Episode 30: What Surrender Really Means — And Why It Sets You Free – Quick Bite

→ Don’t forget to try the Releasing Control meditation – Dessert!

When life doesn’t go the way we planned, our instinct is often to tighten, push, and try to regain control. But what if that resistance is what’s actually creating the suffering?

In this New Year Quick Bite, Alyssia Sheikh explores the deeper meaning of surrender—not as passivity or weakness, but as an active, embodied choice to stay present with what is. Drawing from mindfulness, neuroscience, Buddhist wisdom, and personal experience, she reframes surrender as releasing the illusion of control while remaining fully engaged with life.

You’ll learn the critical difference between surrender and submission, why the brain clings to prediction and preference, and how control can block the very joy and meaning we’re seeking. Alyssia introduces a simple river metaphor to illustrate how holding life with open hands—rather than gripping outcomes—allows us to be carried toward experiences that are often better than we could have planned.

This episode invites you to step into the new year with curiosity instead of control, trust instead of tension, and openness instead of attachment.

✨ In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why surrender is not giving up—but giving over resistance
• The difference between surrender and submission
• How control is rooted in prediction and fear of the unknown
• Why the biggest moments of joy often come from surprise
• How attachment to preferences creates suffering
• A simple metaphor to practice surrender in everyday life

💭 Reflection:

Where might you be gripping an outcome—and what could shift if you loosened your hold just a little?

Tag @alyssiasheikh when you share this episode!

Follow & Connect:

• Join the Newsletter
• IG: @alyssiasheikh
• TikTok: @alyssiasheikh
• YouTube: Alyssia Sheikh
• Email me: [email protected]
• Call our hotline and leave a voicemail! (213) 632-9972‬
• Book a Self-Trust Session with Alyssia

• The Hoffman Institute (Alyssia is a Hoffman Process teacher; podcast is not affiliated)

Relevant Episodes: 

• Episode 26 — Why Resolutions Don’t Stick
• → Don’t forget to try the Releasing Control meditation – Dessert!

Relevant Links & Resources: 

• Michael A. Singer — The Surrender Experiment