The Power of Surrender
Do you recognize that the only reason you're suffering is because of your own inner state of resistance? What if instead of wasting your energy pushing against life you simply learned to let go and surrender to the present moment? Can you feel how liberating your life would be if you decided to drop your guard and live with an open heart? Imagine for a moment, living in a world where you feel free to be yourself. A world where all your basic needs are always provided for. A world where you know in your bones that you're safe and secure. A world where life is always working out for your best interest. Sounds nice right? Well guess what? That's the kind of world you're currently living in. Source Energy (AKA GOD) always has our back, but sometimes we all just need a little reminder that there's something bigger than us orchestrating the behind the scenes of our day to day lives. Learning to Let Go will help you build faith in the perfection of the divine. It will also help liberate you from fear and anxiety which as a result, unlocks the door to inner freedom and your unlimited potential.
The reason I picked this image for this particular post is because of how symbolic it really is. I have personally jumped out of an airplane and I can honestly say the skydiving metaphor for Taking The Leap is perfect for what I am trying to convey here. So, in hopes of making this post as entertaining and as relatable as possible, I will tell you a personal story that I am currently realizing was more significant in my spiritual journey than I've ever given credit to.
It was my 20th birthday. I wanted to do something big and exciting to celebrate this much anticipated new chapter of my life. That morning it dawned on me that what I was actually craving was a deep desire to just Feel Alive. I knew I needed some kind of adrenaline rush in order to awknowledge the beauty of my mortality. Skydiving was the first thing that came to mind. Coincidentally, there was only one seat left for a same day booking at the local jump zone. Without giving myself time to think twice, I booked my spot. Just a few hours later I was briefed with a short safety video, strapped in a harness, and sent up in a custom Cessna cargo plane with a dozen other wide eyed individuals. Little did I know, this brief encounter would have a profound impact on the development of my personal and spiritual awareness.
If you've ever been skydiving before, you know there's a moment at 12,000 feet when the GO-Light turns green and the cabin doors slide open. Suddenly the airplane is filled with a highly charged energy of anxiety, fear, and excitement. It's in this moment when you realize you're about to jump out of a perfectly good airplane... and for what? The rush? The fun of it? Because you saw them do it in Point Break? I remember thinking: Wait a second... I'm not really going to do this... I change my mind. Only, it was too late to change my mind. At that point in the flight, there's no going back. I was committed to pushing myself out of that door wether I liked it or not. Don't get me wrong, I could have put up a big fuss, stood my ground, and demanded to be flown back down to the airport, but deep in my core I knew I couldn't handle the embarrassment of being that one guy who chickened out mid-air. So I sucked it up, swallowed my pride, and peeked down the cabin to see the first young couple careen themselves out the door. My body froze stiff. I tried to motivate myself with positive thinking: Ok... I can do this. It's just like the movies. Just pretend you're a big action hero. My tandem instructor slid us both forward as a solo trainee launched himself into the air. I swore I could hear him screaming for his life as he fell away. My body filled itself with utter fear. Meanwhile, my instructor inched me even closer to the door. Suddenly I realized my feet were now dangling outside of the plane. I glanced down to the ground below, my fellow jumpers were nowhere to be seen. My mind started spinning into negativity once again: Did their chute even open? Oh god... I really can't do this. What am I thinking? I'm going to be the guy who dies doing something stupid on his birthday... this is just perfect. My instructor gives me the signal to put my head against his chest as he pushes me slightly over the edge. At this point, everything in my mind was screaming at me to pull away from the door. Just as I'm about to beg for a safe ride home, the green light flashes once again. Suddenly, my body was shoved out of the plane. My mind gave me one last hit of adrenaline and then... POOF.
Complete silence. Compete surrender. Complete allowance. Complete Bliss.
Free falling at 120 MPH feels terrifying and at the same time, somehow liberating. It's a feeling that's hard to put into words. There's nothing quite as freeing as jumping out of an airplane. In those short couple of seconds, your mind actually stops. At a primal level your mind and body realize, there's nothing left to fight against. You're as close to death as you could be and yet, your mind simply accepts the inevitable. What you're left to feel is pure bliss. Pure joy. Pure source itself spreading throughout your being. As you fall toward the ground below, you can't help but feel an inner peace rising up within your body. Then, just moments later, the chute opens and all that's left is a gentle appreciation for being alive.
I remember my instructor taking a few pictures with his Go-Pro as we dangled by a canvas and strings thousands of feet above beautiful Washington state. I was fully immersed in the present moment, simply savoring the beauty of the world around me as we drifted down to the airfield below. There was an ear to ear grin appearing on my face. Deep inside myself I knew I somehow touched god. It was a feeling I hadn't felt for years and little did I know, it was a way of life I would be pursuing from that moment on. Seconds later, my butt landed with a thud on the grass beneath me. I stood back up on my feet and to my surprise, I was still in one piece. I watched in amazement as the other troop members landed beside me. Each person had the same expression of pure bliss as my own. That's when the realization first occurred to me: Letting Go of suffering is as natural as free falling itself. You just have to be willing to take the leap into the unknown. That last bit is the part we all get stuck on.
The biggest piece of insight you should take from the skydiving story is that the mind resists that which threatens your existence. Wether that be skydiving, snow skiing, bungie jumping, or any other hobby that could be potentially dangerous or harmful. The mind will avoid risky interests like the plague. However, the mind also resists that which threatens your emotional state. Since most of us aren't usually putting ourselves in daily life or death situations, this emotional resistance is where the trouble begins. The mind in its basic function, doesn't want you to put yourself in potentially compromising positions. Simply put, the mind keeps you living by your habits. It keeps you avoiding that new art class down the street for fear of rejection or failure. It disputes the purchase of that new self-help book or makes you cancel your appointment with your life-coach for fear of the unknown. To the mind, the unknown is scary and potentially life threatening. After all, the unknown is where we discover our real self. Whenever we leap into the unknown, we open the door to the inspiration from our soul. Therefore, the unknown itself is a threat to the EGO we've clung onto throughout our lives. Basically the mind see's anything that exposes our fragile ego as an enemy to be avoided at all costs. From the mind's perspective, The Unknown = Egoic Death. The mind is only doing what it knows will keep you safe and comfortable. The unsettling truth is, that which keeps you comfortable can sometimes be exactly what's holding you back from your potential.
In order to make sure you obey its commands, the mind communicates to you via thoughts and your powerful nervous system. Flooding your body with an electrifying energy of angst, anger, or worry, plus a rampage of negative thinking, causes you to instinctively pull away from that which challenges your Ego's false beliefs. Even if that means avoiding your dream job or goal, your mind will find a way to convince you that Pulling Away and Closing Your Heart is the most logical option in any unstable circumstance. Emotional resistance is one of the biggest causes for suffering in our lives. We waste massive amounts of time and energy playing the mind's game, avoiding the unknown simply because it feels uncomfortable. The mind is powerful. It has the power to create worlds through logic and imagination, but it also has the power to tear your body and your life apart if you don't utilize your ability to focus. Through living in a chronic state of resistance (AKA STRESS), your body literally begins to break itself down. Developing large amounts of inflammation is a direct result to the brain's fight or flight system. And what is it that we are flighting or fighting against? Life Itself.
So how do we change this primal function? How do we break free from the mind's basic protection mechanism? How do we actually learn to Let Go and enjoy life again?
This may seem harsh, but your mind really needs to hear it. You Can't Control Everything. And even if you could, would you really want to?
Life is full of the unknown. It's everywhere you look. Fighting against this aspect of living will only cause you more suffering and pain. The only way to true freedom is through learning to let go of your resistance to life. You must teach your mind to surrender to life's natural flow. I don't mean surrender as in wave a white flag and tuck your head between your legs hoping for the best. I mean surrender as in letting go of the oars and following your soul's impulses. You must teach your mind to Let Go of your attempt to control each and every circumstance in your life. In this way of surrender, you literally begin to free fall through your life's events in the most remarkable way. It's as if you train your conscious self to simply not get involved with the mind's drama. Instead of allowing your life to be dictated by doubt, you choose to Take The Leap in all situations. Hesitation is what holds the majority back from their dreams. Learning to "Drop The Thought" whenever negative thinking arises, frees your awareness from getting stuck in the mind's constant melodrama. Another blog post I wrote about "The Objective Perspective" covers this process in more detail. Essentially you must learn to feel the fear and do it anyway. That is the art of letting go. Depending on how identified you are with your ego's thought patterns results in the amount of difficulty this task will be for you.
What about the nervous system? Sometimes it feels as if we are out of control of our body. Like the skydiving example, that primal desire to survive can be so strong that your mind releases a heavy dosage of natural chemicals and adrenaline just to motivate you to run from, or fight off, the situation at hand. When we bring our awareness of this reaction into our body, we can then shine a light on what's really happening within us. Becoming aware of our body's natural process already helps to lighten the burden on our shoulders. Sometimes the simple Not Knowing of what's going on in our body can be enough to cause us to freak out and want to abandon ship through numbing out with drugs, alcohol, or technology. But never fear, your body is one of your greatest allies in your journey here on earth. It will only communicate to you the honest truth of what you're feeling... even if that truth feels painful. Whenever a friend or client comes to me with a lot of pain in their body, my first question always turns into: What are you resisting most in your life? When we work to dissolve the resistance we are carrying, our body can then heal any imbalances that have manifested. It all begins with letting go. We must first let go of identifying with suffering before we can claim back our right to thrive in perfect harmony. Breathwork is a powerful tool for those who struggle with high stress levels, anxiety, and pain in the physical body.
Sometimes what people need most in life is a simple act of faith. By taking the leap into the unknown, you are in essence, placing your trust back in the divine. This is a very powerful and very healing process. Through time, your mind will remember the fundamental truth: The source of everything that is will always love you and protect you. Ever heard the term beginners luck? Source wants you to be free. Source wants you to try new things. It wants you to test your faith. By doing so, you may be surprised at just how "lucky" you really are. It's only our mind that keeps us confined. If you can master your ability to Let Go and Trust, you'll find yourself claiming back some sense of faith. Wether you believe in God or not, the evidence of a higher power will begin to make itself evident in your daily life. The more you allow your mind to dictate your life, the more confined and smothered you will feel. It's like some kind of twisted paradox. The more the mind tries to keep you safe, the more trapped you become. If you allow your mind to try and control everything, you'll literally feel yourself squeeze the soul out of living. Life then becomes a big problem to fixed, instead of a game to be enjoyed. We aren't meant to control everything. There'd be no fun in life if we could predict and manage every little detail of our experience. After all, it's the little surprises in life that turn out to be our biggest blessings.
Remember: It's not our circumstances that cause us pain... it's only our resistance to them.
Some of the best things in my life have come from letting go of resistance. The thing is, resistance itself can be disguised as so many secret saboteurs. From judgement to fear, criticism to anxiety, whatever form resistance takes for you, rest assured it can be fully released from your habitual tool belt with just a little willingness to Surrender and Allow.
Learning to let go really is about learning to root your awareness in the present moment. This means fully merging with your body right here and right now. The gift of the five senses is not a gift to be taken lightly. Your five senses are more powerful than you can imagine. They have the ability to actually pull your awareness from your chaotic mind and re-align your being with your inner source. The next time you take a walk outside, gently bring your focus to your senses. Feelthe pavement or dirt beneath your feet, hear the birds and wind blowing in the trees, smell the fresh cut grass or wildflowers, see the beauty of love that surrounds you, and taste the delicious feeling of true unconditional freedom. Using the five senses helps you to step out of the mind and remember your true oneness with all that is. That's how powerful and liberating letting go can be.
Give this method a try and take a gamble with faith today. You may find yourself immersed in the middle of a miracle.
Much Love,
~ Austin
