Let's begin by finding a clear and comfortable posture.
So whether you are seated or standing or on a cushion,
Begin to find a lift through your upper chest.
Lift the waist out of your hips.
Relax the shoulder blades down the back and move the ears back in space to start with a nice long spine.
Close your eyes if you haven't already.
And start to sink in.
Start to come inside.
And that might mean to bring some subtle awareness to where your breath is at.
Beginning to feel the sensation of the air as it moves in through the nose.
And as the warm air from the body moves out.
With each inhale find a lightness,
An expansion.
And with each exhale find a rooting,
A groundedness.
Maybe feeling the weight of the hands rest,
Again allowing the arms,
The shoulders to just melt down the back.
Before we get deeper into the theme of letting go of regret and forgiving our self,
It's important for us to understand that we can only regret and forgive something that has already happened.
So to make a portrait and exemplify what we need to work on,
We are going to first become an embrace to our present surroundings.
The awareness of what is going on around in the room,
Outside.
So I'd like you to bring to the awareness what the room you are in looks like.
So you don't even have to open your eyes.
You probably have some idea of what is around you.
Maybe you can see or notice where the window is by the light that's coming through.
And any little pieces of furniture that might surround your space.
Simply just follow the breath and do a scan of the room seeing if you can just put awareness to the things that are there.
And moving on from the physical to any sounds that you might be hearing around you.
Whether it's a passing car or maybe sounds of some birds that are outside.
Maybe it's something even a little more subtle.
Just the white noise from something in the background.
And now just sensing if you can smell anything.
If there's anything,
Maybe it's just the weight of the air,
If it's cool or if it's maybe a little heavier.
And begin to bring that awareness back inside to the body itself.
To where it's seated,
To the feeling of the sit bones on the chair and the hands on the thighs.
A big reason that we ruminate in regret is that we lose sight of our innate innocence.
To begin I'd like you to imagine yourself on a playground and you see a bunch of kids running around and just having a good time.
And you're just sitting maybe on a bench by the side,
Just watching them enjoying a nice warm day as the kids run around and play.
And you begin to notice a little child running that you don't know and you can see that he hits himself on a pole.
And all of a sudden he begins to start crying.
And you can tell that he's scared.
You can tell that he's also feeling a little bad that he didn't see it.
And I'd like us to look at this little boy or girl and say something to them.
What would you want to say to this child?
Maybe it's something like,
It's okay.
It's not your fault.
It will all pass soon.
You will feel better.
It's okay.
And send this child some of that love and understanding that you would any child.
Just wanting to care for someone who feels hurt.
Someone who made a mistake,
Didn't see something coming.
Just giving this child the care and love that you would in this moment.
And begin to now move away from the playground and just come back into your body.
Come back into your breath.
And the point of using the playground is that all of us,
We are still these little boys and girls running around the playground of our lives and we do things and we act in ways that get us hurt.
In ways that we didn't see coming.
And the problem is not that we made a mistake or that we said something to someone that we shouldn't have.
The problem is that we treat ourselves so viciously often.
We don't give ourselves a break.
We don't realize that we are still that innocent child.
So bringing to your mind's eye,
Think of something in the past that you might be regretting or wanting to find some self-forgiveness.
Think of like a movie screen in your mind.
It might be a conversation that you had with someone.
It might be an action or even a thought about someone.
And picture this situation on the movie screen.
Just notice whatever's there.
Notice what feelings might come up.
And see if you can just not try and resist or run away and just be with whatever begins to come up.
And just see if you can become the witness to the movie that's playing out.
And if you can just be a little bit more open and somewhat separate.
And after you've got a good picture of what you're looking at and if something didn't come up,
Notice that completely normal as well.
Begin to allow that picture to just get smaller and smaller and move away from your consciousness.
And again come back into your breath and come down into your heart.
Knowing whatever that situation brought up,
I'd like us to now just begin to bring that same loving energy that we would bring to that child on the playground,
To ourselves.
Begin to acknowledge yourself.
Acknowledge the inner child,
The essence of what you saw in that child.
Begin to see if you can see it within yourself.
Begin to radiate this loving energy,
The same energy that you gave to your child out through your heart and allow it to come like a little boomerang,
Come right back into your body.
If you think with inhale it radiates out,
With exhale it seeps back in.
And you might say to yourself,
I acknowledge my innate innocence.
I forgive myself.
I acknowledge my innate innocence.
I forgive myself.
Everything is going to be okay.
Everything is going to be okay.
I am okay.
I am good and I am loving and I am innocent.
Our life is simply running on programs that we've picked up and we must try not to ruminate and regret on what those programs have manifested.
But work on loving ourselves and loving our evolution and see that everything is a necessary part of our growth into higher amounts of love,
Expansion and creativity.
To love yourself and see that everything is a part of your growth into higher amounts of love,
Expansion and creativity.
In this moment you are complete.
Take a few more breaths and begin to slowly come back to those surroundings that were around you.
So starting to bring your awareness back to the chair or the furniture,
The room that you find yourself in.
And slowly come back to the feeling of your hands resting on your thighs,
Siphons on the chair.
And whenever you feel complete you are always welcome to stay in your meditation longer if you need so.
And if you'd like to come back maybe begin to bring some movement into your shoulders and gently open your eyes.
Namaste.
