Forgiveness, Say Goodbye To The Pain Of The Past

In this practice we begin with physical and mental relaxation and connect to the Earth. We share in the stability of the Earth. From that seat of security and peace we consider forgiveness, our decision to forgive, and if that is appropriate for us.

Transcript

Let's find a comfortable place. Having a fidget to put our body somewhere we can rest. Our legs and our feet are our heavy stable base. Our spine is expanding a little and we're getting a little bit taller so there's room for our breath to flow. Let's soften our shoulders, Allow our arms and our hands to rest somewhere. And when we find that spot, Taking a few deeper breaths, Bringing our attention to the here and now, To our inner world. And taking a few restful breaths there. Feeling how we feel, However we feel. Let's acknowledge it. So we're going to relax ourselves into a more meditative state. We're going to start with our body. So even if we're sitting, We can still relax a lot of our muscles but we want to stay fairly tall, Finding some place where we can have a little bit of tall and upright and a little bit of relaxed at the same time. So, Softening our scalp and our forehead, Around our eyes and our cheeks and our jaw. Our whole facial expression softening. Let's allow our neck to be spacious, Back of the neck a little more spacious than the front. Shoulders softening. See if we can let the shoulder blades go down the back of the body a little. Arms soft and heavy. Chest and upper back becoming softer, Falling into a neutral position but we're not rounding. Stomach area, Mid-back softer and yet upright. See if we can find that balanced place. Belly, Lower back becoming a little softer and yet a little bit of muscle tension to stay upright. Our hips, Our thighs, Our lower legs and our feet heavy and stable, Connecting us to the earth and feeling the presence of the earth beneath us. Fast, Stable and still. Take a breath with that heavy energy of the earth and then just reminding the top half of the body to be light and having a little bit of a lighter energy in the top half of the body. We're going to relax our mind a little now by giving it a job to do. So I invite you to think of a place in nature where you love to be. It may be a real place or a made-up place, An imagined place. I invite you to go there now in your mind. Feel the good feelings of being there and with a few long smooth breaths, Allow that place in nature to soothe your mind, Calm your whole nervous system. Seeing the things that you would see when you're in that place the sounds, The scents on the breeze, Maybe physical sensations, Perhaps warmth or coolness or movement. So now, I'm going to count from 10 down to 1 and as I count I'd like you to imagine your attention starting in your mind and we're going to travel slowly down our spinal column towards our tailbone and our root chakra. So 10, 9, 8. Imagine we're stepping from our mind to our neck and then to our shoulders. You don't have to be too accurate about it, Just gradually allowing our attention to flow down our spine. 7, 6, 5. 7, 6, 5. Flowing past our heart and our ribs, Our stomach, To through our belly or our root chakra at the base of our spine. Taking a few breaths with our attention there. If our mind is chatty, Take your attention out of your mind, Back down your spine to your tailbone again. Taking a deeper breath there. In our forgiveness practice today, We're going to work with the earth, With her strength, Because both us as individuals and as a group of humans and the earth we all have a lot of past pain. And so we're going to work together, Try and put some of that down. And I invite you not to do it for the collective or for the earth, I invite you to do it for yourself. But know that when we heal parts of ourselves, Because we are part of the collective and part of the earth, It is shared. I get to share in the healing with us. Let's allow some roots to grow from our root chakra into the earth beneath us. Imagine that any way you wish. And imagine those roots, Energetic roots, Connecting to the rocks, The soil, And gripping them. We're connected. And we're going to invite in, Allow in the energy of the earth through those roots, Just like a tree does. And as so often happens, As we grow in our abilities, Our energetic abilities and our sovereignty, We find these things happen because we decide that it is so, Or not. There's no magic words, We just decide we'd like for that to happen. Because we are becoming more powerful, More aware of our own power. Our sovereignty means our ability to place our energy where we wish it to be, And to have the abilities that we choose. Imagining and feeling the energy of the earth flowing up into our root chakra. And allow that energy to light up your root chakra. Energize. And support us. And I invite you to feel supported. Many of us have experienced root chakra issues. And by that I mean feeling unsupported, Unsafe, Unstable in this world. We don't belong here. And we are not safe to be here. So let's breathe in and create, Together with the earth, Stability, Security. If we're not feeling that, If that's not our experience in this moment, Let's say that we are open to feeling that. We are willing to feel that. Imagine that we were becoming safe. Imagine we are becoming safe. Invite the earth's energy into your being to soothe you. To protect you. Open the valve in your mind and let in the energy. Just decide that it is so. Breathe it in. Let's imagine that energy flowing up our spine now. Into our heart. Illuminating, Opening our heart. It is from our heart that we will consider forgiveness. And to choose love. Where we might once have chosen judgment, Criticism or blame. So resting with your energy, Your focus in your heart. Is there something in this moment you would like to forgive? Let's not let our mind run away with us, Come back to your heart. And rest in your heart to contemplate forgiveness. Notice if anything arises. It might be something that we feel needs forgiveness that we have done. Or it might be something that we feel has been done to us some wrong. It doesn't really matter. Somewhere we are harboring blame, Judgment or criticism. And that energy is very heavy, Dark and dense. And we will be holding it somewhere in our body, In our energy fields. We don't need to know exactly. Just know it's lurking somewhere in us. And we can choose to release it. So again, It's just a decision. We may or we may not decide. We are ready to let go of that heaviness. Because whether it's for or against someone else, It is us who holds the density, The judgment. And it is us that benefits from releasing it. And even if there's someone else involved, They may or may not be in a position to accept our forgiveness or our apology. And we may use that example. Or we may not. It is an internal process to forgive ourselves and to release the pain of a judgment. In the words of the song, Say goodbye to the pain of the past. You don't have to feel it anymore. So if it feels difficult to shift, We can say we are willing to forgive. I am open to forgiving. Or maybe it's easy and we can just wave it away, Wave it goodbye. Decide that's not for us anymore. And imagine that heavy, Dense energy dispersing. It might float away. Or maybe we use the help of the earth. She can recycle that for us, Turn it back into light. Breathing in some lightness. Feeling light. As that density is dispersing, We take a deep breath. Long, Smooth breaths. Our experience of pain in the past, In our memory, Can be taken into the future by our expectation of more pain. That's how our memory works, It informs the future. So you might find that over the next couple of days we have a challenge. Because we've decided to release some past pain, We are given an opportunity to release it. And that might come in the form of a challenge. An opportunity to blame to judge or to criticise. I invite you to notice in the moment if that happens for you. And to decide in that moment that our blame, Our judgement, Our criticism is just an opinion. Perspective. And there may be others. And just to release it. And see what happens. To see how it feels. Or not to create more density in our being. Taking a few restful breaths in our heart with our lightness. And so let us slowly begin our transition back to the present. To the external world. But before we leave to a peaceful meditative state let's take a moment to thank the air. Maybe touching something that we're sitting on. Thanking her for that joint effort always stronger when we work together. And then slowly let's bring some movement back into our body. Little movements and maybe some bigger stretches. Taking in our surroundings and letting go. Thank you for practicing with me.