Forgiveness Meditation

This practice makes an important distinction between forgiveness and forgetting: you can remember what happened, protect yourself, and still release resentment. By placing a hand on your heart and offering yourself acceptance, forgiveness, and care, you are invited to free your heart and reconnect with happiness, ease, and joy.

Transcript

So taking time to make your body comfortable first. Taking time to be comfortable, To make your body comfortable. And if you need to reposition the body, Just. . . Being kind to your physical self. Finding that comfortable seat. And begin to relax your forehead. Feel the forehead and let it release. Relax the eyebrows. Relax the space between the eyebrows. Release all the little muscles around your eyes. And the cheeks. And the jaw. Release the skin on your face. No need to hold anywhere. Find a relaxation in the shoulders. Release the chest. Release the upper back. Find relaxation in your belly. And in your left leg. And in your right leg. Feel into this stillness. Feel into this gentleness. Your living, Breathing body. That is here to serve you. And if there are any aches or pains in the body. Forgive your body for that. Release your body. From judgment. Find the breath in your body. And we will stay with the breath. For a few minutes. When the mind wanders. Just gently. Bring it back to the breath. If the mind wanders, Forgive the mind for wandering and with joy, With gentleness, With lightness. Rejoin the breath. And now that you've been with your breath. For three minutes in respect of the practice, We'll move into a forgiveness meditation. Setting the intention. I forgive all beings. I see all beings with love, Kindness, And joy. And there is a difference between forgiveness and forgetting. It's important not to forget. It's important to take care of yourself. And to be safe. On the other hand, There is always the opportunity to forgive. Oneself and another. So in that spirit, Bring your hand to your heart. And feel that I am there for my heart. Feel that warmth. Feel that steadiness. And acknowledge for yourself. I am only human. I don't always see the full picture. Of my actions to others. Sometimes I have been unaware of my activities to others. Their consequences. And feeling the comfort of the hand to the heart, Acknowledging that sometimes it's also true that I've harmed others intentionally. But more often. It has been out of confusion. Or not being aware. Or not feeling well. So that being so, That I'm just human, I'm figuring my way out. I ask all that I have harmed. Any person I have harmed in my life. For forgiveness. I can always ask for forgiveness. And in my heart. This heart. Ask for forgiveness. Of anyone I have harmed, Intentionally or not. May I be forgiven. And feeling into the innocence of this heart. Feel that there is innocence. There is good intention. There is warmth. May I be forgiven. May anyone I've harmed forgive me. I'm human. And feeling that supportive hand on the heart one more time. And you can put it down if you like, Or you can keep it there. Acknowledging that just as I can ask for forgiveness. So too, I can always offer forgiveness. Others have harmed me, Clearly. And they have also done it out of a certain humanness. They may not have been aware. They might have been feeling crummy. They may have done this out of ignorance or just not understanding the harm they caused me. And some of it might have been intentional too. For those who have harmed me. It does me no good to hold resentment or grudges or anger. It only hurts me to do that. For my own good. For the lightness of this heart. I release and forgive. All those who have harmed me. Knowingly or not. I release and forgive. Any person. Who has harmed me. I do remember actions and I will protect myself. But I can fully forgive. I can completely forgive and free this heart. And maybe bring to mind one particular person. Someone you might be having difficulty with. Bringing that person into your mind. And say to this person who has harmed you, What you did was wrong. What you did was wrong i will never forget this or expose myself to harm from you again if at all possible but it does me no good to have anger against you. You may not have even known the harm you did me. Or you may have had full intentions to harm me. But either way, I have the freedom to forgive. For myself. To be at ease in my own heart. I can forgive. For my ease and comfort to take care of myself. And you might feel into the heart again and realize that this heart has so much happiness to experience. This heart as it is, With everything it has gone through, As it is, There is so much happiness this heart experiences, So much connection. And you are just freeing that flow of joy and lightness and ease of this heart. You might put the hand on the heart again and set the intention for harmony for this heart. Set the intention for ease. Make up your mind to just serve this heart in beautiful connection with all hearts. May this heart be happy. May this heart be full of joy. May this heart always feel protected. May this heart know that I am there to take care of my heart. May I be happy. May I be peaceful. I forgive myself completely. I forgive this heart completely. May I be happy. May I be healthy. And may this heart feel lightness. And joy. And ease. Saying to your heart, I accept you. I accept all of your emotions. I accept all of your experiences. I accept all of your past. And let your heart be nurtured by your own acceptance, By your own care. And you can put the hand down. And together, Let's take a deep breath in. And take a deep breath out through the mouth. And we'll take 1478 breath. Inhaling for one. 4. Hold Six. Seven, Exhaling through the mouth for two. Six. 7. . . Eight, And when you're ready, Opening your eyes. Coming back. Feel the feet as they touch the ground, Feel the air against your skin.