Attachment
"The act of attaching or the condition of being attached".
In life we sometimes make sense of things by placing attachment on to them. This attachment allows us to set reference points onto things around us and create order in our lives. We use this process to create our reality and it appears to give our lives form and therefore function. However, this use of attachment as a tool can become confusing since we don't usually reevaluate and reassign meaning to our attachments as we transit our lives. There may be things we remain attached to, that are no longer practical in the present moment and nearing the transition point it becomes important to bring some of these things into conscious awareness so they can be released. This releasing process has the potential to bring grace and effortlessness into the experience.
Many attachments have to do with past memories, or sentiment and fears, and they act as tiny bungee cords. These cords pull on parts of the psyche and physical body causing bumps in the road to moving freely and gracefully with what is our organically created and evolving future. These cords can hold us in the past and prevent us from recognizing and allowing ease into our experience and consciousness expansion.
To reassign meaning to those things we are attached to try the following exercise. When ever you notice a tug of emotion stop and take your attention to your heart.
** Update June 2019 (Attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space (Ainsworth, 1973; Bowlby, 1969).) Attachment itself is not pathological. It is natural and normal for humans to be attached, and have preferences. We are relational beings and thrive most in healthy relationship. Where we tend to get into trouble is not evaluating the health and the truth of this attachment over time. Attachment often becomes habitual and stuck, rather than conscious and active. This is how old patterns, ideas and processes end up being perpetuated. Even in science, when something has been proven to be untrue that we once thought true, more often than not the old belief continues to be believed, because the new information is not given the value it deserves to replace the old understanding. The old information maintains a more prominent place in humanity’s understanding of how the world works.
Many attachments have to do with past memories, or sentiment and fears, and they act as tiny bungee cords. These cords pull on parts of the psyche and physical body causing bumps in the road to moving freely and gracefully with what is our organically created and evolving future. These cords can hold us in the past and prevent us from recognizing and allowing ease into our experience and consciousness expansion.
To reassign meaning to those things we are attached to try the following exercise. When ever you notice a tug of emotion stop and take your attention to your heart.
- Take three deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. Keeping your focus on your heart say silently to your self, "I ask and intend to reassign clear and true meaning to this experience. I ask and intend to become clear and to know and experience if what I am feeling in this moment is Truth, or if this feeling is caused by past attachments"
- Take another deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Feel what your heart says.
- You can then choose to say "I ask and intend to release these past attachments, thoughts, and the fears that go with them and replace them with what is the highest truth of my expression now"
- Take another deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.
- Check in and see if there is a difference in your experience.
** Update June 2019 (Attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space (Ainsworth, 1973; Bowlby, 1969).) Attachment itself is not pathological. It is natural and normal for humans to be attached, and have preferences. We are relational beings and thrive most in healthy relationship. Where we tend to get into trouble is not evaluating the health and the truth of this attachment over time. Attachment often becomes habitual and stuck, rather than conscious and active. This is how old patterns, ideas and processes end up being perpetuated. Even in science, when something has been proven to be untrue that we once thought true, more often than not the old belief continues to be believed, because the new information is not given the value it deserves to replace the old understanding. The old information maintains a more prominent place in humanity’s understanding of how the world works.
© Heather Rusk 2019 - reproduction is possible with permission and attribution
