Building Power and Letting Go

In this month’s angel card practice, we explored how to find true power within ourselves. Our third card was Birth, which reminds us that we’re the inventors of our own lives. We each have the ability to bring new ideas and approaches into being, see them through to completion, and learn from the past along the way. What we release becomes the compost for what’s next.

“In the process of letting go you will lose many things from the past, but you will find yourself.” 

– Deepak Chopra

This month, I’d like to explore the concept of Birth more deeply by sharing an exercise I teach called Blowing Roses. For decades, I’ve used roses as a metaphor for life, death, rebirth, and all the cycles in between.

In this practice, the rose represents letting go, transcending old and outdated thoughts so we can create anew. Protected by thorns, the rose is a beautiful flower symbolizing love, transformation, secrets, and renewal. Its life cycle mirrors our own: we grow, we shed, we adapt, and we bloom again. Through these cycles, we learn to hold our own power.

The rose has been used for hundreds of years to convey messages without words. The Latin phrase sub rosa, meaning “under the rose”, refers to something told in secret and held in confidence. In ancient Rome, a wild rose was hung on the door of a room where private matters were discussed. In the Blowing Roses exercise, we use this same symbolism to unburden ourselves of our secrets and limiting thoughts.

Blowing Roses Practice

To begin, identify one area of your life where you’d like to make a change. Keep it simple, choosing a repetitive or unkind thought. Hold that thought in your mind’s eye, then return your focus to your breath. As you exhale, release the energy of the thought and allow it to fade away.

Next, imagine a white rose in front of you. White symbolizes humility, innocence, and purity. Release the energy of the thought into the rose. As it absorbs the thought, watch the rose combust and fall away, like paper touched by a flame. Continue this process until it becomes second nature. Whenever you catch yourself in the thought, put it in a rose and let it go.

Once you’re comfortable with this, slowly try releasing deeper limiting beliefs. Bit by bit, this is how we reshape our inner world. As inventors of our lives, we start small and build steadily. Through consistent practice and presence, we give Birth to new thoughts, actions, and ways of being that expand rather than confine us.

Remember, your breath is your first act of creation. By returning to it, you reconnect with your power. Only you can create real change in your life. And it all begins with the simple act of letting go through your breath.