Forgiveness.
What comes up when you hear that word?
Forgiveness.
Forgiveness for yourself.
Forgiveness for another.
Forgiveness is forgiving.
So I invite you to consider how you might give yourself the gift of forgiveness today.
Focusing in this moment on your body.
And just noticing any areas of tension.
Allowing your breath to ease its way into those places.
Taking a slow inhale through the nose,
Filling up the belly.
And a long exhale through the mouth,
Letting go,
Letting go,
Letting go.
Deep inhale.
Slow exhale.
Feeling the belly fill with air.
And then feeling it release.
Noticing how you feel emotionally in this moment.
And allowing whatever would like to rise to the surface to be forgiven.
To come up now knowing that you are safe.
You are supported.
You are loved.
Perhaps bringing a hand to your heart or any other place in your body that might need some nurturing.
Letting yourself feel your own warmth.
Your own protection.
Your own safety.
Knowing that whatever might have happened,
Whether it happened from an external source or whether something you're asking for forgiveness from yourself.
Knowing that in this moment,
You are new.
You are new.
And you are so loved.
So as you nurture yourself,
Allow yourself to feel whatever arises,
Whether it's grief or sadness,
Shame,
Guilt,
Blame,
Anger,
Disappointment.
They're stored inside of you only for as long as you want to keep them there.
So in this moment,
You can reclaim your sovereignty by finding,
By seeing,
By drawing forth these feelings toward another or toward yourself.
And sending compassion and understanding to them.
Recognizing that forgiveness is a gift that you give yourself so that you can be sovereign.
So that you can be whole so that you can live in the present moment with no need to rehash the past.
So allowing yourself to come into contact,
Even if it's ever so briefly,
With the place inside of you that is whole,
That is perfect,
That is complete.
The place inside of you that is loving awareness.
And from that place of loving awareness,
Invite forgiveness to wash over yourself or the other person.
Recognizing that we are not our behaviors,
We are not our actions,
We are responsible for them,
But they do not define us.
At our essence,
We are all the same.
We're here to love and to be loved.
And that state of love is only available to us in the present moment.
And just see if you can give yourself permission to tap into it in the now.
Perhaps using the phrases that are loosely translated from the Hawaiian phrase,
I'm so sorry.
Please forgive me.
I love you.
Thank you.
Just noticing how it feels to share those phrases with yourself or with another.
Your hands move to really nurture and soothe you in this present moment.
You're doing the best you can.
You're giving yourself the gift of forgiveness.
You can let go of attachment to stories from the past.
You can be in a space of loving awareness in the present,
Willing and able to move forward,
Empowered,
Knowing that you are here to love and you are here to be loved and you are here to be love.
Giving yourself permission to continue having an open heart,
To continue forgiving,
To continue giving of yourself as you rest in the now,
Resting in this breath,
Resting in this body,
Resting in this spirit,
Resting in loving awareness.
