Letting go in autumn – Frank Liddy
Letting go in autumn
As we look around us the autumnal shades are appearing and letting us know that we are entering autumn. Which if I am to be honest is my favourite time of year.
Autumn always teaches me to let go with the acceptance that letting go is as natural as a leaf falling from a tree. The same applies to mindfulness practice. When we practice, we are letting go of the past and giving ourselves permission to be present. I love the idea of giving ourselves permission to shift from doing to being.
A lovely exercise was giving to me by my zen teacher, and it goes as follows:
Stop whatever you’re doing right now and bring your attention to this moment. Notice what’s happening now, where’s your attention right now? Are you remembering the past or planning the future? Notice with bare attention what is happening.
Now, give yourself permission to shift from doing to being. Notice the shift and the change just by giving yourself permission.
Now bring your attention to your breath and allow yourself to experience the rhythm of your breath. Explore your breath with curiosity and ask yourself, “Who is breathing?”
Give yourself a five-minute breather, allowing yourself to drop into this moment, as you let go of the memory of the past or the imagining of the future.
Frank Liddy, Lead Mindfulness Practitioner for Inspire Professional Services | B.A, A.Dip.
About Frank Liddy
Frank has worked in the community care voluntary mental health sector for over twenty-five years and currently delivers Mindfulness Programmes for Inspire.
He is the founding Director of the Belfast Mindfulness Centre, co-founder of Compassion City Belfast and Northern Ireland’s representative for The Mindfulness Initiative.
Frank studied mindfulness at the University of Wales and is a qualified integrative humanistic Counsellor and holds certificate of registration for NI social care Council.
As well as teaching mindfulness compassion through the life-long learning programme at Queen’s University Belfast, he has also successfully delivered experiential and practice-based training programmes to mental health and allied professionals working in psychiatry, nursing, social work and the criminal justice system.
Inspire Wellbeing is an all-island charity and social enterprise and their aim is Wellbeing for all. They work together with people living with mental ill health, intellectual disability, autism and addictions to ensure they live with dignity and realise their full potential.