Welcome. This meditation supports the Stage Six task of forgiving and accepting yourself as human. In this task, you reflect on past mistakes, offer understanding and forgiveness to your past self, make changes, and move on. The hardest part of this task is to let go of the past, and the regret and other emotions that may come with it. This meditation will support that release. It’s time to let the past, and the past you, go.
Posture
Take a moment to get comfortable. You can sit or lay down. You will want to close your eyes for this very internal exploration.
Presence
Take a slow deep breath. Let it out like a sigh of relief. Be at peace. You are here now. Take another slow deep breath, and this time, send it out slowly, consciously, with purpose, all the way. Be at peace. You are here now. Pause and repeat these breaths until you feel relaxed and at peace.
Journey
Let’s begin. We all have some choices in our past that we wish we could change. Things we wish we could have done better, if only we knew then what we know now. Choose one of these now, for yourself, as your focus for this meditation. Take a moment to tell yourself the story.
As you recall your past mistake, feelings arise. Good. The only way to release it is to connect with it deeply. Let the feelings come. Sadness… regret… lean into them like an ocean wave. Let it come. Feel it as deeply as you are willing.
Where in your body do you feel these emotions? It is likely in the solar plexus and in the heart. Focus there and let it build.
If you find yourself focusing on specific other people who were, you believe, hurt by this, offer your apologies if you feel the need. I’m sorry.
But this was their path as much as it was yours. Each of your life journeys is playing out perfectly. You are all learning what you came here to learn. You are growing and making changes.
See your past self in this scene. Can you see how different you were then?
Can you see how, knowing only what you knew then, and surrounded by the circumstances, you made the best choice you were capable of at the time. Offer compassion for your old self. Offer love as that old self relives this event. There has been enough pain.
Can you detach yourself from your old self? Can you feel how different you are now?
What changes have you made?
Would you make the same mistake again? NO. Then the lesson is complete.
You are not perfect. You are perfectly human. You have made mistakes. You will make other mistakes in the future. This is how you learn. But they are only mistakes.
Your mistakes will become fewer and your decisions will become better. You will trust your gut and make choices more carefully.
We are not here to live a perfectly choreographed life without error. We are here to get it wrong and then choose what is right, if only for this lifetime. Not one human on this earth is without error. Not one human on this earth is without regret. This is the human condition.
Welcome to your humanity. And you are loved not in spite of it, but because of it. The fullness of who you are would be incomplete without your mistakes and your new directions.
Imagine the scene of your mistake in front of you. It moves away from you. Farther and farther. Receding into the distance. Smaller and farther away. See a door closing on that scene as it leaves with the old situation and the old you. Say your goodbyes to it all, with love and gratitude for what you have learned.
Return
When you are ready, bring your awareness back to your surroundings. Notice how you feel. Take this feeling with you and return to it anytime you like. Knowing you are human, and prone to mistakes as you learn on this journey, make your choices carefully. Trust your gut, and be aware of your motivations. Try this meditation for any past situation that keeps coming back to you with regret, asking to be processed and released. Be grateful for your mistakes, and for your new and wiser self.
