The Season of Letting Go: Making Peace with What You’ve Outgrown

The Wisdom of Autumn

As autumn arrives, nature begins her sacred ritual of release. Leaves surrender to the wind without resistance. Branches lighten. The earth exhales.

This is the season of letting go.

Yet for many women who have carried pain, perfectionism, or survival as a badge of strength, letting go can feel like failure.We hold tight to what once kept us safe — relationships, beliefs, identities, habits — even after they’ve stopped serving us.

But just as the trees trust their roots through every falling leaf, we too are invited to trust that release is not loss — it’s renewal.

Why Letting Go Feels So Hard

Letting go isn’t weakness — it’s nervous system healing. When the body has lived in prolonged stress or trauma, it equates familiarity with safety, even when that familiarity brings pain.

The amygdala, our brain’s alarm system, doesn’t distinguish between emotional pain and physical threat. It only recognizes what feels uncertain — and uncertainty feels unsafe. So even as your soul whispers, “It’s time to release,” your body may resist with tension, fear, or fatigue.

Chemically, here’s what happens:

• Cortisol rises to keep you in control.

  
  

• Adrenaline fuels urgency and vigilance.

  
  

• Dopamine attaches to the “doing,” rewarding the cycle of control instead of calm.

  
  

• Oxytocin (connection and trust) dips temporarily as we detach from what once bonded us — even if it was painful.

Spiritually, this moment is sacred. It is the threshold between old survival and new peace. The body trembles not because it’s weak, but because it’s recalibrating to freedom.

“Your nervous system doesn’t fear the unknown — it fears the unpracticed calm that comes after letting go.”

The Spiritual Meaning of Release

Each release — of resentment, guilt, or control — opens a space for Spirit to renew what was once bound by fear. In Cross Reference Healing, letting go becomes a practice of whole-body alignment:

• Spiritually — forgiving what no longer aligns with your divine truth.

  
  

• Emotionally — allowing grief and relief to coexist as part of your healing.

  
  

• Physically — softening areas of tension (jaw, shoulders, chest, stomach) that have been holding emotional residue.

  
  

• Energetically — releasing cords of attachment or patterns that drain peace and vitality.

“Forgiveness doesn’t erase what happened — it frees the energy you’ve used to hold it in place.”

How the Body Learns to Let Go

The process of release isn’t only emotional — it’s biological. The nervous system needs evidence that peace is safe before it can truly exhale.

When we use breath, prayer, and intention, the vagus nerve activates the parasympathetic system — the body’s natural calm state.This reduces cortisol, steadies the heartbeat, and signals to the brain: “We are safe to soften.”

Try this simple, spirit-led release practice:

1. Pause. Close your eyes and breathe deeply into your belly.

2. Name what feels heavy. Whisper it gently: “I release…”

3. Exhale. Imagine that with each breath out, you are letting go of that weight.

4. Visualize. Picture God, Spirit, or Divine Light gathering what you’ve released — transforming it into peace.

5. Rest. Feel your shoulders drop and your heartbeat settle. This is your body remembering calm.

With consistent practice, your brain and hormones begin to trust that surrender leads not to danger, but to tranquility.

What You Make Room For

When you let go, you create space for what is real, aligned, and peaceful.The body no longer burns energy through control.The mind no longer loops old stories.The heart becomes available for connection, joy, and divine guidance.

As cortisol decreases and serotonin rises, the nervous system begins to experience safety and stillness as familiar, not foreign.Spiritually, this creates the soil of renewal — the fertile ground for peace, love, and abundance to grow.

“You cannot receive peace with fists clenched around the past.”

The Gift of Letting Go

Letting go is not the end of something — it’s the beginning of remembering who you are. It is the sacred pause between what was and what will be.

When you allow God, Spirit, or the Divine Light to take what no longer serves you, that energy is transformed — not wasted. The body learns calm.The soul finds clarity. The heart rediscovers peace.

“Letting go is not losing control — it’s learning to trust the rhythm of divine restoration.”

Your Invitation

If your body is ready to stop carrying what it no longer needs —If your heart longs to rest in peace instead of control —This is your season.

Through Cross Reference Healing, we gently support the release of emotional, physical, and spiritual burdens. Together, we help the body remember that peace is safe, forgiveness is freedom, and rest is holy.

Book your complimentary 30-minute Discovery Call at www.jolisaclareholistic.com to begin your own season of letting go

 References

• Harvard Health (2023). The Stress Response and the Body’s Healing Systems.

• National Library of Medicine (2018). The Role of Oxytocin in Emotional Regulation and Attachment.

• American Psychological Association (2021). How Trauma Patterns Rewire the Nervous System.

• Franciscan Media. The Spiritual Practice of Surrender and Forgiveness.