Hello and welcome to this self-forgiveness meditation.
As usual,
Making sure that you're being kind to yourself,
That you're warm enough,
That you're truly comfortable.
And for this meditation,
Preferably with your legs uncrossed and your feet on the ground.
Let your eyes close,
If that feels comfortable for you.
And take a few moments to just arrive in your body.
You may have been spending time in your head.
If you chose this meditation today,
You might have been beating yourself up about something.
There might be some tension,
Lingering.
So giving yourself the gift of just letting everything soften and let go a little bit.
And you can use your breath as an ally for this.
Taking a full,
Deep inhale,
A breath of life.
And a long,
Slow exhale,
Releasing what feels like it needs to be released.
And you can do this a few times.
Full inhales,
Long,
Slow exhales.
With each exhale,
Softening that little bit more into your seat,
Into your body.
You can imagine if it helps snow settling on the ground after it's been moved about by the winds.
Letting everything settle.
And really feel the contact that your feet are making with the ground.
The solidity there.
And the warmth of every point of contact of your body with the seat,
The surface that you're sitting on.
Letting that support meet you as you also yield into it.
You're supported.
You're safe.
You're here.
Bringing to mind a vast open space like a blue sky.
Letting that image fill your being,
Fill your mind.
Letting the image seep into every pore of your body.
Inviting the idea of internal space with each breath.
And with your hand on your heart if you want,
Just letting the idea drop that this groundedness and this vastness combined might start to give us a sense of what we're doing.
A sense of non-judgmental presence to what is.
And if you have a sense of a higher power,
A guide,
A compassionate being that you like to use in your meditation practice,
Feel free to bring their qualities in as well.
To enrich that sense of non-judgmental compassionate presence.
And now within that vast internal space bringing to mind an incident,
A situation,
Something that has caused you to be hard on yourself.
It could be words you wish you could take back.
It could be a decision you wish you had made differently.
It could be a situation in your life that you have a hard time forgiving yourself for.
And as you bring that situation to mind,
Notice what feeling and sensation arises in your body as a response.
There may be a contraction somewhere,
A sense of heaviness or pressure.
Maybe around the throat,
The chest,
The belly.
There may be tears or tension in the face.
Just noticing what physical sensations are associated with that situation you brought to mind.
Maybe there's thoughts there as well.
Starting to notice what the inner voice is saying,
Possibly an inner critic.
You really could have handled this differently.
Why did you do this?
You always do this or you never get it right.
Paying particular attention to these kinds of melodramatic words our inner critics are usually so fond of.
Still feeling your feet on the ground,
The vast blue sky space you've created earlier.
Compassionate being,
The presence is there to help you just observe these things that are going on and not get too caught up in them.
See if you can from that vast inner space,
See the interplay of these voices,
This voice that feels like it's done something wrong.
And maybe that critical voice that says that you don't deserve to be forgiven for this thing you did wrong.
Or this situation or those words you've said.
See if you can see them as almost as characters in your own little inner play,
Stepping outside from the drama.
Now is it possible,
And I invite you to try it out,
To get in touch with a kind space within yourself.
You can put a hand on the heart to do this.
Get your breath on your side,
Your ally,
Making space for things to just be.
And to sense in this situation you've brought to mind where you've simply been human.
We're human beings,
We're not perfect,
We make mistakes.
And can you hold all of this internal play in compassionate presence?
And anchoring yourself in the feeling of the following statements.
I am human.
Life is tricky to balance and juggle and get right for all of us.
We are all worthy of forgiveness.
Although I may not have gotten everything right,
I forgive myself anyway.
Although I might not have acted optimally,
In my view,
I forgive myself anyway.
I forgive myself for a situation I feel I might have created.
I forgive myself for words I wish I had not said.
I forgive myself for decisions I made which perhaps didn't serve me the best.
I fully,
Completely,
Deeply forgive myself.
And if it's hard to feel a response,
A relaxation to these words,
You can simply place an intent.
May I forgive myself for what I feel I did wrong.
May I find compassion towards myself for simply being human.
May I find deep kindness within myself.
May I forgive myself.
May I give myself kindness for simply being human.
May I hold myself in compassion.
Whatever words work for you from that vast presence.
And notice the response within your body.
And really take it in,
That softening.
It's okay.
Sweetheart,
It's okay.
You're okay.
Breathing that in.
And taking a few deep breaths from your heart.
Just to seal that practice in the body.
Feeling again your feet on the ground,
How supported you have been throughout this practice.
Finding some movement in your fingers,
In your toes.
And gently opening your eyes when you've finished.
Thank you for joining me today and I wish you a wonderful,
Self-forgiving day.
