I woke up with a heavy pain lodged in my chest. In meditation, I breathed into it and asked myself what it was.
Often, pain in the body originates from an unprocessed emotion. And this time, it was anger and heartache from something that happened last week.
The ancient Hawaiian practice of forgiveness, Ho’oponopono, is incredibly powerful and deceptively simple.
There’s a beautiful version of the song and prayer by Elah & AuSierra, which you can listen to here.
Forgiveness Practice
Close your eyes, and picture the person you want to forgive. Picture their eyes as you say these words to them. See them say these words back to you.
I’m sorry,
Please forgive me,
Thank you,
I love you.
Am I willing to let go of this anger? I wanted you to see my anger so you could feel my pain.
But that doesn’t serve anyone. I am only shackling myself. No one has power over me.
Am I willing to finally forgive?
To forgive you doesn’t mean I’m betraying the one you hurt.
I choose to free you, and so I free myself.
You can imagine you’re together in a dark cave, and when you feel your heart opening, you can take them by the hand and lead them into the light. See them in the highest light, with love.
In the past, I’ve done this prayer to the beautiful souls in my life who I’ve hurt or who have hurt me. Sometimes, it took many years until I reached a sense of peace.
Twice before, a few days after doing this prayer, that person showed up in my dream. There was a sense of mutual love and forgiveness between us. We reached a resolution as we gave each other permission to let go.
Even if you don’t speak in the physical, you can still forgive as energetic beings. And if it’s fully cleared, you’ll feel a shift in your thoughts any time you think of that person or situation.
With this practice, you can transmute the memory and experience of something painful that happened 5, 10, even 20 years ago.
And most importantly, you can say those words to yourself… To the parts of yourself that you rejected… To the times you didn’t love yourself.
I’m sorry,
Please forgive me,
Thank you,
I love you.
Healing from the Core
The body is intelligent. If you feel pain, anxiety, or a heavy energy somewhere in your body, it’s trying to get your attention.
You can ask yourself:
- Where is this coming from?
- Where is it in my body, and what does it feel like?
- Did something happen recently that caused me to feel angry/stressed/unworthy?
- What unresolved emotions am I carrying?
- Am I ready to release them?
- Who do I need to forgive?
- What can I forgive myself for?
Through awareness, you can begin to release those emotions. Let yourself feel them fully, and they’ll pass through your body quicker than if you suppressed them.
You can journal about your feelings, dance it out, yell into a pillow, cry, or try the forgiveness practice above.
Your body is always communicating with you. You can transmute heavy emotions or physical pain when you bring awareness to the root cause.
May you walk through life with your heart wide open and light.
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Love,
Ashmi
