Meditation: The Practice of Letting Go

Settle yourself gently.

Allow the body to rest just as it is. There is nothing to improve in this moment. Nothing to solve. Let the breath come and go without effort. Feel the quiet rhythm of being alive.

Bring to mind something you are holding tightly right now. It may be a person. A situation. A hope. A fear. A future outcome you are trying to shape.

Notice what happens in your body as you hold it in awareness.

Is there tension in the chest? A subtle bracing? A feeling of responsibility that borders on control? Do not judge what you find. Simply notice.

There is a way of living that grasps at life. And there is a way of living that participates in it. Participation says, “I will show up. I will act where action is needed. I will speak when speech is required. I will love without withholding.”

Grasping says, “I must determine the outcome. I must ensure the ending. I must carry what is not mine to carry.”

Feel the difference.

Bring your attention to the center of your chest and breathe there. Allow space around the thing you are holding. You are responsible for your presence, your choices, your integrity. You are not responsible for the unfolding of the entire story.

Destiny — whatever we call it — does not require your micromanagement.

You can accompany a person. You can steward a project. You can tend a garden. You can advocate for justice. You can stand beside suffering. But you cannot control the arc of every life, including your own.

Let that land in the body. Notice if something softens when you allow this truth:

“I will do what is mine to do. And I release what is not.”

This is not passivity. It is not indifference. It is clarity. From clarity, action becomes cleaner. From surrender, love becomes steadier.

Imagine now placing the situation you are holding into a wider field — something vast enough to contain it. Call it life. Call it reality. Call it the great mystery. Let it rest there.

You are still present. You are still engaged. But you are no longer gripping. Feel your feet on the ground. Feel the support beneath you. Feel the breath moving without your command. Even your own body is unfolding without constant supervision.

Let the hands, if they are tense, gently relax.

Silently say within: “I will accompany. I will act where I can. I will release what I cannot carry.”

Notice what happens inside when you say this. There may be relief. There may be resistance. There may be both.

Stay with it. Surrender is not collapsing. It is aligning with what is real. Acceptance is not approving of suffering. It is refusing to add unnecessary struggle to what already is. Rest here for a few breaths.

When you are ready, let the image of what you were holding dissolve into openness. Return your awareness to your own aliveness. You are here. You are breathing. You are participating in something vast.

You have done what can be done for this moment. The rest unfolds.

Rest in that.

Nigel Lott teaandzen.org

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