A warm welcome to this meditation to find forgiveness for yourself.
Today,
We will use a visualization to help free yourself from any chains that are holding you back,
Some old and rusty with regret and others shiny and new.
We want to release all of these and instead move on with acceptance,
Love and positivity.
Begin by finding a comfortable position to sit or lie down,
Whatever works for you,
And try to find a time and place where you will not be disturbed.
Slowly bring the focus to your breath and allow yourself to take a nice deep breath in,
And release on a slow exhale as you close your eyes.
Far too often we can hold ourselves back from our future by dwelling on events of the past.
It might be something we have said or done recently,
Or mistakes we have made long ago and still feel guilty about even now.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to finding forgiveness,
And it can take time.
But through this meditation,
I will try to guide you and share with you some thoughts and practices that have helped me on my journey,
And hopefully they will help you too.
In a moment,
We are going to count to ten using our breath.
This will help you to slow down and bring your full awareness to your body and your mind.
So,
When you are ready,
Take a nice deep breath in through the nose for one,
Hold it at the top for a second,
And release through the mouth for two,
Again in through the nose for three,
Hold here,
And breathe out for four,
Slowly in,
That's five,
Hold,
And out for six,
Breathe in for seven,
Pause at the top,
And out for eight,
And finally breathe in for nine,
Hold here,
And release for ten.
Just allow the breath to fall back to a natural rhythm.
Now,
Begin to visualize yourself standing in a long,
Grassy corridor underneath a canopy of leaves.
A golden sunlight falls down in spotlights on the floor,
And it is a perfect spring day.
At the end of the corridor,
You see the silhouette of a person walking toward you.
As the light begins to illuminate their face,
You see that it is yourself as a small child.
They have slightly grubby hands and knees after a busy playtime,
And a hopeful smile beams across their face as they look up at you.
The innocence of youth is bright in their eyes.
You kneel down on the grass opposite your childlike self,
And you tell them that it is okay to make mistakes in life.
It's okay to fall down,
Even many times,
So long as they never forget to pick themselves back up.
With a hand on their shoulder,
You remind them to never lose the light that is in their heart.
You tell them that the road to peace is a complicated and sometimes difficult journey,
But that you are with them every step of the way.
They move closer to you now,
And you take your child self into your arms in a warm hug.
As you hold them close,
Remind them that no matter what,
They are loved.
Remind them that all the wonderful and positive things that they will do in their life will far outweigh any mistakes they make.
And as you take a deep breath in,
Allow a new acceptance to fill your heart.
And when you breathe out,
Allow yourself to forgive.
Forgive yourself for those things that have weighed you down,
And forgive yourself for holding onto them for so long.
Now,
You can let go.
You watch now as this child version of you and your grown-up self merge together,
Until you become one.
Allow the spirit of this child,
Filled with endless love,
Openness,
And honesty,
To live within you once again.
And take another deep breath in.
And as you breathe out,
Acknowledge to yourself that you are ready to move forward,
And ready to forgive.
Feel these chains of regret coming loose and falling away from you.
A weight is being lifted from your shoulders,
And you can make peace with the past.
We are all human,
And even seemingly perfect people make mistakes.
But it is by holding on to the resentment,
The guilt,
And the anger that will cause us the most suffering.
If we can acknowledge and accept our mistakes,
And really learn from them,
Then we are one step closer to freeing ourselves from the heavy burdens of the past.
And,
If we're lucky,
There may even be the opportunity to right a few wrongs along the way.
Remember that where there is a future,
There is hope.
Just be with this moment now,
And allow whatever thoughts and feelings that may arise.
And now,
Allow your awareness to come back to the space around you.
And when you are ready,
Slowly open your eyes.
Recognize that you are doing a positive thing by being here today.
You are trying to improve and look after yourself,
And that alone is something to be proud of.
A final thought today.
Some old regrets and events from the past can stay with us longer than others,
And it might take time for you to make peace with these.
You might still have some lingering feelings of doubt or guilt,
And that's okay.
But while these are completely normal,
Just remind yourself that it does not do to dwell on dreams of the past.
And I encourage you to keep coming back to this meditation if things begin to overwhelm you again.
Small incremental steps are the key here,
And that,
Coupled with time,
Is the greatest healer.
This meditation will always be here for you,
Should you ever need it again.
And bit by bit,
We can keep moving forward.
Be kind to yourself today,
And lead with love.
Keep that light in your heart.
Thank you for listening.
I hope you have a wonderful day.
