And Then We Surrender

According to the dictionary, to surrender means to stop the resistance. For some reason, we always associate surrender with defeat. Surrendering allows us to take a well deserved rest, let go of control and connect to the reality of being alive.

For many years and throughout my period of addiction recovery, I learned to fill my life with plans and activities leaving little space for rest. In my mind, my constant motion was an antidote to not relapse. Of course, I was succeeding in my intention of staying sober and clean but I was exhausted and resentful.

When I started to practice yoga, I became aware that I approached my practice the same way that I approached living. But then I started to learn the concept of resting in certain poses and that I could use these resting poses any time. Soon enough, I started to realize that in life I also had resting moments that I could use any time. I had to work with my difficulty to surrender, let go and relax. I am still working on it, but now I find myself craving moments of peace and relaxation.

Surrender is a gift that all of us can use, especially in situations like our current quarantine and isolation. Many of us have come to realize that we have little control over our lives now and there are minimal amounts of planning or activities to do. We can certainly use this time to obsess over the loss of our jobs, or over our financial instability, or living in fear of getting sick or what the future may bring. We also have the option to release these thoughts for a while because right now there is not much that we can do. We can decide to release our control, our fears and our anxiety and try to get in touch with our true nature. We can decide to surrender in peace and let go of the things we thought we could not live without. We can decide to love ourselves and be in peace with our new normal. We are all learning to let go and surrender.

May all of us get to know the gift of surrendering, letting go and filling our lives with the beauty of living the moment.

Namaste…

The moment of surrender is not when life is over, but when it begins.

- Marianne Williamson