In this guided meditation, Will Schneider walks us through three stages of meditation to provide forgiveness to ourselves and others.
Forgiveness is the cornerstone of mindfulness and one of the most difficult.
Spreading forgiveness to others and ourselves requires a kind of consciousness and vulnerability that allows us to feel deeply uncomfortable, especially when carrying heavy stories of shame, anger, or resentment related to the experience.
In today’s guided practice, Will Schneider, a mindfulness-speaking man, has us in mind a meditation of forgiveness filled with kindness, grace and surrender designed to help us walk a little lightly in the world.
Forgiveness meditation to connect with your heart
Read and practice the guided meditation script below and pause after each paragraph. Or listen to audio practice.
Please note that when you work through this meditation, we are never trying to force forgiveness. Do this within your comfort zone. You don’t need to go to the deepest, darkest places that require forgiveness. Select what you feel on a scale of 1-10 and in the range of 4-6. This meditation is very helpful in releasing stress, anxiety and depression energy, and helps to relax your body, relax your mind and be more present in this moment, rather than being troubled by the shame and guilt associated with events that have occurred in your body. First, find a comfortable location. You can also lie down this, but don’t fall asleep. If you choose to sit, sit in an upright, dignified position. This forgiveness meditation has three parts. Do everything you can to work from a heart-centered heart-centered place deep within you. Let go of expectations and try to work from a state of vulnerable and authentic existence. Use your breath to drop naturally a little deeper at this moment. You may be able to put your hands on your heart and start accessing your heart energy. To relieve tension, do some movements in your shoulders and head. Find some deeper breaths and stop at this moment just to calm your nervous system. Inhale and lower your awareness to the breath to your belly. It really sucks in a lot. Exhale and softly and slowly. Maybe you just have to wiggle your chin a little side to side, or take these first few breath moments to make yourself a little more comfortable in your body, and get in this moment by getting out of your head and recognizing your breath, knowing your body’s sensations without judgment. Remind the moment you hurt someone else. Again, you don’t have to be so deeply personal. That could be someone you were cutting off traffic or being a bit unstable in a grocery store or something. It stays within the range of 4 to 6. In your mind’s eyes, specifically, raise this particular person you want to offer forgiveness or ask. Sorry to see that person clearly in your heart’s eyes and repeat it from this hearty space to this other person. Let me become incomplete. Let me make a mistake. Please allow me to become a learner, and still learn life lessons. please forgive me. please forgive me. If you couldn’t forgive me now, try to forgive me one day in the future. sorry. please forgive me. Sit together with it, breathing some heartbeats, couples. Use it as a way to let go of breathing and separate it energetically. I feel your heart once more. Now, move on to the way someone hurt you. Again, make this a minor one in the 4-6 range. But it was definitely an experience. Repeatedly through this heartfelt space, I allow you to be imperfect, so that I willingly allow myself to be imperfect. I also allow you to make mistakes. I will allow you to become a learner, but still learn life lessons. i forgive you. i forgive you. If I can’t forgive you now, could you please forgive me one day in the future? If I can’t forgive you now, could you please forgive me one day in the future? Sit down for a while. Bring your hand over your heart and feel more of that heartfelt experience. Again, use your breath to relax and release this energy. Finally, bring forgiveness to yourself. Think about how you hurt yourself. Again, start with the smallest ones. By expressing these heartfelt words to yourself, you spread forgiveness to yourself. I allow myself to become imperfect. I allow myself to become imperfect. I allow myself to make mistakes. I allow myself to make mistakes. I allow myself to become a learner, but I still learn life lessons. I really feel that. I allow myself to become a learner, but I still learn life lessons. I forgive myself. I forgive myself. If I can’t forgive myself now, could I forgive myself one day in the future? I forgive myself. Take a little more inhale and take a bigger inhale. It’s filled with forgiveness, filled with love for yourself, filled with opportunities to release and let go. Let it all go. You don’t have to be a part of you anymore. Take a breather more. Feel it, use it to flow and then drop. And let it go. I hope you feel a little lighter after this meditation. Come out slowly at your own time. It’s a great exercise to recognize that you don’t have to hold everything that gets in the way of your sparkle. All the love you have. Thank you for meditating. Thank you for being the light you are in and bringing that light to more people in the world. Have an incredible day.
