Let What Wants to Go, Go.

The coolest thing happened today. A series of events that began to unfold in a bummer way, turned around into quite a wonderful day, by letting go. Heres how it went.

This morning I began Yin class by reading a passage from a book that I am currently obsessed with called, “Outrageous Openness” by Tosha Silver. The author’s premise is that if we would allow ourselves to become outrageously open, our lives would flow in a synchronistic way, allowing all the things we need and desire to come in.  She believes (and so do I) that when we grasp and cling to the things, experiences, expectations….the things we desire remain just outside of our reach.

Our flow of good, abundance, joy is stifled by our need to cling or control the outcome. When we can successfully release the outcome or our need to control, things fall into place, work out, play out in a way that benefits us because we have made room for them to come in.  So most days, I am totally on board with this. Today did not begin in that way.

The affirmation I read in class was about Aparagraha, which in Sanskrit means non-grasping. It is this notion that if we keep clinging to the way we think things should play out…there is no room for anything better to happen because we are closed down to things that feel out of our control. We have limited ourselves by our limited thinking.  This is the affirmation I shared with the class,” Let what wants to come, come.  Let what wants to go, go. If it is mine it will stay. If not, whatever is better will replace it.” Then we did some Yin, class was over and we went our separate ways.

This is where it gets interesting. Thursday is my day to do Aqua Yoga in St Pete Beach. I LOVE Aqua Yoga. I left Yin class, put on my bathing suit and headed to the pool filled with joy. Sandy and I pulled in the parking lot at the St Pete Pool, got out of the car when one of the lifeguards said, “Oh, Aqua Yoga was cancelled today, sorry.”  I looked at her thinking, “I’m sure your joking.” Unfortunately, she was not. We hurried like crazy,  drove all the way there and the class I had been looking forward to was cancelled. I’m not gonna lie, I was really disappointed, maybe even a little bit mad.

You know those situations when your response to a situation is not commensurate to the situation at hand? Yep, that was in full swing. The day felt ruined. It was not, but it felt that way. So keep in mind, I had just spent 75 minutes telling an entire Yin class how to… let go, release the old, make room for the new. Not me though. I had a plan. I was going to teach yoga, change my clothes. grab water and enjoy my favorite Aqua Yoga. Indeed, it is much easier to share with others how to better their lives and enjoy their experiences than it is to  incorporate the same practices in to my own life!

It was on the really disappointing drive home that we decided to get in the pool at our apartment. Not even a close second but heck, I already had my bathing suit on. Then the thought popped into my head, “There must be a reason that we are on our way home to our pool and not at the St Pete Beach Pool. I can cling to this disappointment, which really sucks, or I can be open to the fact that something better is on it’s way to replace it.”

Twenty minutes later we are in the pool in our condo complex. No one is ever in our pool, which is really the best thing ever….unless you are expecting a package. For some reason, UPS and FedEx leave packages by a door around the pool that “looks” like it could be an office. It isn’t one and we have had packages sit there and die.  As we bobbed on noodles in the pool, the UPS man walked up, curiously looking at all the numbers on the doors. He could not find the apartment he was looking for. I asked him who he was looking for and sure enough, he was looking for me.

I was waiting for my new camera to arrive but did not expect it to arrive until tomorrow. Otherwise, I would have been looking for it. Had I not been bobbing in my very own pool, my new camera may have been left by the door at the pool where no one lives and packages are left to die. He was no where near my apartment, ready to leave the package.  I really couldn’t believe it.  In the car I had made a conscious effort to release my death grip on a situation that had not gone my way. I released it along with the drama that it had created in my head and made room for an even better resolution than I could have imagined and the joy that followed. I still got to play in the pool and my camera had arrived safe and sound. This was exactly what I had been reading about and had just shared in class.

Feeling like a conscious creator of all things awesome, I got out of the pool, ready for some lunch when I received a text. My hairdresser had just received a cancellation and wanted to know if  I would like to come in at 1 instead of 2? As a matter of fact I would. Had I gone to Aqua Yoga, I would not have received her call inviting me to get my hair cut an hour earlier. Because I got my hair cut an hour earlier, I was able to get work done in enough time to make the 6:00pm Beach Flow class with Dina. After being blissed out by Beach Yoga, I went out to dinner with people I love.

Just like the author explains, if you grasp onto things, the things we desire remain just out of reach. Today, I let go of the situation and the disappointment I felt and things got better, a whole lot better.

So, the next time you are faced with a situation that seems to be falling apart or is beyond your control remind yourself of this…..Let what wants to come, come.  Let what wants to go, go. If it is yours it will stay. If not, whatever is better will replace it.

It may just turn your entire day around.

Namaste,

Sherry