Forgiveness as Pain Relief

This amazing idea of forgiveness as a form of pain relief was shared with me by a woman named Margaret. It speaks to the unrecognized pain we all live with by carrying around unforgiven hurts or ways we’ve not forgiven ourselves for our failings. In this practice we use the power of the breath to bring the unforgiven to the surface and breathe into it, allowing the possibility that we can release it. Breath upon breath we fill with light and gentleness, letting it wash away that which has come to consciousness. We use our growing relationship with our own Inner Being or Guide to recognize truth of situations. Even when we have been wrong or hurt others, we can find a way to forgive ourselves for our shortcomings. Allow growth and self-knowledge to make us better humans. And to find ways to forgive those who have hurt us creates spaciousness in our being, so that pain recedes and perhaps some day (maybe today) releases with each breath out.

'Strands of Light' music by Sanaya Roman (orindaben.com)
Podcast production by iRonick Media (ironickmedia.com)

Disclaimer:
Breath exercises are not intended to diagnose or treat illness. Anyone undertaking to practice breath awareness and exercises should be mindful of their health and consult their health care practitioner if they have any questions about their fitness for this practice. 

Transcript

Miriam: 0:02

Blessings and welcome to Miriam's meditations. Let's begin by closing our eyes and just beginning to notice your breath earlier today I was having a little trouble getting a breath to come in. And I find that sometimes when I'm anxious about something, my breath becomes rather shallow or constricted feeling. And try as hard as I might, trying hard being the operative phrase, the breath just does not come in. But I find when I slow down and bring my consciousness to my center point. And be easy about it. The breath arises of its own. And that act of creating space for the breath has a point of meeting the anxiety and allowing you to lessen even a small amount. And be aware, be mindful that even a very small improvement is significant. As we work through these exercises, and do our meditative practice and walk along our spiritual development paths. There are many times when the activity or the action seems very, very small. But those small measures add up over time. And that small shift is significant. So as we have been playing with our breath, and doing all sorts of fun things with it, like in gauging the healing capacities of the breath, even a small shift, even a 2% improvement is significant. If you think about what that means using your breath, which you do all day, every day and every night while you're sleeping, this very mundane seeming activity. And you can use the power of the breath to make changes in your physical body, your emotional body or mental body and beyond. And the small shifts with this seemingly mundane activity are significant. So recognizing yourself for making the time and the space for yourself to listen to these podcasts or whatever you're doing in your personal practice. Just listening to your own breath, feeling the breath in the body. If you'd like to take some moments to stretch a little roll your head around or squeeze your shoulder blades together behind you. round your back and drop your chin. Just making some space for the breath and the body, loosening your pants or your constrictive clothing. We practice that last week we will practice again today. Making space in the body for the breath. Perhaps put your hands on your abdomen and allow your belly to be soft to be grateful for the belly and its softness. And as the breath in fills into the body, the belly expands because the diaphragm is moving down, down down, making the lungs open and the breath rushes in. And then as you breathe out, the belly comes back in and the air rushes out of the lungs. So use these moments while I'm speaking to you as some very special time to be aware of your breath in your body to really sink into a smooth, easy cadence of the breath imagining the most beautiful, delicious breads that you could have this moment And our topic for today is we are doing our spiritual practice is a beautiful idea that was presented to me recently by a woman named Margaret. This is not my original idea, but I think it's rather brilliant. And that idea is forgiveness as pain relief. Forgiveness as pain relief. And I've been working with this idea. The idea that things that are unforgiving in your psyche, in your being can maybe be likened to something with little pointy bits or sharp edges, perhaps faulty programming that's running in the background. And so I took this idea to heart things popped up for me that I hadn't thought about in a long time. And some of them were fairly minor, but apparently I had been carrying them around, not forgiving. And when I realized that and how minor they really truly word, we're able to forgive both myself and others. There was pain relief, pain that I didn't even know was there, because I had become so used to it. Perhaps something is occurring to you now. Some small or even large, but we can start with small things. The unforgiven? Perhaps the forgotten. Then even if you don't have anything coming up at the moment, perhaps you can remember that idea. That when we can bring ourselves to forgiveness, that we release and relax and let go of something, a pattern of energy that may have been causing us pain that we didn't even notice anymore, because we have become so used to it. So this practice today we're going to do some of our pranayama then we are going to return to this idea about forgiveness. And its friend to surrender. Allowing let go like a little club of energies that we can use to clear our field of unwanted energies unnecessary and even painful. Alright, let's begin. Let's bring the first two fingers of the right hand to touch the third eye. And we will draw spirals on the third eye as a method of opening the third eye to the breath to cleansing and clearing and your spirals draw toward your left shoulder first, so let's begin 1-234-567-8910 1112 1314 1516 1718 1920 2122 2320 420-526-2720 820-930-3130 230-334-3536 Pause. Breathe in at your third eye drawing a spiral of energy deep into your head and then exhale out your third eye. Noticing the cleansed and cleared lens of perception. Right hand remain stationary at the third eye. Place your left hand upon your heart and will do the heart mind uniting breaths bringing the heart and mind into oneness. Releasing and surrendering the mind to the hearts wisdom. Begin by breathing in your third eye by drawing the breath deep into your head into your mind, and then exhaling that energy into your heart. Let the heart release and hold, receive the mind. Breathe in again at the third eye and exhale into your heart. Once more breathing into the third eye and exhale into the sweetness of the heart. Feel the heart gladly and lovingly receive the mind. Now breathe in at your heart. Allow the breath to rise and lift into the mind blending with the minds energy and exhaling back down into your heart. Breathe in at your heart, the breath rises, illuminating the mind and exhaling into the heart. Once more breathe in at the heart. Let the breath rise. Blend and release. Resting in the sweetness of the heart. Left hand drops to your lap right hand remains that's the third eye. alternate nostril breathing. Breathe in through both sides of the nose. And now breathe out through both sides of the nose mouth remains closed. Now close off your right nostril with your thumb. Breathe in the left side only. And if you need to use one of your fingers to open that nasal cavity on one side that seems a little clogged, that's fair. Close off with your fingers lift up your thumb breathe out breathe in the same side goes off with your thumb. Lift up your fingers breathe out. Sometimes it takes a little bit to get them both going. Breathe in that same side close off with your fingers lift up your thumb breathe out breathe and say same out other insane out other insane out other insane add another in saying that you're here hand drop to your lap and breathe out both eyes open begin tapping on your breathing space. lung cells stimulating Hello lungs. Hello lungs. upper back. All over lower ribs. It's great. All right, pause fingertips on your upper chest. Now breathe in tapping, tapping, tapping padding as you retain the breath. Padding all over the breathing space padding with your flat hand. Now exhale. You can breathe out through your mouth. Breathing again through your nose tapping, tapping, tapping padding as you retain the breath padding. Exhale, let it go. Eyes open palms up cleansing breath breathe in. Exhale, three short puffs. Again, breathe in and cleanse hands on either side of your ribcage for ribs stretching, breath, eyes open breathing Enter full and complete breath. Feel your ribs moving under your hands and exhale, pressing in with your hands. Moving your ribs. Breathe in, expand the ribs. And exhale, pressing on the ribcage, using your hands to really move your ribs. And now palms up, eyes open for a cleansing breath. Breathe in and cleanse one more Glenn's eyes are closed, hands are resting in your lap. Just taking a full and complete breath. Breathe in and breathe out let's do a couple of surrender breaths because we're going to be working with the idea of surrender in a moment. exhale all the air in your lungs to prepare. Now breathe in through your nose, a full and complete breath rising to the top and swallow. Let a little air out from the upper chest. Now expand your belly and breathe out all the air surrendering. Breathe in again, a full and complete breath rising to the top. Pause and swallow Is it a little more air to the upper chest. Making space. Exhale from your belly. Inhale at your belly and exhale. Surrendering, releasing, loving. Eyes open palms up for cleansing breath breathe in and cleanse close your eyes, let your hands drop to your lap. Breathing in and breathing out. Just a gentle easy breath. Now one minor Yogi exercise. Inhale arms arcing up into a prayer pose above your head. I call force my perfect blueprint of being from my very center radiating out and out through my entire presence and exhaling as your arms drop down to your left you will notice now how we're feeling after this breath practice. It's very energizing. It's very clearing and it creates a quietness a meditative space for us simply by doing these robust breathing practices. Now allow yourself to just draw your focus into your own being. You may call upon your guide or your Higher Self inner being wherever you feel the source of your inner wisdom and recognize that inner wisdom is always positive, uplifting. Creating space for you to open to your highest and best. This is how we become friendly with our inner being an understanding that all that is ever laid forward for us is our highest and best or most beautiful future, the highest and best outworking for us. Even if that sometimes appears as a strenuous path forward something difficult that must be tackled as challenging. It must be worked upon and steps those steps, that work is always supported by your inner being. And as you do your breath practice, you clear the way to be a more robust listener. It becomes clear as Bill when your inner being or your guide is speaking to you. And it becomes easier and easier to follow this guidance with a knowing heart and a kind of lift in your step and lightness of step, because you know you're healed and guided. So we began our practice today and speaking about forgiveness, as pain relief, to be in our human realities in our human form, our very tender humaneness, which we all share, there is often some pain, old wounds that have not healed. Perhaps you were not strong enough, when this happened to you. Perhaps you did not have the skills or the practice, or the safety. Perhaps you do now, maybe there's something arising for you in your consciousness. Some small thing that you can forgive yourself or another for recognizing that you can breathe it away by simply calling into your awareness, breathing light, and gentleness and compassion for yourself and any other with whom you may be interacting in your past memories in your body, your emotional self breathe into that now. I let that breath nourishment soothe you. And as you breathe out, allow and release just all at once. Let it go. And breathe in again. Further, maybe residues in may take a few breaths it may take an hour of breaths. But it also could simply flow away and be released. Allow that as a possibility that whatever wound you're carrying, that is in your consciousness at this moment. allow for the possibility that you could just let it release and that energy, that pattern clear and float away as though it's on a cloud and the wind is blowing it and it's just moving away. And there is no judgement about right or wrong or bad or good. It's very possible this one was deeply unfair. came about through what seemed like no fault of your own. But holding on to those types of ideas cements you to this hurt indeed, keeps us in a status of being victims of the world instead of something else. Like people who are learning interacting with other people who are learning are those of us and I think it is perhaps everyone who are responding to old patterns that came from our parents and their parents and their parents. Breathe in again. Let it go. Even in a very general way even if there is not a specific focus for you in this moment, breathe in to anything any pattern that could be released in this moment, any idea of unforgiveness and let it go. And begin to feel spaciousness, where those old patterns were, begin to feel ease and a kind of lightness where there was an old hurt and recognize that you are completely at choice as to whether or not to carry this hurtfulness is hurting anymore. Listen to the patterns of your mind that are speaking to you about why you may still be carrying it. Look at the thoughts that are appearing. Well this is so and that was such and below your breath right into those thoughts, as though they have no substance at all, because they do not. They can be released, just like the breath. And as you begin to draw the breath into the space that is being created by this very active practice that we are doing. Notice what's coming in on the breath, I am feeling a clarity, even colorfulness a soothing, a lifting a precious smile, even at this lovely space that is your true nature, unencumbered. Your truth is light. And yes, we have these patterns. And yes, we have these experiences. But we can live from that lighted inner being more and more. And it feels especially important to point out that we must forgive ourselves whatever it was you did is now in the past. And whoever you were when you did it, you are no longer that same person. But you are now here and you can softly surrender your judgment of self any harshness you feel towards self in the unforgiveness. Release that pain of having fallen short of your highest aspirations of being a good person. And if you would like to make amends towards someone that you felt you have wronged in this moment, Cindy might ask inner forgiveness. Speak from your higher self to their higher self and ask with humbleness and sincerity to be forgiven. And then again, forgive yourself and recognize the relief that comes with being able to put down some of the burdens that we carry as humans. For in addition to being these somewhat vulnerable, fallible creatures that we are in our human lives, we are also brilliant, beautiful light. We are stunning patterns of divine energy. And as you live more and more from those spaces of the divinity that you are from this lightness of being much of that other overlay falls away. So recognize that now as you breathe in nourishment, the prana that rides in the breath into the being especially if you are feeling it in your body somewhere. Allow the breath to draw into that part of the body perhaps it even feels as though some crusty layer that you've been carrying around is just cracked open. and fallen away into the nothingness leaving you brilliant, blessed enlightened, this is a practice that can lighten your load alright let's just breathe for a few moments in the quiet listen within, for a tone, a sound of truth resounding from their deepest inner being. And radiating out and out like ripples of a drop pebble on a still upon a note of truth, your truth, you as truth listening and allowing that note of truth to clear anything in its path that is ready to be released out and out and out as far as you can perceive all around you every direction Be gentle with yourself as you go forth into your day. From this practice, we can be a bit stirring up. You may find as you move through back out into your day that unforgiveness is arise into your mind or your heart. Recognize these for what they are, they are messages from your inner being. For your awareness now you can breathe into them and practice releasing them so be mindful, be gentle call your awareness back to your own breathing body sitting in your chair laying on your bed or the floor. laying on the floor is a wonderful way to practice the breath practice. Just be sure your head is supported calling your awareness back to your body. I bring my hands together at my heart in deep thanksgiving for all of you who are following along on this practice. We're breathing with us this is great spiritual nourishment for me to breezes all of you and I'm very grateful to you salute the light that is you and the light that is me and in that place we have one Namaste. Mahalo for listening, follow rate and review Miriam's meditations on Apple podcast, Spotify, Google podcast, or wherever you're getting your podcast. We share a new meditation each week. The breath work presented here is cumulative. So if you're new to breath work, please start at the beginning and season one and you'll learn the fundamentals. You can find more information about my work and my blog at Miriam's. meditations.com That's mi Are I am s meditations.com I welcome your comments. Write to me at contact at Miriam's. meditations.com Aloha, and have a beautiful day