Symbosity

Category: Letting Go

Learn how to let go of people, circumstances, or things to move forward with a fresh slate.

  • Powerful Cord Cutting Technique To Emotionally Disconnect From Something

    Powerful Cord Cutting Technique To Emotionally Disconnect From Something

    Letting go of certain situations can be a long and painful process. The experience may have faded into memory, but often, the concomitant emotions linger, leaving you trapped in the past – Unable to move forward.

    We’re all familiar with the sting of a breakup and the cocktail of emotions that ensue, but letting go of a former partner is just one example. You may need to let go of an opportunity that didn’t materialize, or a job you didn’t land. You might need to let go of a past circumstance like your old house, or the times when everything made sense.

    Energetically, you can stay connected to something well past its use-by date. It’s okay to reminisce on memories or to take your time healing them. But when you get trapped in the past – In Coulds, Woulds, and Shoulds, you’re preventing yourself from moving forward with your life.

    Here I’m going to run you through a powerful cord-cutting technique that helps you energetically disconnect from something that no longer serves you. It’s time to turn a leaf in your life, and this practice will help you do that.

    What is the cord-cutting technique?

    Scissors and yarn

    The cord-cutting technique is a visualization process that helps you sever energetic connections to people, events, and situations.

    If you’re holding onto something from the past, whether it be a person, memory, or idea, it can be difficult to move forward with this baggage weighing you down. This is why it can be helpful to emotionally disconnect – To create the space to heal and move on.

    To explore the topic of emotional baggage and why it needs to go, read the article below:

    I have used the cord-cutting technique many times. I have used it as an aid to let go of a former partner who I felt connected to, but the feelings weren’t mutual. I’ve used it to let go of long-standing resentment after being betrayed by someone who caused me a lot of hardship. In other situations, I didn’t want to hold onto hope, or the heavy feelings I was experiencing – So I cut the cord.

    At first, I didn’t notice a whole lot. But after a few times, I experienced an instant relief – As if the memory withstood, but the emotional response was gone.

    What I’ve learned is that the cord-cutting technique can help you emotionally disconnect from anything. This is good to use with emotions that no longer serve you such as guilt, shame, or regret related to an old wound. But it can also diminish emotions that do serve you like hope, love, and compassion.

    This technique is also useful for healing overattachment issues – When something is occupying too much of your emotional bandwidth.

    Make sure you only use this technique for emotions that no longer serve you – While cultivating emotions, relationships, and energetic connections that do.

    How do you use the technique?

    You instinctively know when you’re energetically connected to something. You have an emotional response when you think of it, it’s in the forefront of your mind, and you just can’t let it go.

    This energetic connection can manifest in different ways depending on the context. You might experience shame related to a past event. It could be the hope of getting back together with an ex-partner, despite knowing it will not (and should not) happen.

    The cord-cutting technique works on the premise that we are all energetically connected, and when you visualize a procedure of severing that cord, the emotional response follows suit.

    I can’t tell you whether it’s simply a trick of the mind, or whether you’re genuinely cutting a cord. However, I’m convinced it’s the latter as the response can be very powerful.

    Signs that you’re energetically connected to something include:

    • You have a strong emotional response towards the thing you’re connected to
    • You have intrusive thoughts about the thing you’re connected to
    • You struggle to let go and move on
    • You don’t have clarity when thinking about alternative pathways without that connection
    • You feel as if you’re spending way too much energy obsessing over that connection
    • You may feel exhausted and burned out
    • You may feel hopeless

    Cord-cutting technique procedure

    For the sake of simplicity, imagine you’re trying to let go of a person and disconnect yourself emotionally from them.

    Don’t rush this process, I suggest spending at least 10 minutes performing it, but take as long as you feel is necessary.

    Here is the process I use:

    Cord cutting technique to emotionally disconnect

    💠Feel into the emotions caused by the person you’re releasing: Focus on the feelings surrounding the situation rather than the thoughts.

    💠Visualize these emotions forming a cord connecting you and this person: Visualize this process in vivid detail. There can either be a single cord connected to the person you want to emotionally disconnect from, or many cords. 

    💠Place intentions that you want to remove this connection for your highest good: If you don’t genuinely want to let them go, you probably won’t. So be authentic with your intent, and declare your intentions.

    💠 Genuinely express gratitude for the person’s service in your life: Make sure you thank the person you’re letting go for their service in your life. It’s better to end on a good note, and this will make it easier to let go.

    💠 Visualize yourself cutting this cord with a knife: Take your time cutting the cord/cords. Imagine some resistance, and put some energy into severing the cord, as if you’re sawing through rope. Focus on the sensations as you cut through the cord. You can use a physical object such as a ceremonial knife to aid the visualization.

    💠 Push the thing away: Once the cord connection you to this person has been severed, take your time pushing them into the horizon – Surrounded by empty space. Once they’re a tiny spec in the distance, pop them through a little hole until they’re completely gone from sight and mind.

    💠Redirect your energy: Sit with this moment of spaciousness and think about what you want to start putting your energy towards. Cement the visualization of what you want in life moving forward.

    💠Repeat until you feel emotionally disconnected: Understand that one session might not completely disconnect you. Especially if you have a very strong emotional connection with this thing, it might take multiple sessions to feel disconnected emotionally from it.

    Don’t cut cords prematurely

    Once you emotionally disconnect from something, it may be difficult to rekindle those emotions. Therefore, it’s wise to wait until you are ready to let go before performing the cord-cutting technique.

    With repeated application of this technique, I’ve found it becomes more effective with each consecutive practice. I’m well aware that when I do it, in most cases I’ll completely disconnect.

    Usually, this is great. Cutting the cord removes the pain and lets me move forward with my life – No strings attached. But there have also been instances where I energetically disconnected prematurely.

    One time after breaking up with someone I was dating, I was in pain – So I did this technique before giving the situation space, processing it, and trying to repair it before moving on. That would have been the wise move – In hindsight.

    Later on, we tried meeting up again, but I didn’t feel anything emotionally for that person anymore. I felt completely disconnected and that the connection could not be rekindled – So I didn’t try.

    I’m not saying this is always the case. I believe emotions can be rekindled in certain situations, but it might take a lot of work. Therefore, make sure you’re ready to let go – Knowing the chances of your situation working out drop off a cliff after using this technique successfully. 

  • How To Break The Burden Of Overattachment

    How To Break The Burden Of Overattachment

    People who have their eyes on the prize are generally more determined to get results. They know what they want, and what lengths they must go to achieve their dreams.

    But there is a limit.

    When attachment to something turns into an obsession, it becomes overattachment. Overattachment is toxic because it comes from a place of desperation and energetically pushes that thing away.

    By feeling like you need something to be happy, you’re stepping backward with your fulfillment. You don’t feel whole without something external to you, and that’s an issue.

    Therefore, tackling overattachment simmers down to the question: how can I build a healthier relationship with the things in my life?

    Here we’ll explore how to create a healthy relationship with things in your life to prevent it from becoming an obsession.

    What is overattachment?

    Lost time

    Overattachment refers to an unhealthy or excessive attachment to any person or thing.

    People tend to get overattached when they value a particular thing in their life higher than themselves.

    There is nothing wrong with desire. Simply wanting something and feeling driven by it can be beneficial. However, desire can become an obsession when it comes from a place of need rather than want.

    Overattachment is a problem because it makes you believe that your happiness is dependent on something external.

    Overattachment can lead to: 

    Overattachment is a step backward in the happiness paradigm. If you want to feel whole, you need to be your own center of gravity.

    Nonattachment is a tenet in philosophies such as Buddhism and Taoism, and it’s seen as a crucial pillar in living a happy and fulfilling life.

    Here is the difference between want and need:

    Want

    Desire can be beneficial because it motivates you to take action. Therefore, wanting something can be beneficial by helping you move towards your dreams and desires.

    Want is to have some attachment to an outcome.

    Want provides positive feelings like ambition, motivation, and inspiration.

    Need

    The feeling of need can be toxic because it comes from a place of desperation. When you feel like you need something in your life, you’re giving away your sense of power.

    Need is to be overattached to something.

    Need creates negative feelings such as desperation, stress, worry, jealousy, and contempt.

     

    Common forms of overattachment

    Overattachment occurs with anything you feel you can’t live without.

    Some common forms of overattachment include:

    • Feeling like you need to get into a specific university course or job
    • Feeling you need to make a certain amount of money to have a good life
    • Feeling like you need a certain person in your life to get by
    • The need to be successful
    • The need to be in a relationship
    • The need for a certain substance or drug to feel happy
    • Anything you feel you can’t live without

    Feeling like you need something creates resistance because as long as you don’t have it, there is a forcing current in your life.

    The value of the thing you feel you need becomes disproportionate. If you don’t have it, you suffer. If you do have it, it probably won’t make much difference because it’s coming from a place of need rather than a place of want.

    Read the article below to learn more about forcing currents in your life, and why it’s in your best interest to avoid them.

    How to practice nonattachment

    Nonattachment: Breaking free from possessions

    Nonattachment is a central theme in various religions and spiritual belief systems because all things are impermanent. Sooner or later, we will need to let go of everything. The more attached you are to any given thing, the harder it will be to eventually let go of it.

    Living life through a frame of nonattachment helps:

    • Reduce stress and worry
    • Become more at peace with the present situation
    • Let go of past people, things, and situations
    • Feel more free, like you don’t have a burden

    Below are some things you can do to practice nonattachment. Otherwise, to learn more about why impermanence plays a crucial role in nonattachment, visit the link below:

    Let go of the result

    Being too attached to a particular outcome can cause you a great deal of stress.

    The best way to let go of the result is by accepting what is outside your control.

    By doing everything within your power to bring about the desired outcome and realizing when the rest is out of your hands, it’s easier to accept the outcome for what it is and move forward from there. 

    Lower your expectations

    You probably set expectations on yourself that cause a lot of pressure. Although some expectations are necessary to guide you toward your best life, imposing unreasonably high expectations on yourself can cause issues.

    Don’t be too harsh on yourself if you don’t meet your self-imposed expectations. It doesn’t matter what you accomplish or how well you do. Focus on enjoying the process rather than the end result.

    Put it into proportion

    It’s important to look more honestly at your life situation. As overattachment occurs when you value one thing much higher than everything else, recognize when you’re disproportionately valuing something, and it’s taking your power instead.

    Start looking at the true value of everything in your life. What really matters to you?

    By looking at life this way, you will find that the things you’re obsessing over have likely been put on pedestals.

    Look at the underlying cause

    Sometimes it just takes a good look at your priorities to shuffle them.

    Think about what will make you genuinely fulfilled. How will your life change if you achieve your goals? What thirst will buying that car, house, or item quench? We tend to think that achieving a particular outcome will solve a deeper underlying issue in our lives.

    For example, many people are desperate for a loving partner because they are lonely. Even if they get the partner they dream of, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they won’t be lonely anymore. In this case, these people should be working on their issues with loneliness first and foremost, which may then attract a loving relationship into their lives.

    Looking for an external solution to your pain is to beat around the bush. Look at the underlying cause, and do the inner work.

    Accept the worst-case scenario

    You release a lot of pressure on yourself when you accept the worst-case scenario. Nobody performs at their best when under heavy pressure, and that stress certainly won’t help you achieve the best outcome.

    To accept the worst-case scenario, you need to ponder it. Don’t just think about it, plan for it.

    Sound bad, I know…

    But accepting the worst-case helps take off the load because you’re no longer dependent on the best outcome. When you accept the worst-case scenario, you can work towards the best-case scenario with a fresh mind, not from a place of desperation.

    Create backup plans

    To lessen your attachment to a particular outcome, make backup plans.

    Keep alternatives in mind if you don’t get the result you want. By applying yourself from many different angles, you might not get first place, but you will get a place.

    For example, I would love to be a full-time writer and develop this website into a full-time business. Perhaps it will turn into something great one day, who knows, but I’m not putting all of my eggs in that basket.

    I’m also an English teacher and I have a background in Landscape Architecture. I have experience bartending, where I can work anywhere in the world and have fun. I coach people. I am not over-attached to a particular outcome because there are other paths I can take if it doesn’t work out.

    Appreciate what you have

    Being appreciative of what you have is a good way to develop nonattachment.

    You will stop putting so much emphasis on what you need by appreciating what you have. Sometimes you need to step back and realize how good you have it.

    Therefore, enjoy sipping on that latte or watching an episode of your favorite series. Enjoy all the moments you share with people. Bring yourself back to the present and learn to appreciate every fleeting moment. The more you appreciate what you have, the less fixated you are on what could be.

    Let go of what you don’t need

    Start removing things from your life that no longer serve you.

    Cutting back and decluttering helps to prevent overattachment because you are putting more emphasis on intrinsic values.

    The more you cut back, the more you cultivate a healthier mentality. Therefore, declutter, clean up, and minimize what you have in your life.

    To learn about a better path toward satisfaction in life without clawing your way toward shiny new things, read this article: