Hi,
My name is Grace Ranji,
A yoga teacher from Kiambo,
Kenya,
And I'm going to guide you through a meditation for forgiveness.
So you can either do this meditation while sitting down or lying down.
So if you're sitting down,
Choose a comfortable position.
You can choose to close your legs,
Whichever position you choose.
Lengthen your spine,
Have your head over your heart and your heart over your pelvis.
Connect with your body,
Feel your body connecting to the ground beneath you.
Pull your nerve into your spine,
Centering,
And begin to relax.
Relax in every part of your body.
Drop your shoulders,
Relax your face,
And start to bring attention to your breath.
Notice your natural breath,
Notice the rise and fall of your belly,
Of your chest,
And let yourself sink into relaxation.
With every breath,
You relax.
With every exhale,
You relax even more.
With every breath,
You relax.
With every exhale,
You relax even more.
Notice how your lungs expand with every breath and contract with every out breath,
And start to connect to your heart center.
Now begin offering yourself forgiveness,
And forgiveness is an energy,
An energy that allows you to center to the now present moment that no past shakes you.
Accept that you too have caused and hurt yourself,
And I want you to breathe in gently as you silently repeat this phrase.
There are so many ways that I have hurt and harmed myself through my thoughts,
Through my words,
Through my actions,
Knowingly and unknowingly.
I betrayed myself,
Abandoned myself,
Abandoned my value,
Caused myself to suffer.
I remember this now and allow myself to feel the sorrows that I still carry.
I then give myself permission to release all the burdens,
All these burdens.
I forgive myself for the ways I have hurt myself.
I've acted out of my own fear,
Out of my own confusion,
Pain,
Judgment,
And for today I offer myself the energy of forgiveness.
I forgive myself.
I forgive myself.
Now let yourself feel this forgiveness,
And if the feelings contrary to forgiveness come up as they may or may not come,
The feelings like guilty irritations,
I want you to be patient and tender to yourself.
Be affectionate with yourself.
Be gentle with yourself,
And I want you to repeat this next phrase.
There's so many ways that others have hurt me,
Betrayed me,
Abandoned me,
Angered me,
And let yourself remember all these hurts.
Be open to the grief that you still carry from all these hurts from the past,
And now give yourself permission to release this burden.
You can bring to the mind the people who have hurt you or harmed you and silently offer this phrase.
And now remember the ways you have hurt me.
Out of your own fear,
Pain,
Confusion,
Anger,
You have projected all that to me.
I've carried this pain for too long and at risk for now,
For today.
I offer you forgiveness.
I offer you forgiveness.
I choose to forgive you fully.
I choose to forgive you fully.
Breathe gently,
And I want you to repeat these other phrase as you relax.
There's so many ways that I have hurt or harmed others,
Betrayed and abandoned them,
Caused them to suffer,
Either knowingly or unknowingly.
Out of my own pain,
My own fear,
My own confusion,
My own sorrow,
My own anger,
I've projected these to them knowingly or unknowingly.
And let yourself remember and visualize the way others have,
You have hurt others.
Picture each memory that still burdens your heart.
Acknowledge the pain that you have caused them.
Out of your own fear,
Out of your own pain,
Out of your own confusion,
Be open to your own regret and sorrow.
Then give yourself permission to release all these burden.
And if you have specific people in mind,
Offer this phrase to them.
I know I have harmed you through my thoughts,
Through my words,
Through my action,
And I ask for your forgiveness.
I ask for your forgiveness.
And feel the movement of your heart in a way to ask and to allow forgiveness.
Allow forgiveness.
Allow forgiveness.
Now bring both of your hands to the space between your hearts,
One heart on top of the other.
And I want you to repeat this phrase.
I accept that every heart,
Every pain I have experienced have had a lesson for me.
I choose to focus on the lesson.
I choose to erase everything else and embody the lesson.
And I embrace forgiveness.
Forgiveness is an energy that allows me to center to the now present moment that no past shakes me.
I choose forgiveness.
I embody forgiveness.
Now open yourself and feel forgiveness.
Feel liberated from your past.
Feel freedom.
Now when you're ready bring your attention back to your body and you can open your eyes returning your attention back to your surrounding.
You can always repeat this meditation whenever you need it.
