Release

“I realize there’s something incredibly honest about trees in winter, how they’re expert at letting things go.” – Jeffrey Mc Daniel, from the Daily Good newsletter (www.dailygood.org)

I was at a yoga class today, and my teacher decided to lead us through several variations of spinal twists. Twisting from chair pose, from crescent lunge, from extended side angle – a lot of twisting. Each time she emphasized the purpose of spinal twists, which is to rinse and cleanse the interior body, releasing toxins but also trauma, hurt, injuries, anger. We were instructed to breathe deeply and, on the outbreath, release whatever was not serving us.

The class in combination with McDaniel’s quote was a powerful pointer from the universe. I desperately need to let some things go. Memories of trauma, of hurt, of betrayal, of a certain strength and innocence lost. The memories and emotions are not serving me in this now, this life.  Rather than let them cling like vines on the front walkway, I need to exhale, twist, and release them on my long outbreath, their sticky fingers and dead weight falling like the early autumn leaves.