September eNews: Letting Go

Whew! I guess it’s been a summer of letting go. I let go of my dear friend, Lynn, on the Earthly plane, and I let go of my long curly hair, and now I’m letting go of lots of possessions and stuck emotions and thoughts. Pretty soon, we will let go of our home, and figure out what the next plan is. Even letting go of that feels like a spiritual practice.

I was listening to The Minimalists podcast in the car the other day while I was on my way to pick up my new glasses. The podcast was called The Science of Happiness. What I took away is that resisting pain is what causes us to be unhappy and feeling into it is what releases it. I also learned that we get a constant drip of cortisol in our bodies from constant worrying, and unnecessary fear adds more fuel to the cortisol fire. We are wired to have a big bout with fear every once in awhile like when you have to run from a bear. Wait….you’re not supposed to run from a bear….

The same is true for our pets. They get stressed when we worry and they become fearful when things aren’t clear. I’ve worked really hard with our dog, Reggae, to explain life to him when he seems concerned or out of balance. I even read the Wikipedia description of thunder to him during a storm. It helped.

So, here’s to letting go. And more letting go. And more letting go. See you around the corner and please be in touch when you’re needing more support for yourself and/or your beloved animal companions!

Exhaling,
Sage