Forgiving Yourself: A Guided Meditation With Richard

Forgiving yourself.

Going to a meditation on finding forgiveness for ourselves.

Spend a moment settling into a calm and easy posture.

Rest your attention in the centre of your chest,

In your heart,

Allowing sensitivity and attention to emerge.

Now sense the heart or pain you may have inflicted on yourself in the past through your thoughts,

Words or actions.

Sense the regrets you feel for any way you have hurt another through your own thoughts,

Words or actions.

As these memories come back to you,

Accept each image,

Bodily feeling and thought without rejecting or judging those moments,

Even if they are deeply painful.

Sense what it would be to let go of the guilt,

Anxiety or self-judging that is rooted in the past.

Sense what you feel.

Forgiveness means in this moment.

Ask yourself what it might mean to release the burden of the past and your regrets relating to it.

While repeating these phrases,

Rest your attention within your heart.

I forgive myself.

I forgive myself for the hurt I have done to myself through fear,

Pain and confusion.

I forgive myself for those thoughts,

Words and actions that have done me harm.

I forgive myself for the harm or hurt I have consciously or unconsciously inflicted on others.

Keep repeating these phrases for several minutes.

Allow your attention to fully rest within the words and sense the freedom implicit within them.

As you repeat the phrases,

Reflect on the possibility of fully letting go of the past.

As memories and thoughts that bring guilt,

Resentment and regret arise,

Allow them to pass and return your attention to the scent of your chest within your forgiving heart.

When you feel ready,

Slowly open your eyes and come out of your posture.

Namaste.