Healing the past is a common theme that I see with clients. You have heard the saying that goes something like be here now, or be fully present, and that the only thing that matters is this present moment. I believe this to be true and the more fully engaged we are in the present moment, our ability to absorb and retain the information that is necessary for our lives increases. Awareness is a practice. Mindfulness is a practice. And so is letting go. To heal is to let go. And to heal the past is to let go of the energy of it, too. On a subtle level, when we have held onto something– anger, resentment, guilt, fear, disappointment, a negative break up, a loss, whatever it is that this we live through and experience, whether it is within our control to fix or not, it stays with us as energy (information) in our field. And when we interact with other people, that energy is there communicating, sending out a vibration and interacting with others.

We hear this a lot too, right? We hear people say just let it go. We even have songs that we make our anthem like Shake it Off by Taylor Swift, and Let it Go by Idina Menzel.

But what does it really mean to let go, why is it so hard, and how do we do it? How do we apply it practically in our lives? These are the questions that I ask all the time. And the truth is that what works for me may not work for you. In fact, it probably won’t. Letting go is a process that unfolds uniquely for everyone. For me, letting go started when I realized how much conditioning I was holding in my mind – from the religious beliefs of my childhood to the beliefs and opinions of my parents to the education I received in school. Absorbing the energy of these environments was a part of my process, because when I became aware of the need to let go of much of this conditioning, I had something to work with. The awareness nudged me in the direction of healing, of cleansing the layers of conditioning and in the direction of improving the overall quality of my life. I didn’t need all of this energy that I had accumulated over the years.

Healing is a deeply liberating process and it cannot be defined all that simply. It takes time to work to release accumulated energy, to release the energy of the past, to neutralize the emotional charge of an experience or of several experiences. It takes time to unlearn beliefs and coping mechanisms that we created on a subconscious level. It takes time to connect with peace and trust, because we are conditioned to fear.

I say all of this because I don’t believe that healing is a quick fix, or that it rescues us from something negative that we experience. I believe in miracles and I believe in the power of love to heal a physical condition. But I believe that this happens over time and it happens one day at a time. Suffering is inherent to the human experience, so unlearning our patterns of suffering will take time and that process requires patience, perseverance, determination and self-love. Be kind to yourself when you aren’t where you want to be. Be gracious. Be patient.