Transformative Letting Go Ritual
[Note: The text below is a loose transcript of the video.]
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Today I wanted to share a ritual for LETTING GO. You may have some unwanted thoughts or feelings. This ritual will meaningfully and intentionally allow you to let those go.
When I say RITUAL, I just mean doing something meaningful and intentional.
A quote from Francis Weller says,
“Rituals are intended to take us into those places where we can engage with the difficulties in our lives in ways that are potentially transformative . . . into territories of fresh living.”
Before I share my Letting Go Ritual, I invite you to make up your own ritual. You can take pieces of this ritual and transform it into your own, or you could come up with something altogether different that’s meaningful to you.
Step 1 (A):
My first step for basically anything in my life is to write it out. When I wake up in the morning, I journal. When I have to make a decision, I journal. When I’m feeling stuck or unhappy, I journal.
I think journaling is an important part of this process so you can get all your thoughts and feelings down about what you want to let go. You could skip this step, but I think you’d really miss out on really processing your feelings completely.
In fact, it’s so important that I think just simply writing down all your feelings on paper could be enough of a ritual itself!
First, I wrote, “Things I want to let go of.”
Then I wrote the first thing that came to mind.
I described it and why I wanted to let go of it. I also wrote how it will be a change for the better if I do let go of it. (Basically how my life will change once I let go of it.)
Then I wrote a few action steps I could take to help myself let go of that particular thing.
This process took a bit of time for me, but it was also very freeing and rewarding and I also had several ideas of how to move forward.
Step 1 (B):
Then I went through my journaling with a highlighter and circled the things I truly want to let go of.
For example, I wrote about overspending to give myself a pick-me-up when I’m feeling lonely or depressed. In that section of journaling I also mention self-sabotage, so I also circled that as something I most definitely want to let go of.
In my Free Inspired Mini Course, we create an art journal page with the prompt Letting Go. I think that the process I share in the mini course is also a great ritual to let go. You can sign up for the mini course for free below.
Once you have journaled it all out, come up with words or symbols that hold meaning for what you want to let go of.
Step 2:
Gather some natural materials. I prefer using leaves. If it’s fall, depending where you are, you’ll probably find a lot of leaves around. Right now it’s winter here and I had some leaves just show up on my porch a couple of days ago when I started thinking about this ritual.
In the spring or summer you could also use leaves.
You could just as effectively use stones, twigs or other natural materials you find laying around.
Step 3:
Write the words or symbols from step 1 on your natural materials.
Step 4:
Now go out into nature. I released my leaves into a creek. However, if that's not an option for you, you could bury the natural materials instead.
Take a deep breath, read your words/symbols on your natural materials and release them one by one into the creek while concentrating on letting go of whatever they symbolize.
If you’re using dried leaves, you could even crumble them up as you release them.
I love the idea that the water is taking it away.
Conclusion:
That’s the end of the ritual. If you feel like you need to take some time to journal some more afterward.
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