Sometimes the most profound healing happens in whispers, not storms
There’s a particular kind of peace that comes after you’ve finally put down something you didn’t realize you were carrying. It’s quiet at first, almost imperceptible, like the way morning light slowly fills a room without announcing its arrival.
That’s how it felt the day I decided to release what was never mine to hold.
It started as a gentle calling from within nothing dramatic or urgent, just a soft knowing that it was time. Time to let go of the thoughts that weren’t serving me, the energetic connections that had overstayed their welcome, the memories I’d been carrying like stones in my pockets.
I had been feeling heavy in ways I couldn’t quite name. Not sad, exactly. Not overwhelmed. Just… full. Full of other people’s energy, of situations that had passed, of connections that existed more in my mind than in reality. My inner space felt cluttered, like a room where you can’t quite find what you’re looking for because there’s just too much there.
So I created a sacred moment for release.
The Gentle Ceremony of Letting Go
I didn’t need candles or elaborate rituals, though there’s beauty in those too. I simply found a quiet corner of my world and breathed into the intention of release. I closed my eyes and began to see the energetic cords that connected me to what I was ready to let go of.
The first cord appeared as a delicate thread, gossamer-thin and already translucent. It was attached to someone who had drifted through my life briefly but had somehow taken up residence in my thoughts. As I gently dissolved this connection with love and gratitude, it felt like watching a soap bubble float away beautiful in its departure.
The second cord was different. Thicker, more complex, woven from years of history with someone I had cared for deeply. This wasn’t about anger or resentment – it was about recognizing that some connections, even loving ones, can become chains when we hold onto them beyond their natural season.
I visualized this cord with tenderness, honoring what it had meant while acknowledging what it had become. As I released it with gentle intention, I felt something profound shift in my chest – like taking off a heavy backpack after a long journey.
When Joy Arrives Uninvited
What happened next surprised me completely.
I opened my eyes, took a sip of water, and sat quietly for a moment. I wasn’t expecting anything particular to happen. I wasn’t waiting for dramatic insights or emotional breakthroughs. I was simply being present with the spaciousness I had just created.
And then, like a spring bubbling up from deep earth, joy began to rise.
Not the kind of joy that comes from receiving good news or achieving something wonderful. This was different purer, somehow. It was joy without a reason, joy without an occasion. It was the joy of a bird freed from a cage, of a flower finally having room to bloom, of a breath that can fill your lungs completely for the first time in months.
I found myself smiling without trying to. A gentle laugh escaped my lips, soft and surprised. My body felt lighter, as if gravity had loosened its hold on me just a little. There was a warm, golden feeling spreading through my chest, like sunlight melting honey.
I felt giddy in the most beautiful way.
The Magic of Making Space
In that moment of unexpected joy, I understood something profound: when we release what doesn’t belong to us, we don’t just create empty space we create sacred space. And into that sacred space, our own essence rushes back like water finding its level.
I hadn’t just let go of energetic cords. I had made room for me for my own energy, my own joy, my own aliveness to fully inhabit my being again. The space that had been occupied by others’ energy was now available for my own spirit to expand and breathe and dance.
It was like cleaning out a closet and suddenly remembering all the beautiful clothes you owned but had forgotten about because they were buried under things that didn’t even fit you anymore.
The Gentle Wisdom of Release
This experience taught me some tender truths I want to share with you:
You don’t have to be in crisis to benefit from release. Sometimes we think we need to wait until we’re overwhelmed or in pain to let go of what’s not serving us. But gentle, preventative release can be even more powerful like tending a garden before the weeds take over.
Joy doesn’t always need a reason to visit you. We’re so accustomed to joy being a response to something good happening that we forget it can also be a response to something heavy leaving. Sometimes joy is what remains when we stop holding onto what was weighing us down.
Your energy knows the difference between connection and attachment. Healthy connections feel light, mutual, and life-giving. Attachments – even to people we love – can feel heavy, one-sided, and draining. You can love someone and still release energetic cords that have become burdensome.
Release is an act of love, not abandonment. When I released those cords, I wasn’t cutting people out of my life or my heart. I was freeing both of us from energetic patterns that no longer served our highest good. Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is stop holding on so tightly.
The Invitation to Your Own Freedom
If you’ve been feeling heavy lately, if your inner space feels cluttered with energies that aren’t yours, if you’re carrying connections that have become burdens instead of blessings, I want you to know: you’re allowed to let go.
You don’t need permission from anyone else to release what’s weighing you down. You don’t need to explain your boundaries to the universe. You don’t need to feel guilty about creating space for your own joy to flourish.
Here’s a gentle practice you might try:
Find a quiet moment and breathe deeply. Place your hands on your heart and ask yourself: What am I ready to release? Don’t think too hard about it – just notice what comes up.
Visualize yourself gently cutting or dissolving any energetic cords that feel heavy or draining. You can imagine them dissolving into light, being carried away by a gentle breeze, or simply fading into nothingness. Send love and gratitude to whatever you’re releasing, then let it go with tenderness.
Take a sip of water. Breathe deeply. Notice how you feel.
And then – this is important – don’t rush to fill the space you’ve just created. Sit with the spaciousness. Let your own energy expand into it. Give your joy permission to rise without needing a reason.
The Gift of Your Own Presence
That day, sitting in my quiet corner with a heart full of unexpected joy, I realized something beautiful: I had been so busy carrying other people’s energy that I had forgotten how wonderful it felt to be fully present with my own.
Your energy is a gift. Your joy is medicine. Your peace is sacred. When you make space for these treasures within yourself, you’re not being selfish you’re being responsible for the light you came here to shine.
You deserve to feel the giddy joy of your own aliveness. You deserve to wake up feeling light instead of heavy. You deserve to occupy your own life fully, without the weight of what was never yours to carry.
The space is there, waiting for you to create it. And in that space, your joy is waiting too – patient, eternal, ready to bubble up the moment you give it room to breathe.
What are you ready to release today? What joy is waiting to find you in the space you create?
Your freedom is calling. And it sounds a lot like laughter.
📖 For Your Journey of Release and Reclaiming
If this gentle story of release and unexpected joy stirred something in your heart, you might find deeper healing in The Worthiness Workbook: A Healing Journey Back to “I Am Enough”. It’s filled with compassionate exercises to help you identify what you’re ready to release and remember the joy that’s always been waiting within you.
Because sometimes the most profound healing happens not when we add something to our lives, but when we finally give ourselves permission to let go of what was never ours to carry.
You can find the workbook here if you’re ready for this gentle journey back to yourself. 🌸
Have you ever experienced unexpected joy after releasing something that was weighing you down? I’d love to hear about your own moments of gentle freedom in the comments below. Sometimes sharing these stories helps others recognize their own readiness for release. 💫
