When you forgive yourself, you are lightening your load. Imagine yourself walking through life carrying a heavy bag on your back. Everywhere you go, the bag is there, burdening you and making it difficult to move forward. The weight of the bag causes pain that only gets more intense the longer you carry it.
Now imagine yourself casting the heavy bag to the ground and leaving it behind. You may have been so used to carrying it around that you have forgotten what it is to be free of the burden. Suddenly, you are lighter on your feet. The pain begins to melt away. You feel free.
Forgiving yourself is just like throwing the bag on the ground. When you harbor personal resentment or guilt, your mind and spirit are weighed down. Overtime, the guilt festers and only weighs more heavily on your being. Often, people carry around guilt for so long that they forget what it feels like to love oneself. When you forgive yourself, you are reborn as a free individual. Self-love replaces self-hate, and you can focus on moving toward the future instead of being caught in the past.
The process for how to forgive yourself begins with a conscious decision. You must commit to the healing process and be ready for personal change. To begin understanding how to forgive yourself, you must realize that you cannot alter the past, but you can be in the present moment and own your future.
Meditation is a powerful tool that can foster reflection and help you forgive yourself. There are many different ways to meditate, but each shares the common goal of letting your feelings flow. While meditating, you can observe your feelings and uncover the core of your being.
Commit to meditation for three months. You may struggle at first, but after 90 days the practice will become a habit. This important step for how to forgive yourself will soon become a refuge from the stresses of daily life and the guilty thoughts that pervade the mind.
Start by meditating for fifteen minutes each day. Sit in a comfortable space and take seven deep breaths. As you breathe, allow your feelings to come to a head. As you exhale, focus on breathing out the negative feelings. This practice is essential when you are learning how to forgive yourself because you will discover that you are indeed having feelings, but you are not the feelings themselves.
While meditating, recite a mantra that will help you forgive yourself. You can repeat these words as often as you need to throughout the day whenever guilty thoughts manifest. Simply affirming that ‘I will forgive myself’ can alter your thought patterns.
You can also release feelings of guilt or self-resentment through a journal. If you feel the pangs of guilt, write down your experience. Keeping track of your feelings in this manner can help you reflect on your experience and understand your resentment. Also write down feelings of joy and gratitude. Soon, you will identify emotional patterns and learn to manage your feelings in a healthier way.
Throughout these processes, you must continually reaffirm your commitment to forgiving yourself. Forgiveness itself is a process that takes time and effort. Actively choose healing and confront your grief and guilt. Many people feel afraid to forgive themselves, but understanding fear is one way to demystify the guilt and move on toward healing and self love. Give yourself permission to go through the healing process at your own pace and have patience with your heart. As you learn to forgive, you will build a new relationship with yourself. Without the burden of guilt weighing you down, you will be free to live a joyous future of self-love and respect.
Nearly everyone experiences feelings of guilt at one point during their lives, so share the power of forgiveness with friends and family in your social network. To discover other ways to build a new relationship with yourself and move forward, subscribe to my mailing list.