Welcome to this meditation on finding forgiveness.
I'm Alexa Sarna and I'm grateful to have you here with me today.
To forgive is the act of consciously acknowledging and releasing resentment.
This resentment may be harbored towards ourselves,
Others,
Or even challenging situations and experiences.
For us to release resentment,
We must first examine our inner world to acknowledge its presence.
Often resentment can live in our subconscious,
Preventing us from moving forward in love and blocking love's natural flow.
For us to fully lean into love,
We must release ourselves from resentment and actively choose to replace this with forgiveness.
When we have been wronged,
Betrayed,
Abandoned or otherwise,
We can feel an intense emotion such as grief,
Hate,
Fear and anger,
Which can feel so strong and challenging to detach from.
Forgiveness for others can also feel extremely challenging when it feels like we are conceding or giving up something by being hurt by another.
Know this,
Harboring resentment is like paying tax twice.
We pay the first time when the situation that hurt us occurs and then we continue to pay when we allow the toxicity of resentment to live within us and block the karmic flow of love.
To forgive is not to bypass your emotions or forget and violate your own personal boundaries.
Instead,
Forgiveness is the practice of bringing your truth to light and releasing your attachment from the heavy emotions that come from clinging to resentment.
To practice forgiveness is a process.
I'll now guide you through this as a heart-centered visualization.
To begin,
Allow yourself a moment to just feel grounded with me in the here and now.
If you're sitting,
Allow your sit bones to gently sink into the floor beneath you.
If you're lying down,
Notice all the places where your body is gently touching the bed or the floor that you're lying on.
Taking a big,
Deep breath in through your nose for 4,
2,
3,
4.
Just holding it for a moment and gently breathing out all the way through your mouth.
Taking another big,
Deep breath in through the nose,
2,
3,
4 and hold.
And slowly releasing this all the way out through our mouth.
Remember you have nowhere to be and nothing to do other than to be here with me now.
The practice of forgiveness is a process and one that can feel intensely challenging.
To begin,
I want you to sit with acknowledgement.
In your mind and in your heart,
I want you to acknowledge the truth of the situation.
I am feeling resentful because.
.
.
And I'd like for you to take a moment to describe the situation to yourself in your mind's eye.
Explain how this situation has hurt you.
How this person or situation has wronged you or intensely challenged you.
Get really clear on acknowledging why you feel resentment towards this thing,
This situation or this person.
Now I'd like for you to more clearly understand the emotions that your resent is bringing up.
In your body,
Feel whatever it is that you're feeling.
And as you do so,
I'd like for you to challenge yourself to label them more clearly.
I'd like for you to make some clear eye statements in your mind's eye.
For example,
I am experiencing grief.
Or I am experiencing anger.
I'm experiencing fear.
I am experiencing frustration.
I'm experiencing sadness.
And perhaps your internal experience is a combination of these things.
Know that this is completely normal.
Allow these emotions to be.
Allow yourself to experience them in their full gravity.
Notice how these feel in your body,
In your soul,
What they do to your mind.
Just be with them,
Acknowledging them and noticing how these emotions impact you.
Now we're going to take a moment to witness and understand how these emotions are currently serving us.
Often we cling to resentment because it allows us to avoid acknowledging a deeper hurt that we're experiencing.
Emotions such as anger are often masking something more profoundly painful.
Take a moment again to feel these and I challenge you to dive a little deeper.
Are these emotions protecting you from feeling rejected?
Feeling abandoned?
Feeling worthless or unworthy?
Know that this is entirely normal and it may feel really challenging to acknowledge this.
I am here with you through this process.
Take a moment to allow for whatever is coming up to just be.
Often when we are wronged,
It triggers a deeper core belief that we either unconsciously or otherwise hold about ourselves.
It's important that we give ourselves the support that we need to move through the triggering of this core belief.
This core belief might sound like I am unworthy of love.
I am unworthy of friendship or people always leave me.
Whatever it may be,
I want you now just to sit in the stillness and allow yourself to be soothed through this triggered core belief.
Gently place your hand over your heart and tell yourself I am safe.
I am loved.
I am worthy regardless of whatever is said or happens to me.
I am worthy.
Know that your resentment is simply a cognitive mechanism keeping you safe from feeling these very heavy emotions that have triggered a core belief.
Now I'd like for you to give yourself permission to forgive.
With your hand on your heart,
Soothe yourself through the acceptance and letting go of resentment to replace it with forgiveness.
This resentment we no longer need.
We know that we are safe,
We know that we are loved,
And we know that we are worthy.
Thank your resentment for being here to serve you as a reminder,
But now it's time to let it go.
In your mind's eye,
Repeat these affirmations after me.
I no longer need to feel this resentment to feel safe.
I no longer need to feel this resentment to feel safe.
I courageously release my resentment and allow myself to forgive.
I courageously release my resentment and allow myself to forgive.
I release my resentment as it no longer serves my highest good.
I release my resentment as it no longer serves my highest good.
I accept the lesson my resentment has taught me and I choose to release it and find forgiveness.
I accept the lesson my resentment has taught me and I now choose to release it and find forgiveness.
I'm going to give you a few moments now to simply sit in stillness,
Hand on heart,
And allow yourself to be in the feeling of forgiveness.
Allow the forgiveness to wash over and through you and notice any lingering resentment gently leaving your body,
Leaving you feeling lighter,
Freer,
Less clinging,
Less fear.
Just be in the lightness of forgiveness in your mind and in your heart.
I'll keep watch of the time.
Enjoy this moment of stillness with yourself.
Thank you for dedicating this time to yourself to sit with me and move through the challenging process of being in resentment and choosing to find forgiveness.
Know that the innate power to choose forgiveness is always within you and you can return to this practice as often as you need.
I'm Alexa Sarna and it's been a pleasure meditating with you today.
With gratitude.
