Only the shadow knows…really I’m thinking it’s just the cells of your body.

As a yoga teacher and a wellness mentor I talk a lot about how emotions, feelings, events are stored in our bodies. We may have even experienced release in classes…tears, laughter the like.  It is my sincere conviction that the best way to release stored toxic thoughts, feelings and beliefs is to practice forgiveness.  Hence the reason it is repeated in my manifesto…

Stay Present

Practice Patience

Cultivate Gratitude

Maintain Flexibility

Be Kind & Gentle

Remain Humble & Open Minded

Forgive, Forgive, Forgive

And above all else

Love Deeply

“To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.”

Robert Muller

“We achieve inner health only through forgiveness – the forgiveness not only of others but also of ourselves”

Joshua Loth Liebman

Maybe that low back ache is nothing more than storing old hurts, hanging on to the past and not allowing yourself to move forward.   The past is important to learn from, but not to carry around as a weight or as a punishment.  Even the worst crime can be forgiven.  It isn’t easy and forgiveness is not an invitation to allow for repeat offenses or a way to condone actions, but it can be done.

I only know this, the better I get at forgiveness the happier I get.

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”

Buddha

This is a perpetual process, a continuing journey of uncovering and releasing… The Process of Ho’oponopono (In Ho’oponopono, a person assumes 100% responsibility for their reality (with NO sense of self blame). They know that what they have created, they can change, for accepting responsibility means accepting power. Nothing is ever anyone else’s fault. To change experience/reality there is only ever one thing to work on…one’s self)   and Yoga Nidra are  wonderful tools for releasing and uncovering our true state of love and light.

You can start small and current and work into the big things.  Just practice. Feel. Notice.

As you forgive you may notice that love and joy and pain relief are natural by-products.  Pretty good deal huh?