We have all experienced many joys and sorrows over the course of our lives. This meditation is designed to remind us of the beautiful times and to help us process the more difficult memories. This way we can look back on our life with an open heart and feel resolution about our entire range of experiences.
Sit quietly for a bit and bring to mind someone from your past whose kindness touched your heart imagine thanking this person for all that they have meant to you connecting to them with your heart when you're done say goodbye as if you might never see them again even in your memory you bring to mind one by one and without rushing the friends teachers parents loves and even pets who you cherish those who have supported the growth of your heart tell them how much you appreciate their care and their kindness send them gratitude when it's time to move on say goodbye as if you might never do so again you each time you connect and thank these folks that you care for the parting becomes more of a completion than a separation generating a sense of loving wholeness you as you continue you may include not just people but moments and experiences from the past for which you feel grateful remember those beautiful events and dwell here in appreciation when the scene has played itself out say a thankful goodbye and let it go you you begin with these meditations practicing gratitude and when you're ready you can continue with the development of forgiveness that follows bring to mind someone who caused you pain don't start with your most challenging individuals instead consider someone toward whom you feel more of a sense of resentment than full-on hate or rage someone who it's unpleasant to recall but you're able to do so with some amount of ease consider how lost this person must have been to treat you as they did how numb and frightened they must have been just for a moment as an experiment in healing offer them a possibility of forgiveness however slight see how it feels notice any well-being that arises when you relax the clench of your grip on the memory see if you can offer some mercy acknowledging that you too have had moments where you lost your cool or were indifferent to someone's pain with this sense of humility we can even begin to offer kindness to the aspects of ourselves that we find distasteful embracing our own feelings of unworthiness you gradually we might invite unpleasant memories into the mind deep in the practice of softening the belly here opening to the experience with increasing spaciousness allow memories that still seem to carry some pain or feelings of incompleteness to enter the mind one by one and with patience into it the fear and pain that the other person couldn't handle and allowed to spill onto you offer forgiveness for their weakness and their self-absorption allow your heart to soften when you've offered what you can without forcing anything say goodbye to revisit in the future you you as we become skilled in the practice we don't have to decide ahead if we will work with pleasant or unpleasant memories instead we can allow our mind to present to us whatever needs to be worked with as you become comfortable with the practice allow yourself to move freely between gratitude and forgiveness notice what's presented and notice what's waiting in the wings until it's safe be gentle as you explore the recesses of your memory patiently and with a sense of wonder and curiosity you as the practice deepens you may approach places where you have previously been the most guarded move slowly here taking one step at a time wait until you're comfortable before you go further there's no need to rush in and take on everything at once instead of healing this can be overwhelming and counterproductive in treading carefully we find that we may not need to revisit every experience but rather develop a comfort with softening and letting go you allow the life review to be an opportunity not just to let go but also to cherish and embrace tender moments that warm your heart feel how the stories and experiences change over time as you encourage your memory to unfold how things may transform or become healed in their own time with repetition and letting go of our resistance the memories may flow more easily and a peace and warmth can develop in our hearts we can come to know intuitively that our life isn't defined by our experiences but rather by the heart that embraces them you you
