Welcome,
My name is Celia Roberts and I'm the founder of the Biomedical Institute of Yoga and Meditation,
Biome.
This evening or today we're looking at meditations on forgiveness and letting go.
So I want you to hold in your heart space as we begin a difficulty,
Perhaps a resentment,
A frustration or an anger towards self or other that you would like to start to let go.
Remembering that this frustration and anger sometimes depletes our system more than it does another.
Always living in a chronic state of flight and fight,
Stress,
Flight,
Running,
Fear,
Anxiety or anger,
Resentment,
Rumination.
So see if you can tap into that energy that might exist towards you or towards another.
And just observe how your body might be holding that pattern.
Whether your shoulders are braced,
Your jaw is locked,
Your spine is tight,
Your back is tight,
Your legs might be really always shaky or really ready to run,
Your hands might be ready to fight or flee.
Just observe your breathing pattern.
I want you to move as deeply into that experience of the body as you can,
Just semantically experiencing this state.
And really do this somatic experience with a sense of curiosity,
Honorability,
Perhaps even a softness,
A gentility,
A compassion.
And if you can just breathe into that pattern.
Breathe into those areas of the body that have become stuck,
Stressed,
Anxious,
Depressed or shut down,
Angry.
Breathe a little kindness,
Forgiveness,
A sense of understanding and acceptance,
Knowing it's okay to feel these things,
To have this human experience.
And that is essentially as humans we're trying to be helpful and not harmful,
But sometimes the mind and the body are tricky.
We have threat and drive systems that lead us to do things that perhaps we're a little bit ashamed of or we have guilt around.
And we're able to move into these experiences in our body,
Our mind,
Our memories and our past and give presence to them and shine the light on them.
And as we do so transform them with forgiveness and kindness and understanding that we are human and it's possible to to let go and move forward.
If you're working with an external person who'd like to forgive,
I want you to see if you can feel or observe the same patterning in their body just by seeing or observing their vulnerable state,
Their suffering,
Their difficulty.
And having compassion for their suffering,
Understanding that all human beings suffer at different points in their lives.
And then see if you can really offer them forgiveness,
A deep form of understanding,
Forgiveness,
Gentility and compassion.
Forgive them for any harm they have caused you,
Any perceived harm they have caused you,
Whether it's physical,
Emotional or mental.
And if you have fears,
Blocks or resistances to this forgiveness,
Then move back towards yourself and just offer yourself the same forgiveness,
Compassion and kindness,
Understanding that it's completely okay to have resistance around this.
Try again,
Offer them that forgiveness,
That kindness and understanding.
And if it's difficult,
Move back to yourself,
Offer yourself the same forgiveness,
The same compassion.
Because we can't forgive and we can't have compassion for others if we haven't found that for ourselves.
So be really,
Not hard on yourself,
Be really gentle,
Find that softness,
That gentle space,
That vulnerability.
And then open your circle of forgiveness to include external people,
So people who may have been affected by this,
Either this harm that you have caused yourself unknowingly or knowingly,
This harm that you have perhaps caused the other person knowingly or unknowingly,
And how this perhaps has affected other human beings,
Creating a somewhat ripple effect.
See if you can forgive yourself,
This other human being and any other people who are involved in the situation.
And really expanding your heart space to really overcome any fears,
Blocks or resistances you may have to this forgiveness for self and others.
Okay,
See if you can bring yourself back to your body,
Just coming back to that experience that we had,
Our somatic holding pattern,
And just notice if it's changed in any way,
So the holding pattern of the body.
And here,
See if you can just,
What it might be like to let go of that pattern.
So if there's fear around that,
Just stay with it,
Just stay present.
But if it was possible to let go with a sense of forgiveness,
Understanding,
Acceptance and deep compassion,
See if you can just let go,
Let go of that holding pattern,
Let go of it in the face,
The eyes,
The mouth,
The nose,
Let go of it in the neck,
The shoulders,
The spine,
The back,
Let go of it in the chest and heart,
The belly,
Let go in the arms,
The hands,
Let go of this holding pattern in the legs,
The knees,
The calves and the feet,
Let go,
Let go,
Let go and the whole world will appear in its pristine self existing in nature,
Let go.
May be happy,
May be healthy,
May be filled with deep compassion,
Forgiveness and peace,
May your whole life be truly blessed,
May your whole life be truly blessed,
May your whole life be truly blessed.
