Tip of the Week: Let Go of the Things that No Longer Serve You

Are you holding on to things that no longer serve you? Ideas, expectations, desires, bad habits, false beliefs, unhealthy relationships, old injuries, judgements about your ability, self doubt? Many of these things carry over into your Bikram practice and hold you back from your true potential. The person who walked into the yoga studio today is not the same person who walked in yesterday. Every day, every moment presents an opportunity to create ourselves anew, to shrug off the baggage of the past, open ourselves up to the possibility of the moment and take action to create an incredible future. 

Are the things you're doing in your life making you healthier, stronger, happier and more powerful? Believe in yourself. Believe that holding on does nothing in fact but hold you back from becoming your best self. The following is an email we received from one of our students Sara Rodriguez who has learned the lesson of letting go. Sara is a regular student who recently had to take some time off from practicing due to some injuries from ballet dancing.

"I have every intention of getting back into the hot room as soon as possible. I can't even explain how difficult it has been to be away from all of you, to feel so separated from the practice that I have come to love as the better part of me. It's been a tough mental and emotional adjustment more than anything, as Bikram Yoga SLC has become my happy place--your beautiful studio full of such beautiful people showed me how to let go of everything that happens externally, for the internal journey is all that really is. I was able to take that from the hot room to the rest of my life, and it changed me for the better. I have struggled for the past month with not being able to fulfill that desire for inner peace through my physical practice. Even more so, I miss the energy at Bikram Yoga SLC--the way that each of you has a sincere love and appreciation for every person who walks through your doors inspires me on so many levels. This positive energy gives me the beautiful change of pace that I crave every day.

We all have a story; I truly believe that every one of us has this element of our past that comes with us wherever we go from there. Bikram has helped me learn how to channel that energy into something positive, no matter how negative the past may have seemed when it was the present. It has given me the hope that is vital to turning things around, the notion that one really never is too broken to begin again and discover the deepest potential for beauty. We can acknowledge the past, take it for what it is, and let go of the parts that don't serve us--that's what I am still trying to do every time I practice: do I really need to hold onto that muscle to achieve this asana? What can I let go to make this pose exactly what I need it to be? These questions apply in every situation: do I really need to hold onto that feeling or that event to be better, or will letting it go give me more room to grow?

As for my story, this is only another beginning. There are no ends, really. You are so right--this balance is the beauty of bikram, playing between holding on and letting go, because that's life."