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?
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:
💠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.