Letting Go – Day 21
30 Days of Letting Go Day 21
By Jenny Griffin
A Melting Pot of Letting Go: The Climax of the Week
Literally. Today we’re talking about the big ‘O,’ orgasm. What exercise in letting go would be complete without the mention of this perfectly delightful example. There’s been some heavy stuff this past couple of weeks, and we all might need a reminder that letting go doesn’t have to hurt, it doesn’t have to involve intense emotional releases; it can be joyful.
Our bodies are fantastic things, with the capacity for so many avenues of expression. Orgasm is a letting go of rather extreme proportions, when you examine the physiology of it. Not just our genitals are involved, but our brains, hearts, respiratory and nervous systems. It’s truly a full-body experience. Parts of the brain responsible for control, self-evaluation and reasoning are shut down during the experience, meaning that once we let go enough to begin feeling pleasure, we relinquish the reins. Nature takes over. Fear and anxiety are shut down; aggressiveness in males is diminished, and in females emotions operate at a reduced capacity.
French literature provides a descriptive euphemism for orgasm that goes some way towards describing the feeling of the experience: la petite morte (little death). The loss of control likely explains the origin of this definition; a sensation of intense physical release, the inability to think or make decisions, and a sort of disconnectedness from everything.
There are other factors involved, though, as far as letting go goes. There is a vulnerability and trust needed to achieve the state of orgasm in the first place. We need to let go of negative beliefs about body image, sex and any other attachments that would keep us from enjoying the process. We need to allow our bodies the freedom to respond without the mental images or beliefs regarding what’s right and wrong, what’s good and bad. We need to let go of keeping quiet about our wants and needs and explore the connectedness that comes of physical relationships. We need to let go of assumptions about what other people might or might not be doing, or how they’re doing it, and instead be open to finding whatever works best for you. As we saw last week, if you can dream it, you can do it.
