Hello and welcome to this meditation on forgiveness.
So let's begin to settle in.
Settling into your breath,
Letting it flow with ease.
Settling into your body,
Feeling your body present in this space.
Bringing your awareness to your heart now,
Breathing into your heart space,
Feeling a beautiful expansion on the inhale and a contraction on the exhale.
Body and breath linked,
Breathing into your heart space.
And together we will meditate upon forgiveness.
This beautiful freeing act of letting go and setting our hearts free.
Knowing that this is a practice that you may have to practice many times.
Forgiveness is as much a process as it is an outcome,
So be gentle with yourself as you move through this meditation.
Forgiveness and letting go just as best as you can.
Bring to mind a time that you hurt someone.
Perhaps when you're a child or a teenager,
Maybe a young adult and you didn't know any better.
Perhaps you said something or did something that caused harm.
And notice how much of this is the result of you just not knowing any better or being lost to sensation,
Being ignorant.
Just notice how much of the harm that you caused was because you were in pain or experiencing difficult emotions.
How much of it was that you just didn't understand the situation.
And know that most harm is caused by this.
Most of us are either victims to our own emotions,
We're lost,
We're ignorant,
We don't know any better.
Allow yourself to recognize this truth.
That we as individuals are all capable of causing harm.
We've all caused harm.
Noticing your breath and perhaps deepening the breath,
Letting your shoulders soften a little.
And now bring to mind a time that someone hurt you.
They caused you harm in some way through their thoughts,
Their words or their actions.
Take some moments here to remember this person you seek to forgive.
Bringing to mind the harm they caused you.
And asking yourself how much was it that they were acting out of their own pain or suffering.
How much of the harm that they caused was the result of ignorance,
Of just not knowing any better at the time.
Take some time to notice and allow your body to soften as you do.
Allow your breath to flow with ease the best you can.
And always know that forgiveness doesn't mean that you condone actions,
It doesn't mean that you condone thoughts or harmful words brought against you.
It means that you're emotionally free from the harm that was done.
Sometimes we can feel that forgiveness means that someone gets to get away with something,
Some hurt or pain that they caused.
But no,
Forgiveness doesn't mean that someone is justified in what they did.
You can always keep your values,
Your standards.
You might still consider someone's actions to be reprehensible even.
But for your own freedom you let it go.
You let it go and you set yourself free.
You set yourself free.
Allow your body to soften.
Let your belly soften,
Shoulders,
Your jaw.
Feel the muscles around your eyes soften.
Let your breath flow with a little more ease.
And if it feels right for you let's move into the practice of letting go.
And let it be a practice.
Remember this is as much a process as an outcome.
Do your best.
Do what resonates with you.
Practice within your own heart and your own mind,
Letting go of all of the hurt,
All of the resentment as you begin to practice forgiveness.
Letting go of hurt,
Of pain,
Anger,
Resentment,
Sadness.
Letting it go.
Letting go of anything negatively attaching you to anyone else or any situation.
You know you always keep your principles,
Your standards intact but emotionally let go of whenever they've been compromised.
Let it go.
Soften.
Allow your body to soften.
Allow the space around your heart to soften.
And feel the lightness of letting go of all of this.
Letting go of pain,
Suffering,
Negative attachments.
Just letting go.
Feel the lightness of letting go of all of this.
Feel how light it is to let go.
Feel how strong you are.
Feel the strength within yourself for letting go.
Feel into the wisdom of this practice of letting go.
Feel into the wisdom of forgiveness.
Allow yourself to feel the lightness of forgiveness.
Softening.
Allowing your body to soften your belly,
Your chest,
Your face.
Letting go.
Now imagine if we could all let go.
Let go of it all.
Let go of the resentment in our hearts and our minds.
Let go of anger,
Of pain.
Let it all go.
There's no need for resentment or hatred now.
No need for anger.
Just patient understanding.
And truly know in your heart and your mind that whatever harm has come to you is born out of ignorance in its many forms.
Now imagine the whole world forgiving.
Imagine the whole world letting go.
Feel into the lightness,
The love,
The strength and the wisdom of the whole world practicing forgiveness.
Feel how light it is.
Allow your body to relax,
Soften and settle into your breath.
Letting go.
Forgiving.
Allowing yourself to move forward with courage,
With wisdom,
With understanding.
Feel how strong you are,
How wise.
Begin to slowly open up your eyes if they were closed.
Take a look around the room you're in,
Just allowing the light in,
Orientating yourself.
Perhaps you give your shoulders a nice big roll up,
Back and down.
Take a few deep breaths here,
Eyes open,
Body soft.
Thank you for your wisdom,
For your heart,
For your courage and practicing forgiveness and sending many blessings to you on your journey.
Thank you.
