Letting Go to Move Forward

April 1, 2024

Greetings yogis,

Like little snails we carry our homes around on our backs, and every once in a while, sometimes planned and sometimes unexpectedly, we just may need to empty it all out to see what still serves. So here Lauren and I are, landing in our new home in Muir Beach. And while moving is indeed a stressful, exhausting and expensive process, it does help shake things up, making us take stock of what we’re holding onto – on many levels.

We’re settling in slowly, only a couple moving boxes remain filled with nicknacks still needing a home in a drawer or some other place to hide away. There have been so many opportunities in the moving process to ask, ‘Do I really still need this?’ I noticed my attachments to relics, throwing sentimental belongings into packing boxes, only to unpack them at the new place and ask, ‘Why on earth am I still lugging this around with me?’

Moving can be deeply unsettling, and conversely unfettering, it depends on how we approach it. The majority of us hold onto so much, both physically and emotionally that it makes change hard. We grasp onto memories of what has already come, nostalgic tentacles. Fearing newness, we find safety in the old. But doesn't the old hold onto us and keep us from moving forward? Why does it sometimes feel so hard to let go, lighten the load and step into a new iteration?

Rusty, my dear teacher, would always say that good yoga is like clearing out an old junk drawer and then trying not to rush too fast to fill it back in with more junk. We step onto the mat to twist, turn and wring it out through heat, sweat, focus and deep presence until we can clear out whatever brambles were growing in the heart and mind. And then the most important moment arrives, deciding what to place back into our temple.

A life well-lived is like this, shaking it up often enough to let go of what no longer serves, be it relationships, old couches, limiting stories or the incessant fears that keep us stuck. And from that point of clearing, intentionally deciding what to create next, what to invite in and how to make a home in the next breath. Moving out to move in, ebbing to flow back in, exhaling to make space for a replenishing inhale. It’s like this, nature knows it well, you must clear it out to move forward.

Every moment contains this opportunity to begin anew, clear what has already come and move into the next with your full presence. This is the yoga that lights the path to liberation. May you all be moving towards this internal peace with your practice.

Nat K

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti