I was invited to an event of kundalini yoga and lyre healing, and went along because it sounded interesting. That day happened to be the summer solstice. At the end we lay on the floor and felt the lyre resound. The moment I heard its first faint note, the resonance leapt into my chest.

When it was finished, something felt off. I had drawn it while focusing, and still it felt off… But I kept looking at the completed mandala, and I saw it. This mandala was reflecting my shadow…

Let go of contrivance… keep your purity… decide… I think these things, and still I want to be praised, still I grow small, still my resolve sways after I have made it…

I thought I had let go through the yoga and the lyre. But my real letting go was to draw this mandala, to look at my own shadow, and then to let others see it… That, I finally understood, is what letting go really is…