How to Surrender

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I’m intrigued with the idea of surrender, not as defeat or loss but as a positive, intuitive way of living, power that grows as you develop trust in the moment as well as in change and the unknown. In Sanskrit, surrender is “samprada,” meaning to give completely, or deliver wholly over. I’m defining it as the grace of letting go at the right moment–the ability to accept what-is, to exhale and flow downstream with the cycles of life instead of battling them or anxiously brooding. Surrender doesn’t mean always saying “yes” to everything–that can be dangerous and unwise–but it does mean going fully with a decision even if it entails withdrawing from someone or saying “no” to anger or fear.

Though surrender may seem counter-intuitive to making your goals happen, it can actually be the magical factor that facilitates this and relieves gridlock. Life becomes easier when you’re able to let go. Burdens will lift or get lighter. Without wanting to, we may become overly defended and hold our hearts back way too much. But surrender frees you from these cages so it’ll feel safer to love.

I invite you to watch my TedX Talk on the surrender. Why is it so powerful in success, health, and relationships? You can sabotage success by pushing too hard. Surrender is the antidote to stress in a world that relentlessly conspires to interrupt creative thought. Surrender boosts your brain’s endorphins, our blissful neurochemicals.

(Based on Dr. Judith Orloff’s national bestseller The Power of Surrender: Let Go and Energize Your Relationships, Success, and Well-Being)

Judith Orloff, MD is a New York Times bestselling author with the upcoming book The Genius of Empathy: Practical Skills to Heal Yourself, Your Relationships and the World (Foreword by the Dalai Lama). She has also written The Empath’s Survival Guide and Thriving as an Empath, which offers daily self-care tools for sensitive people. She integrates the pearls of conventional medicine with cutting edge knowledge of intuition, empathy, energy medicine, and spirituality. Dr. Orloff specializes in treating empaths and highly sensitive people in her private practice and online internationally. Her work has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Oprah Magazine, the New York Times and USA Today. Dr. Orloff has spoken at Google-LA, TEDx U.S. and TEDx Asia. More information about Dr. Orloff’s Empathy Training Programs for businesses, The Empath Survival Guide Online Course and speaking schedule at www.drjudithorloff.com.

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