When was the last time you just “Let Go”. If it is taking you a while to recall…..then this article is really for you.
I felt compelled to share this with our Wake family in the hopes that it would help someone like it did for me. Several years back when I was pregnant with my first child, I began to experience tremendous anxiety. This anxiety manifested into an awakening of my “true feelings”, specifically, about my job and my role in general. I worked for a great company, with great colleagues and friends and had been there for several years. In the end, what I learned from the painful experience was that I wasn’t being my “authentic self” and that I was letting fear……fear of lost income, fear of disappointing people, fear of failure, rule me. In truth, I realized that by not letting go, I had allowed feelings to become pent up, to perpetuate, and keep me locked in a job and a place in life that was not fulfilling me.
I tell you all this because “letting go” through my yoga practice and the mantras, meditation, and peace that came with it really saved me during this time in my life. I was able to sit at practice, quiet the noise, and get in touch to internalize a lot of the things that I had pushed aside for so long. As a self professed type A person, yoga is a way that I can get to a meditative quiet place. I feel this during a relaxing body massage, during a guided mediation, or in a wellness centered space (like the many we are afforded here in Asheville). My personality type requires this sort of escape or structure, if you will, to get to that place of mindfulness. Many of my staff are disciplined enough to dive into this mindset during work, during hobbies like gardening and canning, or just simply walking outside. These are great opportunities too if you can allow yourself to be free-flowing with it. The point is simply, that Letting Go is important for your mental health and for your physical well being. And….it is important enough that we can all truly benefit from Letting Go more regularly in our lives, getting in touch with ourselves and our thoughts and tuning in to what we need to improve ourselves each day.
We are coming up on a very busy time of year and it is easy to become stressed and overwhelmed with it all. My encouragement and wish for you is to take some time out to make “Letting Go” a regular part of your weekly or daily routine. I promise………..you will be so glad you did.
Melissa L – owner, Wake – The Foot Sanctuary & Shop
