Episode Transcript: S1E21: Let Go & Rise: Mindfulness, Surrender, and Finding Peace
[00:02] Hi everyone, welcome back to another episode of Read, Reflect, Rise with Will Struthers-Cooper.
[00:08] This is your space to pause, breathe and let the power of words support your own peace
[00:14] in the busyness and the bustle of our everyday lives.
[00:18] If you’re joining us for the first time, here’s how it works.
[00:22] I bring you medicinal words from some of the world’s most inspiring authors, poets and
[00:26] teachers.
[00:27] Together, we explore their wisdom.
[00:30] I guide you through a reflective or meditative practice.
[00:33] Then we finish with a mantra or affirmation to carry forward into your day and week.
[00:38] Today’s episode is a gentle but powerful invitation to loosen our grip on how we think things
[00:45] should be and instead meet life as it is.
[00:50] You know what I’m talking about, those shoulda, woulda, couldas.
[00:53] We’re going to be reflecting on the poem Allow by Dana Foulds.
[00:57] From her collection, go in and in.
[01:01] Dana Foulds is a poet and yoga practitioner whose work is steeped in mindfulness and heavy
[01:07] on the presence.
[01:08] She began writing poetry while studying yoga and meditation and her words often read like
[01:13] a type of offering.
[01:14] There’s a place to rest, breathe and reconnect with yourselves in her writing, just as you
[01:20] do so in Shavasana at the end of a yoga practice.
[01:24] Her poems are known for capturing the beauty and imperfection, the grace in surrender and
[01:31] the courage in allowing life to unfold without needing to control it.
[01:36] In her collection, go in and in.
[01:39] She offers verses that are both deeply personal, also universally true, speaking to those quiet
[01:46] that sit at the heart of human experience or perhaps grow into those bigger things
[01:52] that eat away and gnaw at us in our very human experience.
[01:57] Let’s hear her words.
[02:03] Allow.
[02:05] There is no controlling life.
[02:07] Try corralling a lightning bolt, containing a tornado.
[02:12] Dam a stream and it will create a new channel.
[02:16] Resist and the tide will sweep you off your feet.
[02:20] Allow and grace will carry you to higher ground.
[02:25] The only safety lies in letting it all in, the wild and the weak, fear, fantasies, failures
[02:34] and success.
[02:36] When loss rips off the doors of the heart or sadness fills your vision with despair,
[02:44] practice becomes simply bearing the truth.
[02:47] In the choice to let go of your known way of being, the whole world is revealed to your
[02:56] new eyes.
[03:00] Take a little moment for that short yet powerful poem to seep in.
[03:14] Now let’s explore what it might mean to have grace and to open our eyes to the whole world.
[03:33] If you begin by sitting comfortably or standing in a stance that feels safe and secure to you.
[03:47] We’re going to put our hand on our heart, place our feet or our honches firmly where
[03:56] they need to rest.
[03:59] Breathing into that heart space, exhaling slowly and just taking a moment to allow your
[04:10] body to settle.
[04:15] And another moment to allow your mind to settle.
[04:28] And a third moment to allow your spirit or your energy to settle.
[04:43] And as you breathe in and breathe out, as you allow integration of all parts of your
[04:54] being, knowing that in this moment, in this pause, you are all here, you are all connected
[05:05] within.
[05:10] And you are safe in this moment with your body, with your mind, with your spirit.
[05:26] Give yourself permission to be and to rest.
[05:32] This is not a moment of doing, this is a moment of being.
[05:45] And you can choose any way of being that best fits you.
[05:56] Are you being restful?
[05:59] Are you being quiet?
[06:04] Are you being sad?
[06:09] Are you being present?
[06:16] There are so many ways of being, they can’t all be mentioned and you may cycle through
[06:21] one, two, three, many of them as you settle and rest into your bones, in your body, with
[06:30] your mind and your spirit.
[06:35] This is a moment of allowing, a moment to notice where you’re at and how you feel.
[06:47] How are you being?
[06:56] Is it tempting to get up and do something?
[06:59] Have you started listing the next thing and the next thing on your to-do list?
[07:09] Notice, acknowledge and choose to be.
[07:18] Allow these thoughts to exist.
[07:24] Allow these feelings to be.
[07:34] And if you begin to feel settled and even if you don’t, we’re going to move forward to
[07:43] see how much we can notice.
[07:47] And depending on where you’re at today, that could be a lot, it could be a little, it could be none.
[07:55] And that’s okay.
[07:58] All paths, all feelings are valid.
[08:05] Now replacing your hand to your heart.
[08:12] And I’d like you to sit for a moment and think of something that you would like to be different,
[08:19] something that should be different or maybe something that should not be different.
[08:26] Pick something that doesn’t feel too powerful and potent, something reasonably small.
[08:32] This is a practice.
[08:35] I shouldn’t have done this or so-and-so shouldn’t have done that.
[08:42] I should have known about this or XYZ should have made sure this was done.
[08:50] What should do you have?
[08:59] And as I said, pick something that isn’t too potent or tangy.
[09:02] So keeping that hand on your heart so that you’re grounded and connected.
[09:09] And if you find yourself getting lost in emotion, then bring your focus back to your feet or to your seat
[09:16] or to your breath and begin again.
[09:24] Looking at that phrase or that scenario where the should exists.
[09:29] I should do this. I shouldn’t have done that.
[09:31] So-and-so should have done this. So-and-so should have done that.
[09:39] Looking at that statement, at that judgment.
[09:45] Allowing yourself to pull back slightly.
[09:51] Allowing yourself to step away from the thought.
[09:58] Give it some breathing space.
[10:03] Allow that thought to exist in its own little speech bubble or its own little cloud
[10:09] or perhaps on its very own page in a book.
[10:18] And try to visualize it in words.
[10:21] It allows you to step back from the emotional connection we tend to have
[10:26] if you can see it as an actual physical thing.
[10:33] And I want you to look at that phrase, that word.
[10:40] And I want you to look at it closely from different angles.
[10:44] There’s a person in there, whether it be yourself or someone else.
[10:47] And there’s the word should or should not in there.
[10:54] And I want you to play around softening the words, softening your view of it.
[11:02] Perhaps softening your gaze to begin with.
[11:06] Perhaps switching should for did.
[11:12] Or wish or wish not.
[11:15] Reform it into a new sentence.
[11:20] One that is based in the events, in the factual events.
[11:31] Perhaps it’s so-and-so said this or I did that.
[11:39] And keeping that hand on your heart or someplace that’s comforting for you,
[11:44] you may have some emotions arising.
[11:49] Breathe and allow them space.
[11:53] Observe them.
[11:56] Perhaps allow them to be written on that page, in that speech bubble or on that cloud.
[12:06] Knowing that this is you viewing your deeper emotions.
[12:18] This is you exploring and inquiring into why you felt that this scenario was a should.
[12:35] And now you know what the factual truth of the matter is.
[12:42] And you’ve looked at the emotion alongside it.
[12:47] I want you to explore if that emotion has turned into something else.
[12:51] Has another should arisen?
[12:54] If so, go through that same process again.
[12:57] Observe it, view it.
[13:01] See how it can be played with and changed.
[13:06] See if it can become a factual statement.
[13:14] And see what feelings arise.
[13:22] Allow them to come.
[13:28] Hold space for them. Hold breath for them.
[13:35] Know that you are allowing and accepting all the different colours of emotions that exist in life.
[13:51] And if it feels like a fit, when you’ve travelled from I should to this is what happened,
[14:01] I invite you to make a choice.
[14:04] I choose, and it could be something simple, like I choose to protect myself.
[14:13] I choose to take care of myself.
[14:21] I choose to be clearer in my boundaries.
[14:27] I choose love.
[14:31] I choose truth telling.
[14:36] Make a choice now that you’ve stepped through that resistance and that blockage.
[14:44] And know that you can return to these steps again whenever you need to.
[15:00] And place the words that you’ve chosen into your heart.
[15:11] Allow them to grow.
[15:15] Bring growth and flexibility.
[15:19] As you step forward on the next step in your path.
[15:27] No longer stuck, no longer resisting.
[15:32] No longer believing life should be different, but accepting life exactly as it is and allowing yourself to move forward.
[15:42] In clarity and in courage.
[15:47] Bringing your focus down to your feet.
[15:52] Glenching them, releasing them.
[15:58] Releasing that hand from your heart if it’s still there, unless you feel it’s still needed.
[16:07] Opening your eyes, allowing your eyes to rest on something.
[16:15] And perhaps after this one, you might need to move and shake off some physical resistance that you’ve been holding.
[16:25] Perhaps you want to dance or walk or spin.
[16:33] Perhaps you want something else and that is okay too.
[16:43] Taking one more look around, allowing your eyes to rest on something.
[16:50] Allowing a slight lift to the corners of your mouth.
[16:55] You are living life as it really is.
[17:06] For me, Dana’s words are a gentle nudge but also a bit of a bugle call to release this exhausting habit we have of trying to micromanage life and our actions and other people’s actions.
[17:25] There’s an intangible arrogance about believing something has to be a certain way.
[17:35] And often what’s underlying that is fear. It’s a gripping, it’s a holding. It’s a holding so, so tight for fear of what might come.
[17:48] It’s a little bit of that holding tightly onto the world because the world is moving so fast and we don’t want to fall off.
[17:59] It’s so easy to try to fix everything the way that we think and know it will work.
[18:09] And to be disappointed when others don’t have the same vision that we do.
[18:19] But this releasing of control, of believing that we all can manage the world better and we can’t manage everything, can we?
[18:33] It’s not a passive action that’s allowing this letting go.
[18:38] It’s about making space for flow and for grace, trusting that ourselves aren’t the ones in charge of everything.
[18:52] Trusting that the river knows where it’s going to go.
[18:59] When I read this poem, it reminds me that when we let go, when we loosen our grip, we can be surprised.
[19:11] Surprised by life and all of its technical glory and how it can be so much more colourful and richer than we can ever, ever, ever possibly imagine.
[19:23] When we go with the current instead of against it, when we go with the current instead of against it, there are so many gifts.
[19:32] And if you choose not to go with the current, all of your energy is spent on resistance.
[19:41] If you’re living in the, it should be like this or it should be like that, this shouldn’t have happened, this should have happened.
[19:49] You are resisting and you are literally fighting against the flow.
[20:01] Because one of the only constants in life is change, whether we like it or not.
[20:14] And here’s your affirmation to carry with you in that flow.
[20:21] I allow life to be as it really is.
[20:26] There is strength in my flexibility.
[20:30] I allow life to be as it really is.
[20:35] There is strength in my flexibility.
[20:41] I allow life to be as it really is.
[20:46] There is strength in my flexibility.
[20:52] Start small.
[20:55] Find yourself something that you’re holding on to really tightly or resisting.
[21:02] Apply the mantra. You allow life to be as it really is.
[21:08] But start small and build up. You’re working a muscle.
[21:16] You’re building confidence. You’re stepping out of fear and you are stepping into the unknown.
[21:21] So use the mantra.
[21:23] Repeat it in the moments when you notice your mind starting to tighten its grip, starting to resist, starting to not allow.
[21:33] And allow things. One by one, more by more.
[21:39] And watch them avalanche until before you know it, you are dancing through life.
[21:52] Thank you so much for joining me today for Read, Reflect, Rise.
[21:57] If these words help you, I’d love it if you could share this episode with a friend, invite them to listen to it or leave a review.
[22:04] It really helps this community grow and it keeps these conversations flowing.
[22:10] If you’d like more inspiration, free resources and updates on new episodes as they come out, head to my website and join my mailing list.
[22:18] You’ll also find links to new things as they go live.
[22:22] And remember folks, there is magic, medicine and power in the words we weave and wield. Choose wisely.
[22:31] Until next time, may you read deeply, reflect gently and rise with an open heart.
[22:40] Thank you.
