Use this meditation to practice forgiving those in your life who have harmed you, as well as forgiving yourself for harm you have caused others.

Forgiveness is a powerful act that can transform lives, for both the forgiver and the forgiven. It may seem impossible to forgive someone who has done serious harm to you or to those you love. However, the anger, sadness, physical pain, and tremendous grief those wrongs have caused can trap us in that negative experience when we don’t forgive, eating away at our soul and robbing us of our right to live a contented life.

Forgiveness is not about condoning the wrongs that were committed; forgiveness is about acknowledging those wrongs and then letting go of them so you and others can be released from the lingering harm those harsh experiences create. Scientific evidence has proved that hanging onto negative feelings associated with others who have caused you harm in turn harms yourself.

This meditation is designed to envision a person you would like to forgive—or a person you want to apologize to. If doing so runs the risk of being re-traumatized, please skip this meditation and choose another one instead. It may take time for you to feel comfortable exploring forgiveness. That’s okay, just know that it is possible and waiting for you whenever you’re ready.

Timing: 15:38