Releasing Resentment

This guided practice is an excerpt from the Compassion Conversations live session on Insight Timer. Resentment is a complex emotion arising when we feel hurt or mistreated. Resentment grows when we hold on to the past. Releasing resentment is a gift to ourselves, releasing ourselves from the weight of the past and supporting us in setting clear boundaries in the present. In this session, we work with a Ho’oponopono practice to support restoring balance in our relationship with ourselves and others.

Transcript

So finding a position that feels as comfortable as you can possibly be.

We'll be here for a while today.

You can do the seated or lying down.

If you do lie down,

Do place something beneath the knees and the head just to support the body fully.

You take pressure off the low back and off the neck.

And if you have a blanket or a shawl nearby,

Go ahead and place that on top of the body.

If you're seated,

Just wrap the shoulders tightly.

If you're lying down,

Cover the heart and the abdomen.

When we do this,

We invite the nervous system to find ease.

We keep the body warm and we invite a little bit of ease into the body so the nervous system feels safe and supported.

And then once you're settled in,

Going ahead and closing the eyes as an invitation to go inward.

And if the eyes don't feel comfortable being fully closed,

Go ahead and find a soft gaze off in the distance.

Let the eyelids close partially and let the vision blur a little.

And gently beginning to attune to the sounds around you.

Without necessarily naming them,

Just tuning in to the sounds that are in the environment.

Letting your awareness move from sound to sound until the awareness gets very close to the body and you might even begin to hear the sound of the flow of your own breath.

Holding that awareness,

Allowing a nice steady flow of breath to enter in through the nose.

And pause at the top of the inhale,

Holding that breath for just a moment.

And then open the mouth and very slowly,

Gently sigh out the breath.

The muscles in the face soften,

Allowing another steady inhale to enter in through the nose,

Feeling the chest and heart expand.

And then opening the mouth,

Gently sigh and exhale,

Softening through the neck and shoulders,

All the way down to the fingertips.

Taking another full breath in through the nose,

Receive that gift of breath and hold for just a moment.

And open the mouth,

Sigh it out,

Let go.

Feeling fully supported.

As the breath finds a natural rhythm.

Each breath flowing fluidly,

One after the other.

Noticing the effortless flow,

Each in breath,

Easily followed by a gentle out breath.

Gently scanning the body from head to toe and toe to head and just becoming aware of the physical body.

Becoming aware of any sensations or areas of tension or even discomfort.

And allowing the breath to travel into these places,

You might gently acknowledge the low shoulder.

Find the breath to travel into the shoulder and exhale.

Doing this with any area of pain or discomfort.

And then gently noticing any emotions that are with you today.

Anything lingering from earlier in the day or yesterday.

And welcoming those emotions.

You might even say,

Oh hello,

Sadness.

I see you.

Thank you for being here.

Just greeting each emotion as it arises.

Now letting that go.

Bringing your awareness now gently into the top of the head.

Softening through the top of the head,

The muscles in the face and the jaw,

Even releasing the tongue.

Noticing both eyes and allowing them to settle deep into the sockets.

Both ears,

Jaw.

Sinking and softening into the shoulders,

Upper arms,

Elbows,

Lower arms,

Wrists and hands.

Just noticing both arms.

Both arms heavy,

Soft,

Supported.

And the throat,

Heart center,

Upper belly,

Lower belly.

The whole front of the torso is soft,

Supported.

Just noticing the upper back,

Both shoulder blades,

Middle back,

Low back,

And the base of the spine.

And the whole back.

Whole back,

Soft,

Heavy,

Fully supported.

Both hips,

Buttocks,

Upper legs,

Knees,

Calves,

Ankles.

Both feet,

And all ten toes.

Both legs.

Both legs soft,

Heavy,

Fully supported.

And then noticing the whole body.

Just aware of the whole body,

Soft,

Still,

Supported.

Whole body fully supported,

Breath flows easily.

You might sense the breath drawing in through the crown of the head and gathering at the heart center.

And exhaling from the heart center down through the base of the spine.

The next inhale,

Gently drawing in through the base of the spine,

Swirling at the heart center.

Gently exhaling out through the crown of the head.

Breathing into this easeful rhythmic flow of the breath,

Alternating above to below.

Below to above,

Resting in the heart center,

In the spaces between.

Let's continue to breathe in this way for a few more moments.

Noticing that transition space of the heart.

Fluid flow of breath.

Moving in and out from the heart.

Now gently inviting into your awareness the experience and feeling of resentment,

That tension that arises.

Allowing yourself to feel the barriers that are created and the emotions that circle with the experience of resentment.

Noticing if any particular individual comes to mind with this feeling.

Just holding that in gentle awareness.

You might even say,

Ah,

Thank you for appearing here for me,

With me.

You might even say,

Ah,

We're going to explore our relationship.

Thank you for being here.

Allowing yourself to feel all the feelings,

All the barriers,

All the resistance.

It's okay to feel this.

It's okay to feel this.

Breathing in and out from the heart and holding a gentle image of this person or relationship in the heart with you.

As we repeat these following words quietly in the mind,

Allowing any images or sensations to move with you as we move through these phrases.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

You might feel called to place a hand on the heart,

Both hands on the heart.

We continue to work with these phrases.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

Continuing to repeat these phrases.

As you hold this image of this person in mind,

You might begin to notice that their image is merged with an image of you.

You and this person resolve into one another.

You begin to notice a sense of connection,

A sense of softening.

You begin to now hold an image of yourself.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

Gazing into your own eyes,

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

Just pausing and noticing the quality of energy that flows with these words.

Allowing the images,

Feelings,

And emotions that arise,

Allowing them to move deeper into the breath,

Into the cells of the body as you repeat them.

And sensing yourself in this relationship,

Resting in the heart,

Just gently glowing,

Pulsing the energy of these words.

You might ask,

What am I being called to express?

What is the invitation here for me?

What is being called to be expressed?

What is the invitation for me?

Taking a nice full breath in,

Gently exhaling with the sigh,

Letting go now.

Gently releasing the image from the heart,

Allowing it to release on the waves of the breath,

Gently released into the world.

Don't have to carry that anymore.

Sending the body from head to toe and toe to head and just noticing the quality of the breath.

Allowing the breath to deepen.

As you extend a breath of gratitude into the heart saying thank you for this time,

This support.

As you begin to move the fingers and the toes,

Gently stretching,

Drawing them close and expanding the fingers,

Opening the hands out wide and then gently closing into a fist.

Noticing this simple movement of holding and releasing.

You might even mimic this with the toes,

Just clenching and then opening and releasing.

Feeling the quality of that movement in the muscles,

Knowing that this is what we're doing in the heart as well.

Becoming aware of our contraction and then intentionally inviting release.

I'm sorry,

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

Contraction expansion.

Sending into the points of contact between the body and the supports beneath you.

Becoming aware of the hips and the heels,

Shoulder blades.

If you feel called to,

You might reach the arms way up overhead into a nice big stretch.

On the exhale,

Gently releasing the arms down to the sides.

If you're lying down,

This is a wonderful time to draw the knees into the chest and maybe roll over to one side.

If you're seated,

Just inviting some subtle movements into the shoulders and maybe the neck.

Noticing where the body wants to awaken.

For those of you lying down,

Taking the arm closest to the sky,

Placing it on the ground in front of the heart and letting it help bring you back to a seated position.

So that we all meet together seated with our eyes closed.

Just noticing how the body's feeling.

It's shifted in the last 25 minutes.

And gently placing one hand on the heart and placing the other hand on top of it and holding there for just a moment.

Acknowledging that you spent some time there today.

And that right now,

Your heart is in good hands.

And the warmth of your own hands,

Gently holding the heart.

Taking a full breath in through the nose,

Feeling that heart expand.

And exhale,

Gently tucking the chin to the chest and pausing here for a moment.

Inviting a soft grin to form on the corners of the lips.

Just drawing the corners of the mouth back towards the ears.

And allow the grin to carry a welcoming energy.

And it says,

I see you,

You're welcome here.

And then gently opening your eyes and seeing you.

Seeing your hands beneath you.

Or lap.

You might even say to yourself or whisper,

Oh,

Welcome back.

Bringing your eyes back to center.

Welcome back.

Reviews

This meditation is exactly what I needed. I’m looking forward to do it again.

This was absolutely lovely, and exactly what I needed. Thank you so much for this guidance it was healing and so loving. 💖💖💖🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻💖💖💖

Beautiful meditation, thank you 🌼