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Letting Go 
"The process of letting go is like taking a journey to the center of your being."
- Darren L. Johnson
2011 has arrived and the New Year brings the promise of new beginnings in our lives. Since January 1, I have heard and read about predictions for the next 12 months, resolutions and how to make them stick, setting intentions and past year reviews - all of which are meant to create your best life in the new year. What struck me is that most of the resolutions or intentions include the word "more," emphasizing what people want to bring into their lives, not what they want to shed (other than body weight!). Aspirations included more travel, more time with family and friends, more free time, more money, and more love.
Yet in order to experience all the desired fresh starts and get "more" in your life in this year, you may need to make room by letting go of or releasing some lingering "stuff" or baggage. This time of new beginnings is the time to let go of and forgive anything in your life that is holding you back.
You may want to forgive mistakes or injustices and/or release guilt, shame, negative thoughts or unhealthy relationships. Please be willing to let go of repetitive suffering over past experiences. Do you want to let go of blame? Anger? People pleasing?
If you are ready to release whatever feels limiting, I am going to help you with a "how to." You are going to use a rite of renewal known as the Burning Bowl ceremony. You will be amazed at how powerful this ritual is at letting things go. It is both very simple and very transformative, especially where there is a need and a willingness to let go of negatives, such as shame, guilt, resentment, regret and suffering about past experiences. The Burning Bowl helps us relinquish anything that burdens our mind or spirit while helping us identify those things that we wish to be in our lives, particularly in the coming year.
First, write down on a piece of paper (or use many pieces, if you want to) whatever you want to be free of. Write down what you want to let go of - old habits that no longer serve you, some mistake or failure from the past, a limiting belief, any of your fears, a dysfunctional relationship, anything that you want to release. Take the time to do the mental and emotional work that is involved in this portion of the ritual. This writing requires your energy and attention to identify what you wish to release.
After you've written down whatever you want to let go of, spend a few moments in quiet contemplation and make a commitment to letting go.
Next, burn the paper in a bowl. Watch the paper burn, as you commit your concerns to the flame. The fire in the bowl is a symbol of transformation; fire is a powerful element of change. It turns the paper into ashes. The paper burning portion of the ritual, which powerfully symbolizes letting go, is a way of releasing whatever no longer works for us and is holding us back. As you watch the paper burn, feel the sense of release. You can even say to yourself, "I am free. I can move on." After the fire is out, you may want to bury the ashes.
If you later think of whatever you relinquished, you can remember the burning bowl as well as the image above in this newsletter and be reminded that you let go of and transformed those limitations through the fire.
Our culture loves science and cognition so we have lost many valuable experiences of ceremony and ritual. However, we are not merely rational, logical beings so we are called by the mystery of ritual. Try this letting go ritual at the beginning of the new year and see what changes for you. It can't hurt.
"By letting go, it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go." - Lao Tzu | 
