Release Resentment

In this track, I share some of my own journey with resentment and the practice that I have found to help me. You can expect an intro of me sharing about what resentment is and then we close with a guided meditation. For lasting results I suggest you include this in your daily practice for at least two weeks.

Please note: This audio is ripped from a video.

Transcript

So,

Resentment,

It's such a big word that I think is used quite often,

Or maybe too easily.

If you don't know yet,

I'm quite open about this publicly,

But I am an addict.

And in my experience with addiction comes a lot of resentment.

We begin to blame everybody else and then we sit with that resentment and begin to poison ourselves,

Well,

In some cases with literal poison,

But also just with the resentment that sits in us.

It's that feeling where we.

.

.

Do you know what it is?

And I'm ashamed to admit it,

But it is when we wish other people would suffer.

It is an ill intent for someone else to also have pain because we believe that we have pain that they caused.

That resentment,

And it's horrible to experience,

And it is something that doesn't serve anyone.

And as I said,

I'm an addict,

And I'm part of the 12-step program.

And I was working through.

.

.

A part of it is about working through the resentments we have,

And I came across a practice of where you basically wish well towards the person that you're resenting.

And I realized,

Well,

This is yoga.

This is the metta meditation.

And there's someone in particular that I have.

.

.

That I had a lot of resentment towards,

Someone from my past.

And I,

For two weeks,

Did a metta meditation for this person every day.

And I was hoping that it might just help a little bit,

But I can't believe how much it helped.

The metta meditation,

Or the loving-kindness meditation,

Is often just something we use to feel ooey and good at the end of a class or on a retreat.

But I don't know that we actually apply it in the moments where we really,

Really need it.

That's why I want to make this video.

So normally,

We kind of think of someone that we love,

Or the planet,

Or the universe,

Or the galaxy,

Or whatever,

And we do the loving-kindness affirmations towards them,

Which obviously is powerful and important,

And it feels really good.

It creates that sense of oneness.

But in this one,

I want to challenge you to look at the person that you're resenting,

And we're going to go straight into it.

So before we jump in,

I want to invite you to find a comfortable seat.

You don't have to worry too much about what you're doing with your legs.

Just try to get your back nice and straight,

Your shoulders are nice and open,

And lift your chin just a little bit so that your face is open to the heavens,

And you can turn your eyes to look upwards to the space between your eyebrows.

Let's take a deep inhale through the nose.

Hold the breath in at the top for a moment,

And then exhale,

Let go.

Take a moment to just acknowledge that this is something important that you are about to do.

You might ask your guides,

Gurus,

Or your gods to be with you in this practice.

For some of us,

It can be very triggering or very upsetting.

You can maybe just imagine the universe or God or whoever you believe in to just encircle you with safety and protection.

Now bring to mind the person that you are struggling with,

The person that you have resentment towards.

I also just want to preface that if at any point this feels like it is too much or this doesn't feel safe to you,

Please don't feel forced to go through this.

You can come back to this when you are ready.

So if you have the person in front of you in your mind's eye,

We are going to talk to them,

And we are going to wish the wellness that we dream for ourselves,

We are going to wish that for them.

So we are not even focusing on forgiving them.

We are not wanting to reconnect.

We are not wanting to get anything from them.

We are simply offering them kindness,

Even if they don't deserve it.

It is not about them deserving it.

It is not about them at all.

It is about you finding freedom.

Now see their face in front of you,

And you can repeat after me,

Out loud or just in your head.

May you be well.

May you know peace and purpose and pleasure and prosperity.

May you find friendship and love and safety and security.

And I promise that if ever I see you in need,

I will do what is within my power to help you.

And when we say that,

We are not saying we are going to jump in and save the day.

What we mean when we say what is within our power,

Is we are considering us as well.

We are considering where our limits and our boundaries are.

So don't let that phrase trip you up.

Right,

We are going to do that twice more.

May you be well.

May you find peace and purpose and pleasure and prosperity.

May you know love and friendship and safety and security.

And I promise that if ever I see you in need,

I will do what is within my power to help you.

May you be well.

May you find peace and purpose and pleasure and prosperity.

May you know love and friendship and safety and security.

And I promise that if ever I see you in need,

I will do what is within my power to help you.

Let's just sit for a moment in silence.

Bring your attention to your body.

Try to notice any sensations.

And this could be anything.

Maybe just a physical sensation from your leg going numb.

Or you might feel tension in your belly.

Or a tension in your throat,

Eyes.

Or maybe you feel a little bit lighter.

A little bit more expansive,

A little bit more free.

Take a deep breath in.

Hold the breath at the top.

And exhale,

Let go.

Bring yourself back to the moment.

Gently flutter your eyes open.

Good.

I hope that helped and I hope you're doing okay.

If you're not feeling okay,

Please have the courage to reach out for help.

There are places that can help.

As I said,

I am part of the 12-step program,

Which is a wonderful place for addicts.

And you can reach out to therapy.

You can even reach out to me and I will help if I can.

And I would suggest that you do this daily for at least two weeks to see real results.

Literally just think about what do you want.

What do you want for yourself?

It doesn't matter about them,

Not from them,

Just in life.

What do you want?

And then you wish that to this person.

Thank you so much and well done on doing this.

This takes courage and it takes wisdom and it takes badassery.

And I love you.

I'm proud of you.

Thank you so much.

I love you guys.

See you soon.

Namaste.

Reviews

Very powerful, highly emotional meditation for me. Thank you.

Great meditation to help let go of anger towards others, and just see them as flawed human beings.. Just like ourselves.

Thank you for showing your vulnerability 🌸🙏 and for the powerful and creative metta variant!
💚

Thanks so much Sam. It seems to have worked a little bit already. 🙏
does it also work when you have resentment for people who have passed?

I’m also a recovering addict and recently incorporated metta meditation in a meeting I chaired. I loved your rendition and will recommend it moving forward!

Greetings and Gratitude for this. Thank yoy for sharing your story. May God in Heaven continues to bless and keep you. Namaste.

Exactly what I needed. I have resentment towards someone close to me and I’m having a hard time letting it go. I can feel this approach already working. Thank you.

Loved this. Thank you. 🙏

I desperately needed to hear this message today and so grateful it/you found me! Namaste and thank you!!🙏♥️

Just what I needed. Well said with grace. Namaste 🙏🏾

Thank you for your vulnerability and sharing this beautiful practice. Such a loving peaceful tool to use on a journey to healing!

This was Truelly magical and found at the right time! I have been trying to help my husband heal for years form alcohol addiction and trauma and we have been failed by all services many times now and I’m struggling to be the rock! I really appreciate you and your guidance and would love any advice for my husband he’s so stressed and returned to old habits which makes him cold and defensive and not very kind! But I understand it’s a protection not personal - thanks for reading! Namaste beautiful soul xx

Excellent! Thank you!

This was beautiful thank you 💛✨️

Thanks so much for the tools. ❤️

Very powerful. I was in tears realizing how much I was still holding onto. The true heart only wants to love and be loved.

Brilliant...thank you

Powerful

Amazing! 🙏🏼😍❤️

Thank you for this. This is really, really hard when you still love them. But I do love and care about her very much and I want her to be happy. Brings me to tears every time. My brain can’t get over things easily. I fixate and obsess about it all.