Meditation For Letting Go

Get comfortable,

Somewhere warm and away from any distractions.

You can close your eyes if you like and take some deep breaths.

Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth.

Think for a moment about what truly makes you happy.

What or who do you have in your life right now that brings you joy?

Is there anything in your life,

Anything that you can change,

That makes you unhappy?

Our lives are impacted by our own decisions and choices,

The actions of others and by other external influences that we often cannot control.

For this meditation,

We will start close to home.

Let's start with how we feel about ourselves.

How we show ourselves love.

How we look after ourselves,

Mind,

Body and spirit.

You might struggle with this.

Perhaps you try very hard to love yourself,

But you always seem to meet a stumbling block.

There's something in the way,

Something that you think isn't good enough,

Something you wish you could change.

Maybe you've had thoughts that you aren't good enough,

That you aren't worth loving or are too difficult to love.

You may have said these words to yourself,

You may have heard them from someone else,

Or maybe both.

We all know how important it is to show ourselves love.

We know the benefits,

We tell our friends to do it,

But we struggle to follow this advice ourselves.

It can feel disheartening,

Hopeless even,

But there is a way to open that door to self-love.

All you need is the key.

The key is forgiveness.

Forgiveness can allow you to overcome whatever it is that's blocking your way.

It may be someone or something that you have to forgive.

It may be something you want to forgive,

You just don't know how.

Or it might be something or someone that you feel unwilling to forgive.

If something is coming to mind for you,

A bad experience from your past maybe,

Just sit with that for a moment.

Whatever is at the forefront of your mind is likely to be the issue that you need to tackle today.

This thing is not unforgivable.

Forgiveness is a gift that you give to yourself,

It's not for anyone else.

Forgiveness sets you free,

And it's the pathway to self-love.

When we refuse to forgive,

We end up stuck in a cycle of self-righteousness and pride.

We build a prison for ourselves,

A prison where we're slowly crushed by that ever-growing weight of the burden that we carry.

No one deserves bad things to happen to them,

But this is not a weight that you need to carry forever.

You can put it down.

You can leave it behind.

You can forgive.

Holding on to resentment only hurts ourselves.

The other person may not even know that you are hurt.

They may not know that you are angry.

They may never understand the pain they've caused.

But remember,

This act of forgiveness isn't for them,

It's for you.

Begin to create an image in your mind's eye.

Imagine a space where you feel calm and relaxed.

Picture somewhere out in nature,

Perhaps a forest,

A beach,

Or a beautiful meadow with the sun shining on your face.

Find a clearing in this imaginary space,

Somewhere you can rest comfortably,

And just notice the space around you.

Feel the ground beneath you.

Feel the breeze blow gently over your skin.

Feel the warmth of the sun on your body.

Hear the sounds around you,

The wind in the trees,

The birds overhead,

The water rippling,

Or the waves gently crashing onto the sand.

You're safe here,

And you can relax in this beautiful place which is peaceful,

And comfortable,

And the ideal place to begin to let go of all of those things you want to leave behind.

Ask yourself,

What is the hardest thing to forgive?

This memory caused you pain,

Pain you still carry in your body.

Where do you carry this pain?

Where can you feel those emotions stuck?

Where are they weighing you down?

Look around at the beauty that surrounds you.

This is a good time and a good place to let that pain go.

Imagine you could take that pain out of your body.

And hold it in your hands.

What does it look like?

What does it feel like?

Look at this pain from every angle.

Really investigate it.

Does it have a colour?

Does it have a smell?

Do you want to keep hold of this pain?

Or are you finally willing to let it go?

Hold it in both hands and bring it up in front of you.

Take a breath in.

And as you breathe out,

Blow the pain away.

Watch it float away on the breeze,

Slowly breaking up,

Disappearing into the atmosphere.

All that hurt and suffering being dispersed.

It's no longer a part of you.

It's harmless now.

Watch it float away and out of sight.

Feel the breeze against your cheeks and take another breath in.

Feels a little easier now,

Since letting go of whatever was stuck in your body before.

The sky around you is clear and bright.

And notice how glad you are to have released all that bitterness.

Notice the ground beneath you.

Feel how much more comfortable you are now.

You can do this again as many times as you need to.

Take your pain out of your body.

You don't need it anymore.

It's heavy.

It's weighing you down.

This time,

Try to look at that pain through the eyes of the person who caused it.

Do you think it looks the same to them?

Or are they seeing it differently to you?

Look again.

This time,

Through the eyes of a third person.

A person unconnected to the incident.

Just an observer.

What do they see?

From each angle,

The situation looks different.

And each viewpoint provides a different answer to who is right and who is wrong.

But ask yourself,

At this point,

Does it really matter?

Take a breath in.

And blow the pain away as you breathe out.

Let it go.

Watch it float away until it is gone forever.

No longer a part of you.

No longer a weight you carry.

Enjoy this moment of peace now that that pain has gone.

Feel the sun on your face,

The breeze through your hair.

Ask yourself,

Who is the hardest person to forgive?

And why?

If you really wanted to forgive this person,

You know you could.

What is it that you want to hold on to?

Why are you still holding on?

Would you rather be right?

Or would you rather be happy?

You've held on to this pain for long enough now.

It's time to let it go.

Can you give understanding for abandonment?

Can you give compassion for betrayal?

Can you give acceptance for rejection?

Are you willing to change your old beliefs that you're not worthy of love or too difficult to love?

Are you ready to accept that you are worthy?

Worthy of loving.

Worthy of cherishing.

Worthy of forgiving.

And are you ready for the freedom that that forgiveness can bring you?

Let all that pain go now.

Let that person go.

Set them free.

Forgive them now for not being the way you wanted them to be.

In your mind,

Say it now.

Say,

I forgive you.

I set you free.

And now,

Let the whole experience go.

You're free of all the blockages and barriers of the past.

You have a clean slate.

Wherever your safe space is,

Stand up there now.

Feel the ground beneath your feet and take a full breath in.

You feel lighter,

Almost weightless.

Now you've released all that bitterness and anger.

There is space now.

Space in your body.

Space in your mind and spirit to say the words out loud.

Say,

I forgive myself.

I love myself.

Say it again.

I am forgiven.

I am loved.

What relief.

What joy.

To not only say those words,

But to believe them.

Now the world looks brighter.

Everything is so much more vivid.

Ask yourself,

Where do you want to go from here?

You're ready to walk forward as a new person.

Leaving behind all the baggage from the past that's been weighing you down.

You've broken those old patterns.

And made space in your heart for new experiences.

For more happiness.

More fun.

More joy.

More love.

You have endless potential.

This year and the years that follow can be whatever you want them to be.

All is well in your world now.

You can step forward.

Feeling lighter.

Brighter.

And better.