The 21-Day Consciousness Cleanse - The Power of Liberation
The 21-Day Consciousness Cleanse Day 8 THE POWER OF LIBERATION
As you move out of the past and open up to the present,
you wake up into a new day, a new time, where you are
free to be all you ever imagined. The weight you have carried
for far too long gets dropped and you step
into the realm that Deepak Chopra would call the field of infinite possibilities—the field of consciousness where you are one
with all that is, all that was, and all that will be; the field where
you see with clear and open eyes and are infused with the certainty
that you can live a life that truly matters.
But before you go there, you want to ensure that you’re really
leaving the past where it’s meant to be . . . in the past. So today
will be a rite of passage—a day of celebration and ceremony
where you will invoke the next agent of change, called liberation,
and release all that reminds you of the past, everything that is
symbolic of your pain, your anger, and your attachment to old
ways of being. Today, in your first step forward into the present,
you can joyously be like a child who is making the transition
from boy to man or from girl to woman as you offer up your past
to a power greater than yourself. Yes, you are summoning the
courage to kick off the small shoes of the past that you’ve stuffed
your tender and aching feet into for too many miles, too many
years.
CLEANSING RITUALS
Preparation for The Ceremony
Tonight, you’re going to perform a ceremony in which
you energetically let go of your physical and emotional
past. You’re going to dust it off, pray it off, dance it off,
sing it off, wash it off, and send it off. In preparation,
gather whatever symbols remind you of the limitations
of the past. Think about the shoes. In fact, you might
own a pair that have literally been squeezing your feet,
breaking your back, and hampering the full expression of
your feet, so to speak. You might have old journals,
pictures that bring up bad feelings, clothes that no
longer fit or are symbolic of a “you” that you no longer
care to express. Maybe you’ve been trapped inside an
addiction to some food—say, cookies, cupcakes, or
salted pretzels. Get a few for the ceremony.
Next, you’re going to write a letter saying good-bye to
all the people, places, and things that no longer serve
you—the addictions, habits, thoughts, beliefs, feelings,
stories, dramas, traumas, and anything else you can think
of that fits into this category called “the past you’re ready
to leave behind."
You’re going to declare today as a demarcation point, a
day that you will remember for the rest of your life, one
on which you deeply acknowledge the enormity of what
you’ve gone through in your life. This is a day of
celebration, so no matter what you’re doing—working
from home, going to the office, doing something with
your kids—you’ll want to dress up as if it’s one of the
most important days of your life. Symbolically, this is a
wedding day on which you marry into the present
moment, where you choose God as your partner and
“doing it alone” becomes an option of the past. Take the
time today to buy yourself some flowers, pick up a
scented candle, or download some special music, so that
all of your attention this evening can be focused on what
you’re going to leave behind.
Take today as a day to not turn on your TV, look at your
computer, or worry about returning your phone calls.
Instead, claim it as your day to take time away from life in
order to fully enjoy this holy passage. And remember to
ask the powers that be to join you in this sacred process.
With your candles, flowers, music, incense, and anything
else you’ve chosen to set the tone, create a special
environment for your sacred ceremony. Select a place
where you can be alone and uninterrupted for an hour.
This needs to be a place where you are free to speak out
loud, because the power of your own spoken words will
resonate through every cell, through every bit of
consciousness that you hold.
Since you can release only what you bless, bring all the
things you gathered up earlier that you’re now ready to
throw away—the letters, photos, clothes, shoes, and
more. And if possible, use your home computer and
printer to generate signs saying “THE PAST” that you
can tape to each item you’re releasing or to the container
you’re releasing them into.
For the more intangibles: on little pieces of paper, write
down the beliefs and behaviors that have limited you—
for example, “This is my addiction to the news”; “This is
my belief that I’m not good enough”; “This is my belief
that I’m too old.” Maybe you’ve been holding on to a
nasty note or an old e-mail that somebody sent you or a
picture with someone who now reflects a sour memory.
This is the time to let them all go.
I know you may not be able to make a bonfire or have a
safe place to burn anything, so get yourself a nice black
garbage bag instead. It will serve as your ceremonial
container for discarding the tokens of the past.
The Ceremony
Pick up your first item. Is it a piece of paper or a letter that’s carrying some of your hurt, anger, or resentments?
Whatever it may be, offer it up to the universe by repeating words like the following: “I willingly give all of
this pain, all of this trauma, all of this stress back to the universe to dissolve and transform,” and again repeat out
loud whatever you’re giving up with your symbolic offering. Maybe your next item is one of the foods
you’ve been addicted to, and your statement of release sounds like “I am willing now to stop being a victim to
this food. I now take back all the power I once gave to this chocolate cake.” If you are throwing a pair of shoes
away, even though you might put them in the bag of your past, at the end of the ceremony you might want to
put them in another bag to give away to someone who can actually wear them. If indeed they are getting thrown out, talk about all the ways the shoes have been
too small, too tight, too crippling. Let the shoes be symbolic of the self you’re leaving behind. (And if you
don’t have a pair, draw them.)
Remember to use your breath throughout the ceremony, knowing that it’s the great tool you have to help you digest and release the pain of the past and to help you connect to the divine resource that has always got your back and is steadfastly there to guide you.
If you’re not burning your items, take some salt and sprinkle it all over that bag, affirming that its contents
are now washed off of you—that you’re breaking the cords of the past and surrendering it to God. Bless it all,
asking that you retain the soul gifts that these hurts, heartaches, failures, and losses were meant to give you.
But now the past—your past—belongs in God’s hands. Tie the bag up, wrap a bow on it if you’d like, and take it out
to the garbage container. It’s important that you take it out of your house or the physical space in which you
live. If you have a public dumpster somewhere and you can manage to do it, I suggest you put your past in the
car and take it for one last drive. You can put on your favorite music and sing your way to the dump, releasing your past with joy. If you’re feeling some sadness and
heartache, that’s OK, too. Giving up shoes that are too small but deeply familiar can bring up feelings of loss as well. So tenderly bless whatever is there.
When you come back from delivering your past to the trash can, it is very, very important that you get in a bath
or a shower. If you can take a bath, infuse it with one cup of Epsom salts and two cups of milk. Eat some apples and
honey, praying for a sweet new life. As you soak in your bath or stand under the shower, thank God over and
over and over again. And thank yourself for the past you have lived and for the courage it takes to enter into and
embrace the present moment.
Congratulations! You have arrived at a new day. Do not go to bed without acknowledging yourself and the powers that be
for the courage it has taken to remove your old shoes and feel the living presence beneath your bare feet. Make sure that you
thank yourself a thousand times. Send love to every cell of your being, and tell yourself that it’s now safe to move forward
into the arms of God.
SOUL FOOD
I am liberated from my past...a fantastic future awaits.
