga is a deeply personal practice and yet I'm heavily influenced by the person instructing the class. If I don't connect with the instructor in some way, the class is nothing more than a melange of stick figure poses and heavy breathing. I look for something more in my yoga than simply stretching and a few deep breaths. I want to connect, to reflect, to challenge and to triumph. I want to move and breath with intention. And even though my intentions change (sometimes my intent is relaxation, sometimes strength, sometimes it's a practice in patience and acceptance), I look for connection to myself, the instructor and to those around me with each class I attend.

Yoga is so many things and that is a subject for another blog. Suffice it to say that I get a lot out of it and I'm glad I chose to try this new class on the second day of the new year. The instructor began the class with an personal reflection exercise. She asked us to reflect on the past year, specifically on something that we would like to change or do differently in the coming year. We wrote our reflection on a small piece of paper and placed it underneath our mats with the intention of letting go of whatever is on that piece of paper as we continued with our practice. With every breath I let go a small piece of what was written on that scrap of paper and found my mantra, or theme, for the new year -- let go.

For me, 2011 will be a year of letting go. Letting go of the past and harmful or destructive thoughts and behavior. Letting go of anger, greed, impatience, and control of things I cannot change. Letting go of worry for things I cannot control. Letting go of limits and anything holding me back. Letting go of doubt, judgment, fear and criticism. Because letting go also invites so much in, 2011 will also be a year of patience, kindness, forgiveness, love, and joy. It will be a year of peace that comes from acceptance. In my office hangs a picture of me on New Year's Day several years ago, sitting on a snowy bank overlooking the deep blues of Lake Michigan meeting the crisp blue of a winter's day. It's a picture of serenity, reflection and beauty and the perfect representation of what I resolve to bring to 2011.

Letting go is not just a mantra for the new year, it's a practice for every day; for every new moment is an opportunity for a new beginning.