The Super Power of Being Present and Letting Go

So many of us hold onto fear, ultimately fear of dying. But it shows up as fear of not being enough, not having enough, needing to be something else, maybe more, maybe less, worried about our reputations, our body image, our incomes and titles, all of these very human things. It’s understandable. And it is often what drives us crazy - the anxiety and stress connected to all of those “should haves” and “being enough.”

As I was listening to Ira Glass today (I have always been a fan of his work and This American Life) they shared a “must know fact” that 98 percent of our atoms are new each year so I thought I would explore this topic of change and the things that hold us back.

I like to think about this idea of impermanence and change; attachment and letting go. The super power of acceptance or contentment (santosha) and finding peace with what we have right now comes from the super power of being present. I share more on many of these concepts from the ancient wisdom of yoga philosophy on my video podcast.

98 percent of the atoms in the human body are renewed each year! Water makes up about 70 percent of the body and about half of those water molecules are replaced every eight days.

If we are so attached to what we have, how does our perspective change when we understand this changing nature of our bodies?

We are not permanent. Our bodies are ever changing. We can choose to begin again now, to establish a practice we want to create for personal excellence. We get to choose to take right action and make the world a better place.

I often hear people say, I can’t do yoga because, “I’m not flexible” or “I’m not patient enough.” Yoga may not be for you and that’s fine. But if you want to gain flexibility, mindfulness, or self-awareness, it starts with practice. Marc Holzman talks about the benefits of creating a consistent practice of letting go in this interview excerpt from my video podcast.

Instead of believing the lies you tell yourself and identifying so strongly with your thoughts, decide what you want to be in a year from now and start creating a practice that will allow that to be true for you.

We all come from the same stardust. Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen – those four elements make up 96.2 percent of the mass of the human body.

Maybe you know this already and what I am sharing here is rudimentary for you. Fine. But then, why are you stuck here in this place knowing that change is certain. Why are we not doing more to keep plastic out of our oceans and pesticides off of our food? Why are we exerting so much energy fighting with others and needing to be right when we share this world, our atoms, and our breath with all living beings? 

“There are more atoms in your body than there are stars in the entire Universe” says award-winning scientist Ethan Siegel.

The breath is autonomic. Our cells’ regeneration is autonomic. It happens whether you want it to or not. Change is certain. Our bodies are incredible vessels and we are connected to everything else in the universe through our atoms.

After a year+ of a global pandemic, the word “renewal” is even more symbolic of the opportunities that lie ahead.

We are here, borrowing this land. We will not take it with us when we die. But our legacy lives on even through the lives of others. And in that transformation we have a choice to see each other as one or to continue to fight, to hurt, to be angry.

We are often afraid to step into being the best versions of ourselves. A lot of times society won’t allow it. Through the lens of bias we prefer to see people as fixed in their ways and unable to reform, grow, evolve.

Think about the prison system and opportunities for justice reform. If each of us is 98 percent new each year, that is huge – massive – potential for growth.

Tell me. Are you a parent? Do you have a fixed mindset around the possibilities of your children? I hope not. How about for yourself? Are you the same version of yourself that you were at 12 years old? Unlikely.

Let’s all take a deep breath, connect to deep empathy for ourselves and others, wake up to the joy in this moment and the possibility for creating something new for tomorrow.