Stuck in the muck? An Exercise on Letting Go
This past weekend, I hosted a mini women’s circle to gather in nature, unplug and connect with one another. It so happened to fall on the full moon eclipse, which was perfect for the theme of our circle — in letting go to create more space for the new.
Personally, I had been feeling very foggy and “stuck in the mud” recently, and based on feedback from the collective it seems I was not alone in these feelings. It got me thinking about how lotus flowers grow from the mud — and that in order for us to bloom and get to the other side we first need to grow through the muck. The ugly. The sludge.
The beauty of it is that once we release that which isn’t serving us, we can come out the other side as a truer version of ourselves…as the lotus flower. After a brief discussion around this theme, we spent some time journaling out a very simple yet potent prompt: What are you clinging onto that you’re ready to release?
We then took part in an exercise where we chose an item to represent something we were ready to let go of…and we walked over to the nearby swamp and literally let that sh*t go. It was such a powerful exercise.
During the circle, it became so very crystal clear to me that I was holding onto a lot of crap which was keeping me stuck in the muck. One thing in particular was my underlying “people pleaser” tendencies that I thought I had let go of long ago…in particular this feeling that I needed to “show up” a certain way to be impactful…to be liked (especially on social media). It also became so loud and clear that I needed to step away from instagram for some time… because it simply wasn’t serving me. It had been draining my creativity, creating unnecessary anxiety and wasting my time.
When I got home I logged out of my personal instagram account and haven’t checked back in since. I’m still not sure if I plan to take a couple weeks or a couple months off, but all I know is that’s what I needed for me. And guess what? Ever since I logged off, I can feel the fog slowly being lifted. I finally feel much more clear-headed, creative, and in tune with myself.
You see, in letting go, you create more space for new beginnings to bloom. And that, my friend, is worth trekking through the muck.
