Today we're going to practice an ancient Hawaiian meditation technique called hoʻoponopono.
Similar to the meta or loving kindness technique that Buddhist meditators often use,
This is a practice that focuses on compassion.
Hoʻoponopono in Hawaiian breaks down to the word hoʻo,
Which means to make,
And pono,
Which means right.
So hoʻoponopono means to make doubly right,
Being right with both ourselves and with others.
This is a technique to relieve tension with others,
To come to a place of forgiveness and resolution in our own heart space and in our relationships.
So the technique is very simple and I'll be guiding us through it.
How it works is that we're going to be conjuring various people in our life,
People who we love,
Or people who we might have something to work out,
And we're going to be offering four phrases to these people.
The first phrase we'll offer is,
I am sorry.
This is not a phrase we throw around very lightly in Western culture,
But in hoʻoponopractice when we say I'm sorry,
We are apologizing maybe not for anything explicit that we've done wrong or some huge error or mistake we've made,
But I'm sorry that I haven't shown up to the best of my abilities.
I haven't been the most loving,
Tender self that I could be with you.
I'm sorry that there may have been moments in our relationship or things said that did not feel clean or pure.
This is what we mean when we say,
I am sorry.
And after we transmit that essence of apology to this person,
The next phrase is,
Please forgive me.
This is a form of surrender.
It is asking for this person's grace and loving attention to bring balance,
Restore harmony back into the canvas of your relationship.
I'm sorry.
Please forgive me.
The third phrase is,
Thank you.
We can think of all the moments we've shared with this person or the things they've said or done or just the energy we have received from this person's presence that has somehow enriched our life,
Even in a small way.
It could even be saying,
Thank you for trying.
Thank you for being a part of my life.
And to complete the practice,
We finish with the fourth ho'oponopono blessing,
Which is,
I love you.
So,
Another phrase we don't throw around very lightly in the West,
But when we say,
I love you and ho'oponopono,
It is another practice of letting go,
Of relinquishing our expectations of what it means,
What conditions need to be met for us to love someone.
Just loving someone because they're here and they share this common ground with us,
Looking for comfort,
Looking for belonging,
Looking for meaning in life.
And to express this love and this fourth blessing,
I love you,
It is a wish of compassion for this person's life.
It is a wish that they will be well.
It is a wish that they will be at ease,
That they will know peace in their life,
That they can live in the present moment and feel satisfied and their heart can feel full.
And that's it.
This is the entire practice.
We kind of spin the roulette wheel in our mind until we find someone we'd like to send these affirmations to,
And we just go,
I'm sorry,
Please forgive me.
Thank you.
And I love you.
And we take a few breaths in between each one and just feel into it.
This is not a practice of the mind.
It is not a practice of the intellect.
It is not a practice where we think.
This is a practice where we transmit a feeling of heartfulness that comes from a place deep within us.
And the breath will help with that.
So as we begin here with our practice,
Start with the breath.
And throughout this practice,
Let the breath lead the way.
Deep inhales and slow exhales.
Soft in the body.
Now,
As we begin,
Bring your first person to mind.
Once you've landed on them,
Just invite their energy into your space.
Just imagine them sitting in front of you or visualize them here with you.
Or just imagine what they're doing right now in their life.
And as we feel into the heart space of this person,
We can begin our affirmations by saying,
I am sorry.
I am sorry.
I truly am.
Please forgive me.
Thank you.
Thank you.
My deepest gratitude.
I love you.
I love you.
If you're offering these affirmations and being met with resistance in your own mind,
That's no problem.
That actually is quite natural.
These words,
These blessings begin to feel more embodied,
More true as we practice this more and more.
And if you find any blockage to your heart space right now,
You can just put one hand on your belly and the other hand right there on your chest over your heart.
And as you take a few deep breaths,
Allow the breath to travel up from the bottom of your abdomen up to your chest and just let that space feel a little bit more like a breeze a little more full with each inhale.
And let's invite this second person now.
It could be somebody who's very relevant,
Somebody you love very much,
Or somebody quite random.
Or whatever it is,
Again,
Just invite their energy into your consciousness,
Feel present with them.
As we begin our blessings by saying,
I am sorry for any way I've shown up in your life,
Any moments we've shared that has not felt full,
Honest,
Complete.
Any mistakes I've made that I did not mean,
I did not intend.
I'm truly sorry.
Breathe that in.
And send it to this person with sincerity.
And you can imagine these people,
If you like,
Receiving these blessings with an open heart,
And perhaps even smiling.
And asking now for forgiveness,
Please forgive me.
Please forgive me.
Please find it in your own heart space,
Whoever this person is.
Please allow more space in your heart to accept the past.
And from this point on,
Start fresh,
Feel new,
Feel revived,
Feel a deep,
Loving compassion.
Which leads us to our third blessing.
Thank you.
Thank you for all you've given me.
Thank you for showing up.
Thank you for the memories we've created.
Thank you for listening.
Thank you for being patient.
Breathe into that for one more moment.
And whatever emotions are flowing through here,
Don't resist.
This is a moment you've given yourself to drop in and let them flow.
So if you're feeling gratitude,
If you're feeling sadness,
If you're feeling full in any way,
Just allow it.
See if some deep breaths can allow those emotions to course through your body without interruption.
And finally,
With this person who has left some imprint on our hearts and in our life,
We can bow our heads and with an earnest smile say,
I love you.
I love you for who you are.
I love you for exactly who you are.
I love you for what we've shared and what we've created.
I love you for just being you.
Let's try one more,
Shall we?
For this third round and final round,
Let's invite in a person who we do have existing conflict with.
Somebody who the slate is not entirely clean.
This might require the biggest breaths we've taken yet.
As we share a deep and sincere apology to begin,
You can start with their name.
Imagine you're looking into their eyes and say,
I am sorry.
I'm sorry for having shown up in unskillful ways.
Please forgive me.
And we can ask for forgiveness only when we ourselves have forgiven them.
And so we feel that rich,
Embodied purification of forgiveness for this person.
Letting the past be where it is and allowing the present moment to hit reset.
Cleanse this relationship.
Cleanse this energy with this person,
With our breath.
And please forgive me as I have forgiven you.
And thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for giving me this chance to learn,
To grow,
To evolve.
Thank you for making me feel something,
To remind me what it's like to be alive.
Thank you for being a part of my life in the way that you have.
And finally,
With a big breath and a big smile,
We can finally say from a clean place,
I love you.
Yes,
I do.
I love you.
Even though that love might have been complicated or entangled in some way,
Allow this moment's love to just be itself,
To just be clean love without the stories.
Just love.
Feel that in your breath.
Feel that in your heart.
Feel it in your bones.
Feel it in the gravity pulling you,
Rooting you in this moment.
A deep and sincere thank you.
I love you.
And then you can exhale all that out.
If you feel some built up tension or just lots of energy coursing through you,
You can roll out your neck and wiggle out your fingers and toes and just shake around and make some noise.
This is a beautiful,
Beautiful practice and one that is not easy,
But it's so important for cleaning up our life,
For approaching our relationships from a point of balance,
Centeredness,
And heartfulness.
To make right.
It's the essence of Ho'oponopono.
Thank you for joining me here.
I love you.
