April mantra of the month: I let go of what no longer serves me.
Queue Frozen theme song “Let it go, let it GOOO!” It’s officially spring, we are officially unmasked, vaccine passports are becoming a memory and we are finally allowed to gather with our friends and family without fear of sending grandma to the ICU. Whether you are excited about these changes, or feeling apprehensive, you cannot deny that change is upon us. The weather is getting warmer, the world is re-opening and most of us are feeling ready for “what’s next”. We are all being tossed back into social situations, and if you are feeling a bit out of practice (perhaps a touch of social anxiety?), I can assure you, you are not alone.
This spring is a fresh start, and it’s time to do some spring cleaning. Let’s release the past, and move forwards with a clean canvas, shall we?
If you have managed to escape the last two years without a hint of anxiety or depression, then I say “congratulations” to you. But the more I talk to mask-less faces, the more stories I hear of mental health struggles. Whether you swing more into anxiety, or more into depression, the truth is that most mental health struggles occur well…. In the mind. An anxious mind will often run off the to the future… planning, prepping, analyzing, and a depressed mind runs back to the past… remembering and reminiscing. All of us can use a reminder to be HERE, but after the trauma of the past two years, I think it’s more than just about being present… it’s about letting it all go.
We all tried to navigate the social struggles of the pandemic with grace… but did we all succeed!? My offering is that we all collectively let go of any memory, any anxiety, any habit, any possession, any negative interaction, any grudge, literally anything that isn’t serving you from the last two years. Just let it go. Free your mind of guilt, regret, and worry.
Forgive yourself for that time you sneezed and got someone sick; release that conversation where you said something icky to your friend about vaccines; let go of the guilt of the potato chip habit you picked up cause you watched too many Netflix shows; forget the shame of not reaching out to your friends and acquaintances who were struggling just as much as you were. Let go of the guilt, the shameful conversations, the hurt you inflicted, the pain you received. Just let it go. Let it all go.
But the question is: how? How do we release, forgive, let go and move on? The first step is simple awareness; write down all the things that cause you suffering. All the habits, thought patterns, memories, worries, relationships – write them all down. Acknowledge what isn’t serving you, so you can start to release those sources of suffering.
A few ways you can live the mantra:
- Spring clean your house! Decluttering is an amazing way to lighten your mind.
- Be aware of your though patterns; when you catch yourself in a negative one, remind yourself to “let it go”.
- Form a new habit and release an old one. Set an intention to let a pattern that you have picked up from the pandemic go.
- Forgive yourself, forgive others. Holding onto a grudge prevents you from moving forwards. When you find yourself in a negative thought pattern, tell yourself “let it go”.
~By Prestonne Sehn