Have you noticed the gloominess in the air yet? If not straight in your own feelings and body, most certainly outside of it. Covid numbers are skyrocketing here in Switzerland. Everyone you speak to is dead tired of the virus and seems they’ve started living in some sort of limbo, like a waiting mode. A few weeks ago my body started reacting to all of this external insecurity, literally making me feel super uncomfortable in my body. I have a stress belly, and when I get stressed, I react with getting stomach issues. Pain, swelling and just pure discomfort. So what did I do to help myself? I was lucky enough to be able to take a break from it all. Since my kids were also on school holidays, it coincided with us going away for a few days to visit the beautiful southern Switzerland. I didn’t open my laptop once. I deeply reconnected with nature and started observing and copying nature’s behaviour. So what did and does nature do?

 

Simply dropping the extra weight. Because it’s time, time to change. The gorgeous poet Rumi says it perfectly, and this simple truth is so incredibly powerful:

BE LIKE A TREE AND LET THE DEAD LEAVES DROP.

Rumi

Letting the dead leaves simply fall off of you will make a massive change in how you feel overall. If you start letting go of things that no longer serve you, you will notice how much lighter you suddenly feel. Carrying all that extra weight on your shoulders and in your heart is a heavy burden. Let’s look at some helpful tools to drop that extra heaviness.


1. Let go of any physical possessions that don’t spark joy

If you’ve read any of my previous blogposts, you know by now that I’m a certified KonMari Consultant to my heart and soul, and I just love helping others achieving a simpler and more enjoyable life with the help of the KonMari Method. Start with your clothes, move on to books, papers, komono (miscellaneous) and finally sentimental items. Hold each item and ask yourself if it speaks to you and your heart and if it helps you achieving living your ideal life? If it does, keep it with confidence! If it doesn’t make the cut, thank it for serving you and let it go gracefully (without forgetting the environmental side: reuse, recycle, resell, donate).

Always focus on what you want to keep, not on what you want to let go of. At the end of the journey you will be surrounded only with items you truly love and cherish, to serve the person you are (becoming) now.

2. Live in the now – gently let go of your past

I know, I know, it’s easier said than done to live exclusively in the now. But you can work on it! When you start letting go of your physical clutter, as described above, you will almost automatically start processing your past. This in turn helps you let go of past events, relationships and eventually lets you live and enjoy the now far more without all that luggage to carry around. You are not the person you used to be, and things or people that used to be important in your life might no longer have that position. Embrace your past for all it was. Accept your past with all its faults and mistakes. Forgive yourself for any wrongdoings and forgive who and what needs to be forgiven. Finally, let it all go. You are working on the person you want to be(come). Right here and now.

Try my top 5 daily tools to keep yourself grounded and enjoying the now :

1. NATURE. Just go out for as long as you can, every day, to get some fresh air and feel the sun, the wind or the rain on your cheeks.

2. EXERCISE. Walk, run, bike, do a fitness program. Whatever it is you enjoy, keep doing it, even if it’s only 10 mins you are able to spare. A healthy habit needs repetition in order to stick.

3. KEEPING A GRATITUDE JOURNAL OR MEDITATE. A few mins every morning or evening will do. It sets the intention and your mindset for the day to come.

4. LAUGH. No holding back!

5. CHOOSE TO SEE THE GOOD in (almost) everything. Actively look for the bright side with no judgment. What can you learn, what can you gain?

3. The key to change is letting go of fear

In order for us to reach our dreams or goals, no matter how big or small these are, we must teach our minds and hearts to not be afraid of change. Fear is the biggest force holding us back from achieving what we want. How can we do this? There are many tools out there but let’s try a few tiny, easy steps we all can do in our own way, in our own pace which may possibly result in huge leaps. Make the unthinkable thinkable and the impossible possible. Like having tea instead of coffee or vice versa

  •  * Just for today – choose to LET GO of fear.
  •  * Just for today – choose to try something NEW.
  •  * Just for today – choose to try something DIFFERENT.
  •  * Just for today – choose to SEE the world around you with different eyes.
  •  * Just for today – choose to SEE, FEEL and ACKNOWLEDGE your life differently.
  •  * Just for today – choose to be KIND in all you do. Towards yourself and others.
  • *  Today, I AM different. I have changed to be a better version of myself.

How does change make you feel? Just by trying these out you are a WINNER.

4. Make YOUR life your best life, letting go of all that’s no longer serving you

We only have one life. There’s no need to fake it until you make it, you are already living it! We all get mental blocks, and sometimes they turn into physical issues, and we need these too. They’re like small lessons in life. Otherwise there is no development! And as already mentioned above oftentimes the solution is to totally let go. Let go of any possessions or relationships, self-limiting beliefs, ill working old habits, fear and old ways of doing and thinking that just no longer serve you.

There is nothing that is a more certain sign of insanity than to do the same thing over and over and expect the results to be different.

EINSTEIN

You don’t need to do things the “right way”, you need to do them YOUR WAY! Isn’t that what Covid also has taught us? There are other ways of doing things, not necessarily new, but different ways. And often we sabotage ourselves by comparing us to others. There is nothing worse than comparison. Make sure you welcome only good, positive vibes and people into your life. The rest you can let go of confidently and quickly. And the truth is, YOU are uniquely YOU, nobody else can offer the world what YOU are able to.

This article was first published on the expat blog My Swiss Story, where I am part of the expert editorial panel as the Home Expert. Would you like to contribute as a guest writer? Please contact me.