Hi,
It's Dawn.
Let's work a little bit on some forgiveness.
I found a story that I read to my classes last week about a teacher who had their students bring in potatoes in a plastic bag.
And for every person that they had not forgiven,
They were told to put that person's name on a potato in a sharpie and to put that potato in the plastic bag.
And some of the plastic bags,
As you can imagine,
Were quite heavy.
And then they were told to carry this plastic bag around with them for a week,
Putting it next to their bed at night,
Taking it with them to work and to class and to wherever they had to go,
To the grocery store,
Next to them in the car or on the bus.
And of course,
The idea is that as we carry this around,
There's a lot of heaviness.
But also,
As time goes on,
The potatoes get smellier and slimier and disgusting.
And so let's,
Let's empty our bag of potatoes with this practice.
So no matter how many potatoes you have in your bag,
Including yourself,
If you have yourself,
That you can't forgive for something,
Take a moment,
Get into a settled position,
A comfortable position,
And just take a bit of a sighing breath,
Just in through the nose,
Fill the lungs,
Out through the mouth.
Do that a couple more times.
And then start to think about someone that you can't forgive,
Or you don't like,
Or just when you think about them,
They make your jaw tight.
You don't have to 100% forgive.
And you certainly don't have to condone any behaviors.
But just opening the doorway to a little forgiveness,
If it's possible,
And see if you can send some level of forgiveness to the part within them that is untainted.
And sending forgiveness to that person,
To whatever degree you can.
And taking a calming breath.
And going to the next person,
Bringing them into your mind,
Offering forgiveness.
Notice if you go into the storyline of what they did and why they don't deserve it,
This isn't for them.
This is for you.
This is to empty that stinky bag of potatoes,
So that you don't have to carry all this heavy stuff around.
You'll take a nice,
Calming breath in through the nose and out through the mouth with a sigh.
And take another person,
See if there's anyone else that you'd like to forgive,
Or that you need to forgive,
Is a better way to put that.
Send them forgiveness.
And take a breath.
Now,
It might be that you have a lot more people that you need to send forgiveness to.
Absolutely,
That is a normal thing.
So you could hit pause for a moment,
Go through the same technique.
And then after you feel that that part is finished,
That's enough,
That's complete,
Then come back on.
This next piece of this meditation is to ask for forgiveness.
Who do you need to ask to be forgiven from?
Who have you hurt?
Again,
Not going into the story,
Just let them come into your mind or your heart.
And you can say something as simple as,
I am sorry that I hurt you.
Please forgive me.
Feel that,
Feel that forgiveness coming to you.
Letting that energy of forgiveness come in.
Even if you've done things that are regrettable,
Painful.
You take a breath here.
And move to the next person.
I am sorry that I have hurt you.
Please forgive me.
And then feel that forgiveness once again.
And we'll do one more together.
And thinking and feeling into someone that you've hurt.
Bringing them into your heart,
Into your mind.
I am sorry that I hurt you.
Please forgive me.
And receiving that energy of forgiveness.
As you take a deep breath in.
Of course,
You can hit the pause button.
Take some more time with this.
It might be really nice to shift your jaw left and right.
Notice if you're holding tension in your jaw,
Maybe take a swallow and let your throat relax.
Letting your forehead,
Soften your shoulders,
Release.
And then we're just going to release,
You know,
Anything that might be still clinging to us energetically.
And so as silly as it might be,
And it is,
You can make little imaginary scissors with your index finger and your middle finger.
And you're going to take these scissors and you're Especially around the front of your heart,
Back of your heart,
But you can also cut around your head and down your arms,
Down the front of your body,
Back of your body,
All the way underneath your feet,
Under your arms.
And as we do this,
Imagine this heavy cloak,
This heavy energetic cloak,
These weeds falling down away from you.
And then notice your relationship to the light.
And as you are here in this space,
Breathing in,
Breathe in that beautiful,
Loving light that you are now more aware of that's around you in every direction.
Take in this loving energy.
Feel it,
Know that you deserve this.
And as you go on through the rest of your day or night,
Just be the best version of yourself that you can be.
You don't have to be perfect.
But be real,
Be authentic.
If you need to take any actions regarding the forgiveness that you have offered or requested,
Yeah,
That might be a good time to make some amends.
Clearing that slate,
That energetic slate,
Even more.
I hope you feel lighter.
I hope you feel more connected to the earth and to the divine light.
And I do hope that you are more in tune with your best self and that deep compassion for yourself.
I am wishing you all the best.
Take really good care of yourself.
All right,
Until next time.
