בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם מַתִּיר אֲסוּרִים:

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d, King of the Universe,
Who releases the bound.

Each of us has elements in our lives in which we feel trapped, or we feel powerless or stuck in patterns which we would like to break. When we open our eyes to those around us, both those closest to us as well as those in our midst, we see that they too may be entrapped in situations from which they’d like to escape. In this activity, we first bring our attention to the walls (physical or invisible) holding us back. Then, we identify the first steps we can take to begin to bring down the barriers and break free, and express our gratitude for them. This activity can be done once from the perspective of your own barriers, then repeated from someone else’s perspective, committing yourself to helping them break free of their struggles.