Welcome to your guided meditation on self-forgiveness.
My name is Katie Ressler and I will be guiding you on your journey today.
This meditation can be done in a comfortable seated position or while lying down,
Whatever feels most comfortable to you.
Take a moment to get settled and we will begin the meditation.
As you start to relax,
Notice how you are breathing.
Take some time to focus on taking deeper,
Fuller breaths by filling the bottom of your lungs first,
All the way to the top of your chest.
As you breathe out,
Make sure to breathe out through your mouth.
This will help you in your relaxation process.
Take some time to breathe in through the nose,
Filling your lungs from the bottom to the top and then breathing out through your mouth.
As we explore the topic of self-forgiveness,
You may find at some point you become emotional.
This is normal and a natural part of the healing process.
So do your best not to fight it.
Allow it to come out as it needs to.
You may pause this meditation at any time to experience your emotions and come back to the recording when you are ready.
This is your journey and you have control over where you go with it.
As I guide you through this meditation,
Some of you will see the images I describe.
Others will hear things in relation to the images and another group of you will be able to sense that the images and scenes are happening around you.
All of these are normal ways of experiencing guided meditation.
Do not judge yourself for how you experience it.
Let's begin.
I want you to imagine you are in a movie theater all by yourself.
You take a seat and notice that the film playing is of someone's life from their birth and childhood through their teen and young adult years.
You quickly realize the person on the screen is you and it's your life being shown for you to watch.
The interesting thing is that you have a remote in your hand.
You can use this remote to rewind,
Fast forward,
And pause,
Stopping the scene at any time.
I want you to rewind to the very beginning again.
Now there's a point in time in your life that you know you need to get to.
This point in your life is a moment where something happened that you believe you had control over,
That you want to work on forgiving yourself for.
I want you to fast forward to that point now.
Now that you are there,
I want you to watch the scene or event unfold again.
Notice how you respond or don't respond.
Notice what's being said around you and what you say.
Notice what impact the experience has on you and those around you.
It may feel uncomfortable,
But it is important that you fully understand what it is you are about to forgive in yourself.
Play the scene over and over as many times as you need to.
Now I want you to stand up in the movie theater and walk to the screen.
You notice that you are able to enter into the scene you are watching.
Your previous self looks you in the eyes and immediately knows who you are.
It's almost like that version of you feels a sense of relief because they have been stuck replaying this scene over and over and are ready to be released of it.
I want you to ask your previous self what it is they need in that moment.
Take note of what they say.
Tell your previous self what you have learned about life and about yourself because of that event that occurred.
There is always a learning experience in these moments that we struggle to forgive ourselves.
As you have a conversation with your previous self,
Ask them if there is anything they want you to know.
Be mindful again of what they say.
Take a moment to thank this previous version of you for going through this experience and I want you to give them a hug.
Notice if they become emotional in any way or if you feel any emotions as you hug this part of you that is deeply hurting.
As you are hugging,
I want you to say to them,
And out loud in this moment,
I forgive you.
Repeat it again.
I forgive you.
Repeat it as many times as you need to.
As you are hugging,
You notice the previous version of you seems to melt back into you.
They no longer need to stay stuck in that scene and everything around you disappears.
You are now transported to your favorite place.
A place that makes you feel calm and relaxed.
A place that helps you rejuvenate.
It can be a place from your past or a current place you enjoy.
It can be outside or inside.
You get to choose.
See that environment all around you.
Take a deep breath in and feel the warmth and relaxation of being in that space.
Now with your eyes closed,
I want you to wiggle and stretch your fingers in front of you as you focus on your breathing.
Stay in this beautiful place in your mind while you do this.
I want you to imagine that your hands are full of love and comfort all of a sudden.
They may start to get warm and tingle as you stretch them and visualize this love filling them up.
In your mind they may change color.
Just take note of what you experience.
With your eyes still closed,
Bring your hands full of all that love they have in them to your heart.
Imagine that the love they have in them now fills you up,
Moving upward through your head and down your spine.
Through your chest and stomach,
Down your hips and legs,
Through your feet.
You are now full of all that love.
Take a deep breath in,
Feeling your body relaxed and at peace.
This space is what emotional healing feels like.
You have released yourself from an experience and memory that has stuck with you,
Limiting your ability to enjoy life to the fullest.
You have forgiven yourself for what happened and shown yourself love with compassion and non-judgment.
Take one more deep breath in and as you are ready,
I want you to softly open your eyes.
Take some time to journal out what you experienced.
Write down what your interactions were like with your previous self and how you felt throughout the meditation.
This is a meditation you can do over and over to forgive yourself for other experiences you still hold yourself stuck in.
Continue to show yourself love today and let your hands and heart create more healing for you.
This is the start of letting go and enjoying who you are as you are.
