Self Cultivation

Create a Releasing Ceremony For Yourself
An Inner-world Exploration 

There is “stuff” within us that’s in our way. It may be making us sick. It may be making us unhappy. It may be keeping us from doing something. Some of it we recognize.  Some we don’t. We need to let all those unwanted inhibitors go. We want to release whatever is keeping us from moving forward in our relationships, in our health, in our business.  Can you identify a personal problem you want to solve, and can you also identify the cause?  Think about letting it go. 

Is your body suit showing signs of imbalance?  Let go of whatever is causing that. We may not know the specific cause of an imbalance, but we know we want to release it.

Create a Ceremony of Releasing

You may feel the need to reset your life at the New Year, on your birthday, at the solstice and equinox, the full moons, the new moon.  Or you just may think, “Today’s the day.”

You want to create a Ceremony of Releasing that works for you.  So begin to experiment. 

I do my Ceremony of Releasing through shamanic journeying, which is a form of mediation.  I can get very creative in how I release what I want to let go. 

Put it down and leave it behind

In my meditative journey, I’ve carried an emotion in a knapsack on my back and simply laid it down along my path, only to turn and see it change to water and become a new form to nurture others. 

I’ve carried an anger I wanted to get rid of in a bag with the intuition of burying it, only to lay it on the ground and have it turn to earthworms who actually waved at me as they went off to do good work for the earth. 

The lesson, it seems, is that whatever you want to get rid of that’s harming you can be changed into something useful.  

Let the fire consume your unwanted blockages

Another ceremony for releasing unwanted beliefs, idea, unknown-unwanted things is to put them in a fire.   The fire changes it to smoke, the smoke dissolves in the air and it is released into a form that no longer harms. 

I, however, seem to have a hard time burning things. Destroying even a twig.  I have no idea why.  You will create your own Releasing Ceremony to honor your purpose and intention.

Release your unwanted belief into the earth

In a recent shamanic journey, I thought to place the perceived blockage I wanted to release into pinecones, but I didn’t want to destroy them in fire. So I visually buried them with the intentions for them to grow into something useful.

Release your unwanted blockage into water

Sometimes I go and stand under the waterfall in my Sacred Garden.  That certainly clears things out.  But there’s also a quiet pool there where I can also release what I no longer want to carry with me.

Let water rinse away what you wish to release.

Let air carry away your blockages

Blowing bubbles is a fun way to release whatever you want to release.  You could use a balloon.  Or, you can simply stand in a gentle breeze and feel the air moving through you to carry away what’s no longer needed or wanted. That’s a good one. 

What you release may take different forms

In one of my releasing journeys, I ultimately found myself wearing an imaginary cape that was weighing down my shoulders and affecting how I felt and even how I walked.  Sometimes cloaks feel cozy; this one did not.  I filled this imaginary cloak with all the emotions and beliefs and feelings that no longer serve me.  I thanked them for their service and threw the cape into the fire where there was a loud roaring sound as the flames consumed it.  Sparks flew up, smoke rose, and all those burdens, beliefs, unknown “whatevers” that were holding me down, changed form.  I stood up straighter and felt myself filled with a golden pillar of light, not one of protection but of inner strength. 

This is your releasing ceremony.  Do what works for you. 

You can make a list of what you no longer want.  You can write it on paper, and tear up the paper or burn it over the sink.  Whatever symbolic gesture of releasing you can think of will work. 

You can simply tear the paper up into small pieces over a wastebasket. 

You can dance and release.  You can take a deep breath and when you breathe out release what you no longer want. 

You might pause as you enter your house each evening to mentally shed your work day and bring yourself as a loving presence into your evening. 

You might create a releasing ceremony at the end of your day and put aside anything our have accumulated.  You can release it then or you can put it in a bowl to be mutated by your helping spirits during the night.  Do whatever works for you.

Look closely for what you want to release

A key part of the releasing process is to identify what you no longer want.  Look behind the obvious problem to identify the subtle causes. It may be a belief, a fear, a misunderstanding, a disappointment, an unknown that is causing something physical to appear. The blockage or unwanted energy can take many forms. I found I had expectations of a family member that I had to release. A particular expectation.  Something I wanted, but something that was not going to be given. 

Identify what you want to release and create a symbolic way to release it.  

Blow it toward the flame of a candle. Shake it out with a rattle. Beat it out with a drum.  I have a wind whistle and I can release the unwanted, unknown, unidentified “whatever” to the wind by using my breath.  I can also do that without a wind whistle. 

Set an intention to release

The core of a releasing ceremony is your intention.  You don’t have to know the cause but you do want to have the intention: such as,  “I release whatever is making my back hurt.”  You have no idea what that is, but you can release it.  “I release whatever is in the way of my feeling loved.”  “I release whatever is holding me back from expressing myself fully.”

What’s your intention for your Releasing Ceremony?

Do a Releasing Ceremony often

Some days it’ll be obvious that you need to do some form of a Releasing Ceremony because something happened and it affected you. The sooner you can release it, the less impact it will have in your life. 

On other days you won’t know what you’re releasing but you’ll be willing to let go of what no longer serves you.  You don’t have to know what it is, just notice how your life changes after you do.  

Before entering your home, you might blow any burdens, worries, upsets or disappointments out into the wind.  Just let it go.  Then enter.

Offer gratitude

When you release something, thank it for its service and let it go.  

Perhaps at the end of the day go back over your day and see what you have been given and look for what you want to release.   Do a short releasing breath before you sleep with an affirmation like “I let go of whatever I no longer need.”   

If you’re very attached to it, lay it aside to be picked up after a good night’s sleep, but do put it aside. 

When you do some sort of releasing, a “thank-you-very-much-but-go-away” ceremony each evening – however short, however elaborate – your life will change for the better.  Each day will become a clean slate upon which to uninhibitedly express yourself. 

What kind of releasing ceremony will you devise for yourself?  How often will you do it? 

Deeper Song Process:

• What would you like to release? Identify it or identify the imbalance it’s causing. 
• Choose one of the ways to release from above, or make up your own method.  
• Choose a time for your Releasing Ceremony where you won’t be disturbed.
• Sit quietly and decide what you want to release. You may want to write it down. You may want to say it out loud. You may want to just think about it.  Choose one thing to release in this first ceremony. As you progress, you can release multiple things during one ceremony.  Try to find the core problem.  Anger might be at the core.  Or fear, or disappointment.  Look for the emotion involved that you want to release. 
• Create your Releasing Ceremony – whatever that means to you.  Music, candles, silence.  Do it physically or do it in your imagination.
• Do the work.  Let go of what you no longer need or want and what no longer serves you.
• In the days that follow, notice how you feel. 
• Repeat as desired. 

To Sing a Deeper Song, Consider:

Who Needs to Give You Permission?

The Power of your Imagination

Do You Believe In Yourself? 

Our Defense of Non-Existent Boundaries

What Are Your Weaving in Your Reality?