Hi everyone,
Welcome to a guided forgiveness practice.
Now forgiveness is an essential part of healing ourselves,
Of letting go of the past and all the resentments,
Fears,
Negativity that may come with it.
We're going to be doing an ancient Toltec practice today called the Labyrinth.
In this labyrinth,
As you round the corridors,
As you make your way through,
You're able to meet the past head on.
Thank it and release it.
In this practice,
We're going to be using guided visualization and imagery to take us on this journey.
After a short introduction,
We'll get started.
Imagine yourself standing at the opening of a life-sized labyrinth.
A guardian ceremonially smudges you with copal,
Which is tree resin.
The aromatic resin seems somehow familiar.
The maze calls to you,
And you note the carefully placed stones forming a single pathway.
It loops back and forth within the maze,
Creating mesmerizing circuits surrounding the center.
As you place your foot upon the path,
It's as though you step back in time.
The tradition comes alive.
You are present,
Aware,
And ready.
Now let's begin.
As you enter the labyrinth,
Imagine it is a roadmap of your past that leads to your present moment in life.
With every turn and vision a person,
A moment,
Or a belief that you have used in some way to limit yourself.
What or whom have you used to subjugate your own will in order to be accepted by yourself or others?
Can you hold that vision in your mind,
A person,
For example?
Stop,
Envision him or her,
And become aware of how their words have contributed to your limiting beliefs and say,
Forgive me.
I have used your words to go against myself.
At every turn,
Visualize a person,
A moment,
A belief,
And say,
Forgive me.
I have used your words to go against myself.
You may turn the corridor and see an old friend that things ended with.
Maybe you feel like you weren't good enough.
You weren't deserving of that person.
They may have even caused you pain.
But although that person might have used his or her words or actions to limit you or to cause you harm or pain,
You have the right to say no to that belief.
If we say yes,
We allow this belief to blossom and grow in our minds.
Forgiveness happens the moment we say no to carrying this pain,
This weight,
This hurt,
And to let go of it all.
As you move,
As you turn from corridor to corridor,
Meeting those people or beliefs that have limited you,
You move forward through forgiveness.
Now continue through the labyrinth,
Repeating that same action of forgiveness as new people,
Situations,
Or emotional wounds come to mind.
Continue saying,
Forgive me.
I have used your words to go against myself and move on to the next hallway.
And after moving through and performing this action of forgiveness,
You find yourself at the entrance to the center of the labyrinth.
You stop here,
Look at the entrance,
And see a mirror.
And as you walk up to the mirror,
You see your own reflection.
You see the creases and valleys of your face.
You see your body,
Yourself,
In your fullest form.
And when you're ready,
Repeat these words,
Forgive me.
I have used your words most of all to go against myself,
And I will no longer use them to hurt myself again.
Entering the center of the labyrinth represents the moment we take our power back.
It represents the moment you forgive yourself.
You reclaim the power,
The impeccability of your own word,
Of your own intention.
You are worthy of your own forgiveness as much as you are worthy of your own love.
And now,
We can let go of the past by recognizing that the only thing that exists is this present moment.
The labyrinth itself is now the past,
And we can let it go and fall away.
You completely let it go as you forgive yourself,
And you draw the knowledge from the past to make choices in the present.
The labyrinth expands as you live your life,
But the truth is that in that center,
In that present moment,
You are fully alive.
The ceremony ends when you recognize that you are worthy of your own love because you are alive in this very moment.
Thank you for joining me.
