What it means to hold on/let go

What are you holding on to?

We all hold onto something: Physically, emotionally, physically, it’s human nature to hold-on.

I used to hold onto things.  I held onto every little thing I could.  Wrapping paper, old dishes, screws, wires, toys, scraps of wood.  Everything can be reused.  Everything had sentimentality. There was energy in everything I owned. This was as a child.  As I grew, so did my collections of things. I realized I couldn’t hold onto everything anymore.  We accumulate so much.  Then there’s nothing to do but let go of it or let it consume you.

The first things I remember struggling with letting go of was gifts.  I remembered every single gift given to me, and couldn’t bear to let go of them.  I held onto that energy as I held onto the things it was attached to.

Only later did I realize how cluttered my life was.  Not in a physical sense as a result of *things, but in an emotional way as well. The energy of all those *things holds onto us.

Then there’s relationships.  I have a hard time letting go of people.  Perhaps because so many people have been ripped from my life that when I find someone good, I hold on tight and don’t let go.  There’s nothing wrong with that… to an extent.  But of course, everything in moderation.  There’s always a time to let go.  To release.

In her book “You Can Heal Your Life” Louise Hay talks about how holding on is the mental invitation of a number of different physical ailments.  Digestion is a prime example of this.  We hold onto emotion, fear, worry, and our body responds in like, holding on to physical things it doesn’t need.  It doesn’t allow for release or natural detoxification.

You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay

The problem with holding is that the things we no longer need have the potential to create blockages in our body and in our psyche that keep us from moving forward.  Having a toxic person in your life leeches poison into your life as surely as eating toxic foods on a daily basis.  We can’t move forward while we are working so hard to mitigate the damage of blocks that are holding us back.

We need to let go of the things that no longer serve us.  Our body shows us this lesson in every minute of every day as we slough off skin, eliminate, shed… in every minute of every day we let go of things we no longer need.

This month we will discuss ways to detoxify and release from an emotional/mental perspective as well as in a purely physical sense.  We will talk about the importance of holding on, as well as how what we hold on to mirrors itself in our body and in life.

What do you hold onto that you would rather let go?  Where do you struggle with blocks and release?