Hoʻoponopono—for self-love and forgiveness.
Hawaiʻi has a long-standing cultural focus on the power of forgiveness.
Puʻuhonua o Hānaonaʻo is a spiritual sanctuary that has served for centuries as a place of refuge and forgiveness.
In ancient Hawaiʻi,
Those who committed wrongdoing and reached this site would be pardoned and sent home with a newly birthed commitment to making their body the temple of forgiveness.
Hoʻoponopono meditation is an extension of the Hawaiian people's fortitude for forgiveness.
It means to make it right.
In this practice,
You'll recite a four-verse mantra and direct its message to your own heart.
I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
I love you.
I thank you.
This practice may feel odd and uncomfortable at first.
Your unconscious mind patterns may try to hold you in the current of insecurity and shame.
But in time,
Repeating the mantra will set you on track to a gentler,
Kinder,
And more loving way.
Meditation is our most reliable source of inner strength.
Let's begin.
Turn inward by closing your eyes,
And place the hand at the heart for a moment.
Feel now your authentic presence.
Begin to settle the heart and calm the mind through the simple practice of breath awareness.
As you breathe through the nose,
Just allow the natural inhale to fill the lungs,
And then release any tension through the natural exhale.
Simple times will continue to unfold in life,
But through practice,
You can begin to meet those difficulties with greater kindness.
What you give your time and attention to now becomes your lived embodiment later.
Take a moment to give yourself permission to commit fully to this practice of self-compassion.
May this Ho'oponopono meditation be your chapel of self-honoring.
May this be a time of intentional healing.
May you open fully to the practice of apologizing,
Forgiving,
Loving,
And appreciating yourself.
Let the breath take you more deeply inward to those places of holding,
The storerooms of hurt and pain.
Look now at all those times you've been hard on yourself,
Or held yourself in judgment,
Or told yourself that you're not enough.
Take a deep,
Slow breath in,
And open the heart.
Repeat these words inwardly.
I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
I love you.
I thank you.
Notice the response of the body as it takes in this healing message.
Let the words permeate through your entire being.
Bring to mind all the times you criticized your physical appearance,
Denied your hunger,
Deprived yourself of sustenance because you believed you had not earned it,
Or overworked your body because you felt you weren't enough.
Notice the ways you've held yourself to an unreasonable and harmful standard.
Take a deep,
Slow breath in,
And feel the heart opening to receive these words.
I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
I love you.
I thank you.
Feel into this message of healing and forgiveness.
Release whatever shame or self-judgment may be ready to clear,
And allow it to ground through the earth.
Bring to mind all the times you missed an opportunity because you doubted yourself or felt small or because you were told it was wrong to want it.
Take a deep,
Slow breath in.
I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
I love you.
I thank you.
For any times you didn't honor yourself with healthy boundaries,
Or you stayed in relationships that harmed you,
Or did not align with the current of your life because you were afraid to leave.
For all the times you turned your back on yourself and failed to be the friend you so badly needed.
Take a deep,
Slow breath in.
I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
I love you.
I thank you.
For all of the times you took on the judgment and blame of others because you felt powerless,
And for any time you fell into self-sabotaging behavior or harmed yourself.
Take a deep,
Slow breath in.
I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
I love you.
I thank you.
For all the times you knew your words would hurt,
But you said them anyway.
Take a deep,
Slow breath in.
I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
I love you.
I thank you.
Let every breath wash away the unconscious patterns of disdain,
And let the heart bring new waves of compassion to soothe the pain that's set in the shadows.
Take a deep,
Slow breath in.
I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
I love you.
I thank you.
Feel now the inflow of healing light,
Moving down through the crown and into the column of the body,
Releasing any blocks to your highest well-being.
For all those times you were swept into the undercurrent of fear and were lost in harmful thoughts,
Take a deep,
Slow breath in.
I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
I love you.
I thank you.
Know that you did the best that you could at the time and sink into the heart center,
And begin to feel yourself renewed by the healing force of your own heart.
Let the heartbeat sound like a beacon to the rest of the body,
As if to remind you that you are whole.
You have always been whole.
Anchor into this mantra as the energy within your cells,
Tissues,
And organs expands beyond the physical body to be one with everything around you.
For all those times you saw yourself as separate and allowed the small self to reign sovereign,
Take a deep,
Slow breath in.
I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
I love you.
I thank you.
Feel the deep sense of forgiveness and compassion expanding from the heart.
For all of the times that you stepped outside of the doorway of the heart and forgot the truth of your innate goodness,
Take a deep,
Slow breath in.
I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
I love you.
I thank you.
May we all find forgiveness in the shadows of anger,
Choose love over hatred,
And release our hearts from resentment.
Let the body,
Mind,
And spirit receive fully the grace of love and forgiveness.
And remember,
There is only radiance here.
Take a deep,
Slow breath in.
May we all embody the spirit of loving kindness,
And may we be at peace.
Breathe.
Notice.
And be.
