Let it go, let it go,
When I’ll rise like the break of dawn

Let it Go, Frozen

We have turned the page on January.

As we move toward the end of this half term, we are reminded of the coming of Spring by seeing the first snowdrops in parks and on window ledges. We ride the daily waves of hope and fear - hope in the vaccine, fear in the impact of the variants, hope that we can continue to nurture and teach our children until we can safely bring them back to school, and fear of the long term impact the last year has had on all of us.

At the same time there is a glimmer, a new way of living post COVID-19, a ‘break of dawn’.

Essex County Council and schools have been engaging in these conversations asking; ‘What do we want to adopt and adapt from this time? What do we want to abandon from pre-Covid times as we now know it doesn’t serve us well?’.

Asking these important questions, and living with this daily experience of hope and fear, requires us to cultivate a daily practice of ‘letting go and letting be’. In this way, we create space for new possibilities. Perhaps this will be the legacy from this pandemic… some might call it the opportunity of a lifetime.

Here’s how Mindfulness can help.

Letting go, letting be and Mindfulness

Mindfulness cultivates the attitude of letting go, or “non-attachment”. When we say ‘letting go’ we mean letting things be as they are and cultivating new habits of mind that are spacious and accepting, open to what life has to teach us.

There are certain thoughts and feelings and situations that the mind wants to hold on to. If they are pleasant, we try to prolong them, stretch them out and conjure them up again and again. Similarly there are those we try to get rid of, to prevent or protect ourselves from having because they are unpleasant, painful or frightening in one way or another.

In Mindfulness, we intentionally put aside the tendency to elevate some aspects of our experience and reject others. We become aware of what ‘holding on’ feels like. We practice simply being with things as they are, observing and learning from them, moment to moment. In this way we become experts in our own attachments, whatever they may be, and the consequences they have for how we show up in our lives.

So, why not practice small acts of ‘letting go’ in the coming weeks? Here’s how…

A note on practices. These are very simply an opportunity for you to try a practice and see what happens without expectations. Self judgment and doubt may arise in the form of thoughts such as “am I doing this right?” or “I am not sure this is for me”. Notice these thoughts and, as best you can, be curious, be kind to yourself and let them go!

Practising ‘letting go’

Let go of ‘the story of you’. 

What stories are you telling yourself about you? 

Working with school leaders this past week I have heard ‘I became a headteacher by accident, I shouldn’t really be here’, ‘I’m a person who likes to be in control and know everything that's going on’, ‘I have a tendency to jump to a solution very quickly, I am driven by a sense of urgency that everything needs to be done now’. 

Be attentive to when you might be displaying this “fixed sense of self”. If you find yourself saying or thinking ‘I’m the sort of person who…’ - just pause and ask yourself;

• How does this show up in my day to day work and life?

• In what ways does it help or hinder me and others? 

• What would it be like if I was instead the sort of person who… ‘didn't speak first’, ‘ knew I was here by right and good enough’, ‘waited and became more curious about solutions others might be thinking of?’ 

See what happens. How does it feel?

Let go of busyness. 

Its natural at this time to feel stretched with information overload, the list of never ending tasks, the musts and the shoulds that keep us task focused. We can give higher status to busyness than it deserves because without it we might ask – ‘Who am I? What is my worth? If I stopped what might happen?’ But never a wasted moment comes at a cost. It keeps us on high alert, without respite. 

Instead, pause and ask ‘what is the first thing I can let go of today?’ Build ‘speed bumps’ into your day intentionally stopping, letting your attention drop into your body. Count to 5 breaths. Take your time. Then proceed. 

Let go of the need to know.

The mantle of ‘expert’ can weigh heavy on us as leaders. It can imprison us in our expectations of ourselves, and our beliefs about what others expect of us. 

Instead wear the mantle of ‘curiosity’, embracing the practice of exploration and ‘not knowing’, being open to learning and feedback. In the words of Steve Munby in his book Imperfect Leadership become a leader ‘who knows they don't know it all’.

If you have time to go further I highly recommend Jack Kornfield’s ‘letting go’ mindfulness practice. As he says, this is the answer to ‘the art of living wisely’ - perhaps worth a try?

A poem to leave you with…

Got the time to explore Mindfulness further?

Head to the Resources page of the website for podcasts, articles, videos and past invitations to practice Mindfulness (in case you missed any!)

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Maggie x
maggie@maggiefarrar.co.uk