Welcome to the practice of self-forgiveness.
Find a position that allows your body to feel supported.
This is your time to move from the world of doing into the world of being.
Close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Take three deliberate deep breaths.
With every exhale,
Feel the weight of your body settling into the earth or into the soft surface you are laying on or into the chair you are sitting.
Relax the muscles around your eyes.
Unclench your jaw and drop your shoulders away from your ears.
You are not here to fix yourself.
You are here to meet yourself.
Now,
Gently bring your mind to the specific burden you've been carrying.
It might be a mistake,
A word left unsaid or a version of yourself that you've been ashamed of.
Notice where this lives in your body.
Is it a tightness in the chest,
A heaviness in the stomach?
Don't turn away from it.
Breathe directly into that sensation.
Say to yourself,
I see you.
I acknowledge that this has been heavy.
We often think that by holding on to guilt,
We are making amends.
In reality,
We are simply staying stuck.
Allow yourself to just sit with this weight without any judgment.
Consider the version of you that made that choice.
Were you acting with the tools,
The energy and the level of awareness you had at that exact moment?
We often judge our past selves using the wisdom we've only gained after the experience.
Recognize that you are a person in transition.
You are always in transition,
And you are allowed to be a work in progress.
In the silence of your mind,
Repeat the words,
I am human.
I am learning.
I release the need to punish a version of myself that no longer exists.
Visualize this guilt as a physical object you've been gripping tightly in your hands.
Notice how tired your hands are.
Notice how much energy it takes to keep holding on.
Now,
Imagine simply opening your hands.
You aren't forcing the guilt away,
You are just stopping the act of holding.
Imagine the energy of that regret dissolving into the air around you.
You are paying a debt that has long since been settled.
Feel this space in your lungs expand.
You are allowed to breathe.
You are allowed to move forward.
Slowly bring your awareness back to the physical room.
Feel the contact of your body against the surface beneath you,
Whether it's the floor,
A comfortable bed,
Or a chair.
Forgiveness is not a one-time event,
It is a practice.
You may have to put down the heavy pack many times before it stays down,
And that's okay.
Carry this sense of lightness with you as you prepare to return to your day.
And when you are ready,
Gently blink your eyes open and return to the present moment.