This week’s Mindfulness Monday focuses on Non-attachment. Its opposite, attachment, has its basis in desire – whatever the focus of that desire is. We acquire tangible property and ‘stuff’, or we experience attachment to a particular cherished ideal, relationship, or established ways of thinking. Most often we are not conscious of our attachment or the reason for it. Understanding our attachments is the way to begin practicing non-attachment.
Holding-on
Holding-on condemns us to living a constricted and imprisoned life. Think of a dog who is kept chained in a yard. He is not free to roam and explore as is his true nature. No chasing squirrels or birds. He can’t follow the scent of a favored human, or other pet. Instead, he is tightly tethered and forced into routine and conformity. He may be safe and out of trouble, but he is not exploring a world that is wide, open, and dynamic.
Our attachments, whatever they are, are a primary source of our suffering. As we struggle, sometimes fiercely, to maintain the possessions, relationships, or perspectives that we prize, we are tethered to them and we prevent ourselves from growing. Most often we are not even conscious of the reason(s) why we are holding on.
Dulling Our Senses
Try this exercise. Take in a breath. Now hold it. Continue holding it. Refuse to exhale, but you will need to focus on It. It starts to slip out, so really focus. As you begin to ache for release you notice that perception changes. Keeping holding it and tighten you focus on holding it in. The vastness of what is happening around you is no longer noticeable. You are just holding the breath. In order to be able to take a next breath, the old one must be released. Now, Let Go. Wasn’t that good? Enjoy the reward of that fresh and life-sustaining next breath. Open to the fullness around you again, but see it with new eyes.
Letting go, whether it is a breath or a possession, a relationship, or an ideal, is the practice of non-attachment. When we are willing to see what we are attached to, we can begin to question our reason for holding on.
Practice Non-attachment
Explore your attachments this week. What are you attached to? How are you holding on? What would letting go mean? What possibilities might be available to you if you let go?
In the same ways as the exercise of holding your breath, letting go will open you into a fresh experience of new possibility, growth, and potential.
Let go!
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