To Relax and Let Go

We are riddled with problems — unless maybe we aren’t?

I’ve been troubling over a problem with my job for a while now. Since the beginning of the year, my mind has only been collecting angst about it until finally I decided to do something. I gave a six week notice, and not three hours after I’d told my boss I was leaving did I start troubling over the next problem. It’s like my mind had it all lined up, ready to go.

Oh, the maddening mental drama we become accustomed to.

We will always have something to worry about. We will always have problems. There will always be something in the future, that may or may not happen, that our minds will busy themselves with, in a more or less angsty way.

One could say that it is the nature of the mind to worry and find problems; one could also say it is the nature of the mind to be curious, to wonder, to imagine and create. All of the above are correct—our minds are our allies, as well as the source of much of our anxiety.

So, then, what do we do about these problems that keep on coming? How do we use our minds as positive forces in our lives?

I am reminded distinctly of the author and spiritual teacher Michael Singer, who wrote The Untethered Soul and Living Untethered. I say this not lightly, but honestly: his books are the most transformative I have read on the topics of self-development and spirituality. Singer teaches us how to become aware of our incessant mental drama (what he calls our “inner roommate”), and how to let go of that mental drama to access more presence and peace. One of Singer’s primary methods for transcending our inner mental drama is this: relax and let go. Literally relax the body and the mind, and let go of the problem.

This is perhaps the simplest, most profound advice one can receive. Still, it can come across as almost insulting in its implications—I can hear the mind already: What do you mean relax?? Let go?? What about X? But how will I figure out Y?

What if we don’t need to think so hard about our problems—what if thinking hard about our problems actually perpetuates them? Singer reminds us that it is often not our life situations that are causing our problems, but the busyness of the mind. At the very least, the mind greatly exacerbates the issue at hand:

“Eventually you will see that the real cause of the problem is not life itself. It’s the commotion the mind makes about life that really causes the problem.”

I only know this to be true through directly experiencing the effects of relaxing and letting go in the midst of problems. It really works. (If only it were easy to remember to do this constantly throughout the day.)

When I am able to notice my mind causing a commotion, and then remember to relax and let go of as much of it as I can, I experience nearly immediate relief. Notice, relax, let go. 10 times out of 10, the problem ends up resolving, and any work that is required of me comes much more smoothly. I’m more relaxed about it.

So here’s a practice for the week: Notice the commotion, relax the mind and body, and let go of as much as possible. Feel the moment. Trust in the resolution of the problem.

Relax and let go, again and again.

See what happens.

(And report back when you do.)

Maggie