Dear Friend,

One of the questions that I have been hearing regularly from people at seminars, in emails, and during conversation is "How do I let go?"

Many of you know that you need to let go. You know that life will be easier if you let go. Your pain will ease, your frustration will dissipate, your intentions will become manifest more easily. But the question remains, "Yes, but how do I let go?"

Spiritual teachers talk often about how important it is to let go, to be in the present moment, etc. And I often hear frustration from people - they long to let go, but they don't know how.

The next two article issues are going to be dedicated to the specifics of letting go. I will be writing about specific tools and techniques that will help you let go of whatever you are holding onto so that you can live the life that you desire.

This first issue is primarily going to be focused on letting go of pain and discomfort. The next issue will be an in-depth exploration of letting go of intention and desire so that they have ultimate manifesting power. The more you get out of the way, the more you can have, be, and do that which you love.

This article is dedicated to your expansive healing and limitless love.

Peace, Love, and Beauty,

Sarah Maria

Letting Go Of Pain

There is nothing like pain to instantaneously collapse any sense of our own expansion and greatness. You can be going along in life, feeling confident, positive, and hopeful. You might even be enjoying the benefit of an expanded sense of self: you look around and begin to see yourself in the world around you. You marvel at the beauty of the flowers, at the sweetness of the chirping birds, and you even feel compassion for your grumpy neighbor who seems bent on making everyone else's life as miserable as his. You feel at peace, and all seems alright with the world.

And then WHAM! from out of nowhere you get hit, like a lightning bolt from out of nowhere. Someone did something or said something; you did something or said something; something happened and your peaceful sense of expansion collapses like a cardboard house when the wind blows.

All of the sudden you find yourself feeling broken, distraught, crying and screaming, not able to feel any connection with anyone, feeling like you are all alone in the world and believing that nothing is greater than this debilitating pain that has brought you to your knees.

Sound familiar?

Pain has the unique ability to take our beautifully expanded spiritual selves and put them right back under the control of our wounded egos.

Fortunately, the more you can let go of the pain, the more you can return, quickly and effortlessly, to that place of expansive love. Here are a few techniques to help you let go of any pain from the past or present that you might be holding onto.

Remember, holding on is a habit, one that you may have been practicing for quite a while. Letting go can also become a habit - be willing to practice it regularly and it will become easier and easier until it becomes something you don't even have to think about.

Pain often occurs from a violation of some sort. Someone has violated our boundaries, or perhaps we have violated someone else's boundaries. There has been some violation somewhere. The first step is to acknowledge and honor your experience. The human part of ourselves wants a wrong to be made right. We want someone to see, hear, and validate our pain. It is often difficult if not impossible to let go of pain until you are able to acknowledge and honor the suffering that you have experienced.

Step 1: Honor the Pain

Identify what has caused the pain. It might be one event, or a series of events. It could be recent, and it could reach far back into childhood. Write out what caused the pain. If someone has hurt you, write a letter describing what you experienced. You may give this letter to them, or you may not. The most important part is that you write it out and allow yourself to validate your own experience and your own story. Within yourself, you can play many roles. Take on the role of a parent, offering unconditional love and support to the wounded child within. Let the young pain within know that you are listening, that you care, that it matters, and that you will protect it.

Step 2: Let it Go

Once you have honored and acknowledged the pain, you can begin to let it go. If you can't let go, if your awareness continues to be pulled back to the story of pain, hurt, and wrong-doing, take this as a sign that the young pain within needs more validation. Treat this pain as you would a child. Nurture it, care for it. Trust that when it has been adequately heard, it will be willing to let go of its own accord. Practice step-by-step letting go as you can, acknowledging and honoring as necessary.

To understand how to let go, fold your hands into prayer position at your chest. Now open your hands. Feel the expansion; feel the release. Whenever you feel like you are clinging, unable to let go, practice this physical exercise and let go just a little bit more. Overtime, the release will become complete.

Remind yourself that whatever your story, it is just a story. This is not to minimize the important of it. Indeed, detachment in the face of pain can feel cruel. Once you honor and acknowledge the story that caused the pain, however, realize that it is just a story. As such, you can let it go. The more you drop the story the more you will return to your expanded state of limitless peace, love, and well-being.

Step 3: Make it a Practice

Make this a practice and over time it will change your life. You may feel pain because of something personal, or you might be pained by the state of the world, the terrorism, the war, the environment. Letting go of pain doesn't mean letting go of the importance of your feelings - it means allowing yourself to become who you truly are and live the life of your dreams.

So simply practice: honor the pain, let it go. Honor the pain, let it go. Honor the pain, let it go. Honor the pain, let it go. Honor the pain, let it go.

You will begin to discover your true self, that which has no beginning and no end, can never get injured or hurt, and is always available to you in every moment. Underneath your pain is the eternal, expansive nature of your true self, at once limitless, loving, and eternally whole. The more you abide in this self, the more peace, joy, and limitless well-being you will experience.

Please share your experience - I always love to hear from you. Visit my blog at:

http://breakfreebeauty.com/blog/  Click on the "Comments" link, and share your thoughts!

Wayne Dyer's Excuses Begone

I want to let you know about a great new book just released by Wayne Dyer. Wayne is a well-known inspiration teacher. I have studied with him and met him personally, and his work has been very influential in my own personal development. The book is called Excuses Begone. Wayne gives you techniques and strategies to overcome any excuses so that you can create a life that you desire.  I highly recommend Wayne's work.

There is a special campaign running right now. If you buy the book online, you can receive access to some great prizes from Wayne and other wonderful teachers.  Here is the link:

Hayhouse & Wayne Dyer's Excuses Begone

There is a free gift from me in there as well.

Sarah Maria is a body-image expert and teacher who can help you discover the beauty that you already are so that you can create a body and a life that you truly love. Her first book, Love Your Body, Love Your Life, is being published by Adams Media and will be available for purchase in November '09. She combines ancient spiritual wisdom with modern science and shows you, step-by-step, how to pacify your mind, heal your heart, befriend your body, and transform your life.

She has studied with the leading experts in health, spirituality, personal development, and success, including Deepak Chopra, physician Dr. David Simon (co-founder of the Chopra Center for Well-being in Carlsbad, CA), Dr. Wayne Dyer, Jack Canfield, renowned Ayurvedic physician Vasant Lad, and many others. She is a lover of eastern philosophy and spiritual wisdom and passionately shares these teachings that have so transformed her own life.

Before founding Break Free Beauty, Sarah Maria received her law degree from Stanford University and her Master's in International Affairs from Columbia University in NYC. She has lived and traveled throughout Latin America, and has also visited many countries around the world. Her greatest passion is helping people discover the beauty and the greatness that resides inside so they can live from this place of grandeur, transforming themselves and the world.