Making Peace With The Past

Welcome to Day 5 of Insight Timer’s 7-Day Inner Peace Challenge. How can we ever move forward in life if we are not able to let go of the past? When we are not willing to let go, we stay trapped. Today with davidji we will gain insight into how to free yourself from the prison of the past and experience emotional freedom. We can’t rewrite the past but we can relax our grip on the past that restricts us from expressing our true selves. The path to liberation from this grip is through introspection and reconciliation, and in today’s session davidji will guide you through a traditional Hawaiian forgiveness practice called Hoʻoponopono that will teach you to let go.

Transcript

Hello,

This is davidji with insight timer and welcome to day five of the inner peace challenge.

Today we begin the journey of making peace with the past.

There are grudges we hold against others,

Past laden grievances filled with emotional charge.

There are grudges we hold against ourselves,

The woulda,

Coulda,

Shouldas of our life.

And we say to ourselves,

If only I had done it differently,

If only I had a fresh start or a do-over.

There are grudges that others hold against us because of things we've done or said,

Those moments where we were not impeccable with our words,

Choices,

Or actions.

And we whisper to ourself,

If only I could turn back the clock.

How are we ever able to move forward in life if we are not willing to step out of the past?

With one foot locked in the past,

How far can our other foot take us?

When we are unwilling to let go of the blame,

Anger,

Resentment,

Sadness,

Or grievance that we have for ourselves or another person,

We stay trapped in the past.

Waves of emotion disturb our peace when we reflect back on the actions that unfolded.

They haunt us through the day.

Perhaps they've haunted us for years.

They consume us stealing our peace,

Holding us captive to the moment from the past.

Imagine how we could feel if we finally let go of self-judgment,

Self-loathing,

Self-blame,

Shame,

Guilt,

Remorse,

Or regret.

We all wish we had an opportunity to go back in time and rewrite the past.

But we can't.

Yet we can release our grip on the past so it no longer controls us.

This is how we make peace.

We must give ourselves permission to loosen our grip on the past.

The journey of healing begins with permission.

Can you give yourself permission right now to loosen your grip a little bit?

Dreams of the past do not define us.

If we choose to break free of our self-imposed prison,

It's not easy.

And it is a journey.

But we hold the keys to our freedom.

Shedding our victimhood is a choice.

And a wise teacher once told me when I asked him if I was worthy of a second chance,

He said simply ask yourself two questions.

And if the answer is yes to both,

You are worthy of a new beginning.

And I believe this.

So right now,

Let's do it.

Place your hand on your heart and take a long slow deep breath in.

Allow your eyes to close.

Release the breath and ask the first question.

Am I truly sorry for what happened?

Go back to that moment.

Am I truly sorry for what happened?

If the answer to this first question is yes,

Proceed to the next question.

And ask yourself,

Knowing everything I know right now,

Would I choose differently?

Knowing everything I know right now,

Would I choose differently?

If the answer to the second question is also yes,

Then yes,

You are entitled,

Deserving of a second chance,

A new beginning,

A fresh start.

And there is no better way to begin that journey back from the past than right here,

Right now,

In this sacred,

Precious,

Present moment.

Whether we were a victim in that moment or whether we made a decision that we regret,

Our steps from this moment forward will be the ones that define our lives.

This is the new story we can write starting today,

The day you made peace with your past.

Remember,

You are so worthy of a new beginning.

Now there's an ancient Hawaiian reconciliation practice known as hoʻoponopono.

Hoʻoponopono means to make.

Pono means right.

And hoʻoponopono literally means to make right again,

Essentially to set right through prayer,

Confession,

Repentance,

And forgiveness.

Similar forgiveness practices have been performed for thousands of years by indigenous Pacific Island healers.

And traditionally hoʻoponopono is practiced within the extended family by a family member.

Once a prayer and then a discussion between the parties and it's multiple days and everyone's feelings are heard and honored,

Then there is a ceremonial cutting of the ties to the past.

These indigenous people were the true masters of peace,

And we can apply some core aspects of their reconciliation practice into our own lives.

Honoring the lineage of great sages and native healers of the Pacific Islands.

For our heart to begin its journey of healing,

We need to own our part in all of our emotional disturbances.

We need to apologize for whatever role we play in the disturbance,

Ask for forgiveness,

Feel gratitude for the experience,

And connect to the thread of love that has been darkened by the disturbance.

If something horrible was done to you,

You must also reconcile the fact that you have been holding this darkness in your own heart.

Certainly it wasn't your fault,

But it has been your choice to hold on.

And today you get to loosen your grip just a little bit.

This is a powerful process and I've translated it into a meditative experience that we're going to do right now and it's going to guide us to a deeper cleansing and healing of our heart.

So in deep reverence and appreciation to the Hawaiian healers and ancestors who created this magnificent expansive ceremony,

Let's begin a journey of making peace with the past.

The four components of every healing are first,

Remorse or regret or repentance.

This is where you take responsibility and express that you are truly sorry for your role in the event.

This goes back to those two questions we just asked.

Am I sorry and knowing everything I now know,

Would I choose differently?

So that's number one,

Remorse or repentance.

Number two is forgiveness.

We must have the humility and the bravery to ask for forgiveness,

Even if it is to our own self,

Especially if it is to our own self,

Truly desiring to be forgiven.

When we forgive,

We free ourselves from the ties that bind us to the one that hurt us.

When we forgive,

We move from victim to transcend or from blamer to acceptor,

From weakened state to empowered state.

Number three,

Gratitude,

Which is a readiness to show appreciation for and to return the kindness.

Here's where we take stock of all the magnificence and grace that we have perhaps taken for granted or ignored.

This is where we express our thankfulness at the deepest level that we are worthy of being listened to.

When the brain feels gratitude,

It amplifies our feelings of reward,

Morality,

Bonding,

Emotional intelligence,

And lastly love,

Which is our light out of the darkness and has the greatest power to heal all wounds.

Remorse,

Forgiveness,

Gratitude,

Love.

Remorse,

Forgiveness,

Gratitude,

Love.

These four words are the path and we'll use these four statements to awaken each aspect.

We awaken remorse by saying,

I'm sorry.

We awaken forgiveness by saying,

Please forgive me.

We awaken gratitude by saying,

Thank you.

And we awaken love by saying,

I love you.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

When we apply these two defining moments in our past,

We can begin the process of reconciliation and I will guide you to different aspects of your life and then you'll repeat the four healing phrases after I do.

Feel free to repeat them out loud,

Whisper them,

Or say them silently to yourself.

So let's begin.

Before we begin our healing,

Let us honor the great Pacific ocean and all its indigenous people who created the various cultures that formed their original civilizations thousands of years ago.

We thank the long line of ancestors who gave their lives with dignity to protect their people,

Their culture,

Their practices,

And their lands.

We bow to them with respect and humbly ask for their forgiveness.

May we be worthy of their intent.

May we be worthy of their generosity.

May we be worthy of their wisdom.

May we be worthy of their blessing.

May we do better now that we know better.

So let's settle in.

You can lie down,

Stand up,

Or stay seated here.

Place your hands on your heart and drift your attention now to some pain point in your physical body.

Connect to it.

Allow your attention to drift to it right now.

Breathe into that pain point and say,

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

You now drift your attention to the child you were in your earliest recollection at your most innocent.

Make eye contact with the child you were and gaze into that child's eyes and say,

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

And see that child looking back at you and saying the same thing.

Receive that from that child who was you at your most innocent,

Gazing into your eyes and saying,

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

You now drift your attention to the person you were at your most defining moment or turning point,

To the person who made that decision.

Who were you?

Make eye contact with that person.

It may have been many years ago.

With your hand on your heart,

Gaze into their eyes and say,

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

Drift your attention to a caregiver or someone who took care of you as a child.

Make eye contact.

Take a deep breath in here,

Into your heart and let that breath go and say to them,

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

You now drift your attention to who you are right now in this moment,

Make eye contact with yourself,

Looking at yourself.

Make deep,

Deep connection here.

And as you gaze into your eyes,

Let's say together,

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

And now drift your attention to someone you believe you hurt.

Not easy.

Let's go there right now and make eye contact with them.

That might be hard.

Maybe you think about them all the time,

But right now your heart is open and you're looking for reconciliation.

Gaze into their eyes and say,

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

Drift your attention to yourself for hurting yourself.

All those regrets and grievances you've been holding against yourself.

Maybe you can even drift your attention to that moment where shame,

Blame,

Or self-loathing,

Or self-anger,

Self-frustration all began to bubble up.

Make eye contact with that aspect of you and say,

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

Feel free to be massaging your heart right now.

Let's drift our attention to our heart.

Your sweet,

Tender heart has worked so hard to protect you,

To hold you sacredly,

To help you navigate through life.

It's been battered and bruised.

It's been scarred.

But it's resilient.

It's always been there for you.

Take a deep breath into it and let that go and repeat with me.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

And now drift your attention to something you said that you regret saying,

Something you did that you regret doing.

Maybe it's caused a rift between you and someone else.

See that person right now.

Make eye contact with them.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

And now drift your attention to the most magnificent expression of yourself.

And gaze into their eyes.

This is your highest version,

Your highest expression.

Gaze into their eyes and say,

I am so sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

The great Irish poet John O'Donohue wrote,

May you be blessed with a wise and compassionate guide who can accompany you through the fear and grief until your heart has wept its way to your true self.

As your tears fall over that wounded place,

May they wash away your hurt and free your heart.

May your forgiveness still the hunger of the wound.

So that for the first time,

You can walk away from that place reunited with your banished heart now healed and freed and feel the clear free air bless your new face.

Our peace practice today is as you walk throughout the day when you suddenly feel the past take hold on you.

Say out loud,

With each breath,

I am reborn.

Say it out loud with me one time right now.

With each breath,

I am reborn.

And now whisper it with me.

With each breath,

I am reborn.

And now repeat it silently to yourself.

This is davidji for insight timer sending you blessings of making peace with the past.

Feel free to stay in this space and please share this process in our chat room because this is how you can help others heal as well.

I'll see you tomorrow.

Reviews

A beautiful journey of letting go of old wounds and regrets.

I have been so welded to the mistakes I’ve made in the past. It’s time to move on and let go for good. Thank you 🙏🏼 ☮️

By far, this is the best introduction to ho'oponopono that I have encountered.

At this time in life, I’ll be making a few stops back here. I found this very helpful. Brought a few tears to my eyes, as I called upon someone’s name and the wind blew through my hair, as they arrived. 💫

Thank you for this healing meditation 🙏
I do feel it deeply and it is moving me deeply 💞💫

Thank you for this transformative healing meditation! Absolutely beautiful.

Wow. Very powerful. Deep realizations of truth. Thank you 🙏🏼💖🕊

Daviji you are a super powerful Candle 🕯️ lighting the world 🌍! I thank you with all my heart ❤️ for all the support and blessings you share in this app 🙏🏼⭐️🙌🏼🎊😘

Wonderful. Thank you for changing my life daily, with your teachings, Davidj.
So grateful.🙏

This is just what I needed. I could not help my tears as I apologiezed and I genuinely hope this brings all of us some peace and allows us to move forward, to heal.

Very powerful practice. Thank you with all my ❤️heart

Absolutely amazing. Such a peaceful yet powerful practice. Thanks, Davidj💥☮️🤟🤙

I prefer it in English. Thank you. Blessings to the Wise Cultures who share it 🙏🏾💙

Healing & freeing talk & just what I needed. Thank you.

it was a great experience and achievement to make peace with my past. Thanks a lot!!!

Profoundly healing. I will return to this one again and again. Thank you

Thank you for honoring the indigenous culture that created this practice so graciously and sharing it with loving guidance.

The most powerful journey into forgiveness yet. Thank you!

So for the 2 questions. What if that's something I don't regret, but I am still trying to heal from losing it?

Truly grateful for this and all your magic practices ♥️