In this last month I’ve been giving a lot of though to the concept of letting go of what doesn’t belong to us. This can be someone’s expectations of us, someone else’s trauma, others’ negative view of us, etc. This list can go on. Expectations that were either set by ourselves or others can be extremely difficult to shake off. For this practice and journal prompt, I ask you to simply write about something you feel you would benefit from letting go of. If completely letting go feels like too much for right now in this moment, try figuratively setting it down momentarily. Don’t worry, right now we don’t need to fix, solve, or change anything. We’re just making space for it. Simply explore what it would be like to let go or set down. Feel free to write this in your own journal.
Journal Prompts:
- Write about one issue you’re having a hard time accepting.
- What about it is hard to accept?
- What would accepting it mean?
- What could you benefit from letting go of?
- What could you benefit from setting down if even just for a moment so you can experience some joy or peace?
How was trying on letting go or setting it down? If you’re anything like me, it was hard! I. get. it. Letting go can be so hard. It can bring up lots of thoughts and feeling associated with why we’re so fused to these things, beliefs, or people. There are so many reasons for ingrained behaviors that make it difficult to let go or set boundaries in the service of ourselves. Be easy on yourself while navigating new boundaries or letting go.
Here are some helpful tips to help tolerating the emotions that come up in the face of letting go:
1) Observe, just notice your emotion or any sensations in your body that come up at the thought of letting go or setting a limit;
2) Breathe through it while pausing. Knowing that in this moment nothing needs to happen except for breathing;
3) Accept what you’re feeling in the moment;
4) Remind yourself of the reason you want/need to let go or set the limit;
5) Access your Space Within that’s full of wisdom, self-love and compassion holding you with nurturing energy.
6) Thank yourself for your effort in doing something that will bring you peace in the long run.
It takes a lot of courage to explore letting go and all that comes with it. I’m sending you lots of love and compassion your way and hope that you apply the same nurture to yourself. You’re worthy of it.
Want to continue reading about Acceptance and Letting go? Grab the digital magazine (pdf) The Space Within that I created for those who would like to print it or see it on the computer or tabled. Click here.
Want to journal more on this topic? Check out my Acceptance is… Journal with many more prompts to help you explore and understand what you’re going through.
This is a journal I created focused on Acceptance and Letting go. I call it my “non-bestseller” because I realized very quickly that this is a HARD AF topic to talk about and get through in therapy and also alone. I guess I’m desensitized to it because I talk about it with every single client. I even created a virtual journaling group where the first 20 minutes was me talking about acceptance and providing more info and details, and the rest of the time was spent journaling with a 5 minute debrief at the end. It was a really powerful experience to do this in a small group. I participate as well and it led me to accept and let go of certain expectations I had for myself and others. It led me to deciding I needed to take a medical leave due to medical issues I needed to address and it was 100% the right choice for me at the time.
If you’re interested in this future group, feel free to learn a little more and add yourself to the waitlist here.
If you’re looking for other types of journals, check out my website www.mendingrootshealingspaces.com/books for a full listing of mental health themed journals and notebooks.
