01 Oct Letting go versus letting be.

‘Let it go’ seems to be the solution to many problems these days. However, a closer examination of the concept of letting go reveals that it does not necessarily lead to freedom. The starting point for letting go is almost always fear or judgment. There is something in your life that you do not want, and you believe that if you let it go, everything will improve. This, however, is a trick of the mind. It gives you the illusion of choice and power, as if deciding to let go of your favourite problem will ensure it no longer has a hold over you.

The mind operates within the dimensions of time and space, and its primary function is to seek. It is always on the move, searching for something other than what is present in the moment. The mind thrives on stories and is entirely driven by a survival instinct. It will literally go to any lengths to preserve that story — your personal drama. In this way, the mind has also hijacked the concept of letting go, turning it into a seductive technique with a powerful promise that always lies in the future. Thus, letting go effectively becomes the same as seeking and ‘fixing’.

From an energetic perspective, letting go has the opposite effect of what you wish to achieve. Unconsciously and unintentionally, you move away from what is presenting itself in your awareness. You resist what is and attempt to solve it — or so you think. In the process, you build up new tension during your quest and fail to release the old energetic burden. This tension becomes toxic information for your system.

So, what should you do instead? The HeartMath Institute in the United States conducts scientific research into the intelligence and energetic qualities of the heart. Over recent years, this research has led to some remarkable discoveries. For example, the heart has an energy field that is many times stronger than that of the brain. This field can even be measured far beyond the boundaries of the physical body. The research also shows that the heart is our first point of interaction with our surroundings: all information is literally received there first. The heart has its own memory and a neural network, referred to as the ‘heart brain’. Whereas it was previously believed that the brain controlled the entire system, it is now clear that far more signals travel from the heart to the brain than the other way around. There is a constant interaction between the two. Furthermore, the heart operates beyond time and space, responding to situations even before they occur.

It is no coincidence that mythical qualities are often attributed to the heart. Because the heart transcends time and space, it can perceive the present moment as it truly is. It sees life as it is, without a story or judgment. The heart does not concern itself with where a feeling comes from or where it might lead; it simply is what it is. The heart does not attach meaning or a need to ‘fix’ anything. It can allow everything to be as it is and recognise it for what it truly is. This is compassion: the unveiling of the illusion that what you experience is personal and must be solved. By being fully available for whatever arises, the heart sends signals to the brain, communicating that everything is okay. This keeps the mind calm, preventing stress from being created in the system.

The remarkable energetic effect of this compassionate embrace of the heart is not only the release of tension. At the same time, it breaks the old patterns that caused the tension to accumulate in the first place. You literally learn to welcome life into your heart. In doing so, you can experience an increasing range of life’s aspects without becoming burdened by them. A coincidental side effect of this way of being is that tension in your surroundings can also effortlessly dissipate within this embrace. Conflicts simply cannot exist in the presence of compassion.

The mind struggles with this because it requires no action. How can it be that problems you may have wrestled with for years resolve themselves by simply becoming fully aware of them and allowing them to be? For the mind, which fears its own absence above all else, this is a terrifying thought. It will quickly devise a new scheme to get you back on the move. Stay vigilant!

The Chinese mystic Nin Sheng aptly summarised this idea:

“You don’t need to let go of anything. When you are willing to fully experience the things you wish to let go of, they will let go of you.”