burn it down

a few years ago my besties jessica, lamia and i spent hours helping lamia's mom sort through boxes and boxes of paper. we saved necessary documents and piled up everything else. in retrospect what happened next wasn't very environmentally friendly...oh well.

we took the boxes up to my parent's cabin and began to burn everything in the fire pit. lamia's mom said it felt so good to have that weight lifted off her shoulders, crossed off her list, no longer on her mind. we burned old bank statements, check books, utility bills, the list goes on.

with my yoga teacher training i've gotten to practice a lot of meditation...which is amazing.

the other day i was walked through a scenario where i started out in my mental refuge (if you don't have one yet you should get one whether it's an exotic beach, your favorite city, the mountains, etc...because EVERYONE needs an escape).

she had me walk up a hill until i came to a clearing. then asked me to walk around and find anything that i've been unnecessarily holding onto. gather any past experiences/events/confrontations/

disappointments/self doubts/etc. that are no longer useful to me and bring them to the middle of the clearing. make sure you have carefully looked around and gathered everything you can find.

next pick up a container of gasoline and pour it all over the pile. take a match. light the match. burn the pile. watch everything burn.

notice the brightness of the fire. listen to the crackling as everything burns. can you smell the fire?

it took me awhile for the fire to burn down. make sure to stay until everything is ash. don't let anything remain behind. a slight wind comes and even the ash is blown away.

take a deep inhale and then slowly exhale.

all those things we unnecessarily hold on to in life...yes they contribute to the people we are but once they've served their purpose, once we've grown and lived through them, we must let them go.

walk away from the clearing feeling lighter, happier, carefree :)

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