RELEASING THE PAST
Ahhh, the past. The smell of cinnamon and orange can instantly snap me back to memories of family Christmases in a small house full of people and love and loudness. Fond memories of the past can follow us into adulthood, true, but, commonly, the memories from the past that we hold on to are those we'd rather not. I know that personally, if I recall high school, I think of the painful experiences, the judgement, the labeling, and the status or social ranks before I think of the fun I had cheering at football games. Why is it that we hang on more to the things that hurt? If you think of past relationships, do you first think of the good times that you had together or of the rocky break up? Probably the tearful breakup, amiright?
Let's be honest. We've all spent hours lying in bed, awake, staring at the ceiling, replaying past events in our heads that make us feel yucky and that keep us from our much needed sleep. That feeling, that regret, pain, loss, guilt, or shame gets heavy. I know that personally, when reminded of a failure from my past, I would replay the event over and over. I would feel all the feelings of being let go from that one dream job. I would wince because I remembered that one time a woman threatened to beat my ass over something that wasn't my fault. I would dwell on the pain and ask myself why I did something. Why did I freak out over crumbs on the floor? Why did I throw my Chik-fil-A sandwich on that crazy ladies windshield? (Actually, pregnancy is the answer to that one.) Why didn't I spend more time with my grandmother when I was a teenager? Why did I not respect myself more in high school? All these questions would run through my head. The weight of the emotion that came with them was oppressive. The amount of mental and emotional energy used up by these memories and feelings became overwhelming.
You see, when we make room for the yucky stuff, we invite more in. Like attracts like, and when you start down that rabbit hole of negativity, it's really easy for the negativity to take over. The next thing we know, we're casting all sorts of judgements on ourselves. "Well, shit, I must be stupid for allowing ________ to happen." "I'm a slut for letting so and so do something that I didn't like." "I must be worthless because so many people have no problem leaving my life." "I'm disposable." "I'm only seen as a pair of tits." "I must be weak because I didn't stand up for myself." "I'm immature because I handled that situation poorly."
My love, these types of thoughts are utter bullshit. BULLSHIT! Dirty, nasty lies that we believe that hold us back from happiness, peace, joy, and fulfillment. So, why do we hang on to them?
While I don't know for certain, I know that we CAN release them. Letting go of those energetic ties to our past opens up TONS of room in our hearts, our minds, our mental chatter, and our lives for good things and happy thoughts to come in. If I had a dollar for each time I caught myself focusing on something painful from the past, I'd be next-level loaded. You could be getting 8 full hours of restful sleep. You could spend that energy on building a business or mastering a craft. You could be fully present in the moment and notice the beauty that surrounds you. What if you missed out on meeting a really special person that would have been good to you because you were so hung up on the pain caused by an ex? The possibilities of positivity are endless, and the more time you fill your mind with positive thoughts, the more time and energy you spend on positive endeavors, the more you reap the positive results.
When I did finally realize that I was stuck in my past, I also decided that it was time to do something about it. I had to release the weight of past events that still weighed heavy on my heart and mind. How though? Good question. There are several ways to release energetic ties to the past. We all know that trying NOT to think about something is just going to make us think about it even more, so then, where the hell do we start?
I promised to teach tools that can help change your life, and there are several release rituals that I love. I want to cover one of them here and empower you to take your power, mind, heart, and energy back, because I KNOW you can create some magical shit with all those resources once you do.
Cord Cutting. Painful past events are often tied to relations with people. We form energetic ties to people that we interact with, especially those that we may have had physical and romantic relationships with, people who we loved that have hurt us, and those that have abused us in any way. When you don't sever these energetic ties, you tend to carry around the wounds, past, and pain in your present. I'd bet you can think of at least one person you have imaginary fights with. We've all walked around in silence, but we're cussing out the SOB that we've been hurt by, imagining all the perfect comebacks that we couldn't think of in the moment. This is an energetic tie. Sometimes this will manifest as this person or event popping up in your thoughts and dreams all the time. Sometimes, this will manifest as old, harmful patterns repeating in your present, even though the person that caused you to form these patterns hasn't been in your life in years. This is common with trauma and abuse. We often repeat the painful cycles. We end up attracting horrible partners because we never ended our energetic tie to the first bad one, and since we carry that negative energy with us, we bring more of the same into our lives.
Here's the shockingly simple ritual to put an end to all of it.
Sit quietly and breath.
Set the intention to sever the cords that connect you to somebody or some event that keeps you in pain or no longer serves you
Light a white candle then close your eyes
Say outload, "Spirit guide (or Archangel Michael), I ask here and now to release the ties, tethers, hooks, cords, threads and any other form of connection attaching me to _____. Cut the cords here and now. I free and liberate my energy from them and them from me. I take my energy back and release them with love and light. Seal me in protection and love for no other negativity to penetrate. And so it is. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
Repeat the mantra until you feel release.
Enjoy your newfound levity.
Now, go out into the world and create the life you want with all your newfound energy and clarity. Create beauty. Embody strength. Practice forgiveness. When one container empties (your heart, your mind, your time, space that you hold for someone, etc), it's opened up for something better to fill it. Now that you've cleaned out your mental, emotional, and energetic closets, go fill them with bigger, better things that serve you.
Until next time, I believe in you,
- Mer
