Guided Meditation for Self-Love and Forgiveness This is a guided meditation to help you feel self-love and compassion by forgiving yourself for past mistakes.
It has a fun storyline to gently guide you into an experience of self-forgiveness.
Let's begin by getting into a comfortable position,
Either sitting or lying down.
Close your eyes and breathe deeply.
With each in-breath,
Fill up the lower belly,
Then the chest,
And then the head.
With each out-breath,
Just relax and let it go naturally.
Let's breathe like this for one minute.
And with each out-breath,
Just relax and let it go naturally.
Now,
I'd like you to imagine that you are vacationing in a foreign land.
You have enjoyed a casual day of shopping at the bazaar,
And it's late in the afternoon.
You come to the last shop on the street.
The shop is run by an old woman who looks like a gypsy.
She examines you keenly as you glance around at her wares.
Then she says,
I know what you need.
I have just the right thing.
She reaches behind the counter and pulls out a wooden hand mirror.
Oh,
No thank you,
You reply.
I'm just looking.
But she insists,
Please take it,
No charge.
You shake your head,
But she is already wrapping the mirror in paper.
She hands you the package and says,
Well,
Be on your way.
I need to close up shop.
You take the package and leave,
Wondering if the old woman is crazy.
When you get back to your motel room,
You open the package and look at the mirror.
It has strange carvings in the dark wood.
It looks very old and worn.
No wonder the gypsy wanted to get rid of it.
You turn the mirror around and look at the glass.
You're surprised to see how young you look.
This vacation is doing wonders for me,
You think to yourself.
Then you take a closer look.
Wait a minute,
I look way too young.
Maybe it's the mirror.
You gaze intently at your reflection and it gazes back at you.
You get a strange feeling that you are actually looking at your past self.
Then you remember,
This is what you look like at a time in your life when you made a decision that ended up causing suffering for yourself and others.
You've never been able to forgive yourself for that decision,
And you still feel shame whenever you think of it.
If only you had known back then what you know now,
You would have acted differently.
But how could you have known?
As you look at your past self,
Take a minute to remember what was happening at that time and how you used to think and feel.
You really were a different person back then.
You realize that your past self was doing the best it could under the circumstances.
As you look more deeply into the mirror,
You see the longing in the eyes of your past self.
Your past self seems to be pleading for understanding and forgiveness.
You feel a warm sensation in your heart that you recognize as compassion.
Take a minute to connect with your heart center and feel the love that arises.
Finally,
You look into the eyes of your past self and you say,
I forgive you.
What else would you like to say?
Take some time to communicate with your past self,
Expressing whatever thoughts and feelings come up.
As you continue gazing into the mirror,
Your reflection begins to change.
Your past self appears to be growing older until it catches up to your current age.
But there is something different about the reflection that you now see.
It's still you,
But it seems to be a wiser and more compassionate you than you have ever seen before.
You watch with fascination as the face in the mirror becomes the most beautiful version of you that you can imagine.
Now the person in the mirror is gazing at you with a look of unconditional love that fills your heart with joy.
You see the person you are becoming,
Your future self.
Take a few minutes to feel the love and compassion of your future self and ask any questions that are on your mind.
The reflection of your future self fades away.
And you are looking again at your normal face in the mirror.
You rewrap the mirror in the paper and place it carefully in your suitcase.
This is one mirror you want to keep,
And you hope that you will someday be able to share it with others so they can also experience self-love and forgiveness.
Now it's time to come back from the meditation.
Breathe deeply and feel your body.
When you are ready,
Slowly open your eyes,
Stretch,
And come back to the present moment.
