SGM Oct. 2013 Meditation of the Month: “Releasing What No Longer Serves You”
Press the play button or click here (right click + save target as) to download the audio file
“Releasing What No Longer Serves You”
Press the play button or click here (right click + save target as) to download the audio file
Welcome to our Spiritual Growth Monthly October 2013 Meditation of the Month. I’m Kevin Schoeninger. It’s great to have you with us here at SGM!
In this week’s meditation, I’ll guide you through identifying and releasing a thought, feeling, belief, situation, or behavior that is no longer serving you in your life. You’ve ground, sharpened, and chewed this habit down to the nub—and it no longer works for you. It’s time to let it go, so you can do something new.
We all have habits of thinking, feeling, and acting that get in the way of fulfilling our best intentions and living the life we truly desire. These patterns and perspectives may have served us at some time in our past. They may have protected us and allowed us to survive. However, now that time is past. We’ve grown up. We have more skills and resources. And, we’re tired of the negative consequences of these habits. Now, those old habits are only limiting us from moving forward.
For example, you may have chosen a certain type or level of job because it felt comfortable and you were successful at it, but now it’s time to expand your skills and step out of your comfort zone to reach for new challenges—and make more money! Maybe, you’ve maintained a diet of sweets that comforted you in the past, but now your body has reached a point where it will no longer digest those and you need to make a change for your health. Or, maybe, you’ve chosen friends who liked you for a certain way you used to be and now you need to grow and choose others who are aligned with who you want to become.
The point is that there are many patterns which suit us at one point in time, then become limiting as we heal and grow. In Stage Seven of Dr. Donald Epstein’s 12 Stages of Healing, it’s time to release the old, so you can welcome the new.
Stage Seven is called Resolution. It is about discharging and letting go of anything that no longer serves us. Let’s explore a few key points about this stage, then we’ll go through a meditation to help us move through it.
The first significant point about Stage Seven is that what many of us would label as “illness” is often the body trying to discharge something you no longer want or need. As Epstein says, “What most people consider as sickness is usually the body trying through discharge, to release something it does not want in order to achieve a new level of health. Successful discharge involves our body-mind’s system going from higher tension to lower tension, from a state of distress toward ease.” (p.109, 12SOH)
Discharges may take place as we quit a habit like smoking, or a job, or even a relationship. Our body-mind purges these patterns and connections in very physical ways. This clearing can take the form of crying, screaming, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, cancer, skin rashes, sneezing, laughing, or just a big sigh of relief. You see that some of these you might normally describe as emotional responses, some are events that you would assume require medical intervention, and some are easier, more enjoyable releases.
In Western Medicine, we have been trained to believe that our discomforts require medical intervention, even if they are just natural releases and adjustments that the body is handling just fine. Some of these releases can actually be derailed by medical intervention. For instance, a fever is one of the body’s best ways of purging what does not serve your health—yet we often try to stop fevers.
Now, in the earlier stages of healing, medical intervention is often necessary to support you so that things do not get too out of control or become too much for you. However, once you have reached Stage Seven, you have developed an intuitive sense and inner core strength to know when something is a release that you just need to hang out with and see through to completion. Sure, there are times when your intuition tells you, “Hey this is more than my body can handle, it’s time for immediate medical care!” However, those moments may be far less frequent than in the earlier stages of healing.
In Stage Seven, you have the ability to witness what is going on inside you and allow discharge to happen, because you’ve come to see how these releases help you move to new levels. You have come to trust that your body knows what to do and you are willing to allow things to get uncomfortable, so you can go through necessary shifts. You understand that, as Epstein says, “Discharge may involve the release of trapped energy, repressed or ignored information, or toxins on physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. Releasing may allow us to access our higher potential and often includes a temporary loss of control.” (p.113, 12 SOH)
Loss of control. Don’t you want to avoid that?
Most of us do try to avoid that. We hang onto our old ways because they are known and predictable. Even if they are limiting and uncomfortable, at least we know what to expect. However, when we need to release something that no longer serves us, we have to let go and trust the unknown.
Now, you may find yourself feeling fearful, resentful, victimized, lonely, or guilty when you encounter the need to let go. These feelings could keep you stuck or indicate that you’re not quite ready to let go yet. That’s O.K.
When you reach Stage Seven, you will have learned to trust the process of your healing, so that, as those feelings arise, you are able to let them go, too—so you can allow a deeper shift to take place within you. You have faith that what is happening is guided by a higher intelligence and that the ultimate result of letting go will be good, even if it is a bit scary, because it’s unknown exactly what that result will be.
As Epstein says, “Any aspect of our self that no longer works for our healing will be discharged by our innate intelligence.” (p.118, 12SOH) By Stage Seven we have learned to trust that there is an infinite wisdom guiding our healing. When we surrender to it, we discover that our lives open up in whole new ways.
So, if you’re ready to join me, let’s welcome new possibilities in our lives by letting go of an old limiting pattern. We’ll do that using a meditative process suggested by Epstein.
To prepare for the following meditation, ask yourself, “What am I ready to let go of that no longer serves me?” Then, you can follow along with the guided audio in Part B of the recording above.
“Releasing What No Longer Serves You”
Please join me in sitting or lying down in a quiet, private environment where you will not be interrupted or disturbed. Tell anyone who needs to know that you are taking some quiet time.
Begin by calling to mind something you are ready to release from your life right now. It could be a way of communicating that doesn’t honor your essence, an unhealthy habit that doesn’t serve your well-being, or a situation that you are ready to grow out of—anything at all that is no longer serving you well. Choose one thing to focus on releasing in this session. . .
As you call what you are ready to release into your mind, notice any thoughts you have that relate to this. . . Notice how these thoughts make you feel. . . Notice what you feel like doing when you think and feel this way. . . Notice any reactions you have to the idea of releasing all of this. . . Whatever comes up for you is O.K. . . Everything will be fine, maybe even much better. . .
Now, take a full breath in through your nose and hold it for a moment. Squeeze your abdominal muscles as you hold it. Then slowly and rhythmically exhale a little of your breath at a time with your cheeks puffed out, finishing each exhale with a forceful blow. (demonstrate breath) Repeat this breath a few times.
Now, close your hands into fists, raise your arms up over your shoulders and bend your arms at your elbows, bringing your hands toward your shoulders. Exhale with some force as you punch your arms and hands down to your sides. (Demonstrate breath) Repeat this movement with forceful breaths several times. If you feel like vocalizing any sounds as you do this, feel free.
As you release tension through this motion, you may find yourself crying, laughing, or just feeling nice and relaxed. Continue until you feel ready to stop. . .
Now, repeat the following affirmation or one that resonates well with you until you really feel it:
“I release that which no longer serves me.”
Check in with your body. How do you feel?
Slowly open your eyes and take in the space around you. Pay attention to any ways that you can follow through on this release in your life. Having released this internally, notice if there is anything you feel inspired to do. Repeat this process as often as you need to really let go and move forward.
Well done!