I learned from my teacher long ago, the importance of engaging in two brief periods of mindfulness with certain intentions. In the morning, we experience gratitude for the new day. We appreciate all the ways that we’re supported in our life and acknowledge how we support others. In the evening before bed, we engage in a forgiveness meditation. This allows us to clear away any weight on our heart and mind so we can sleep peacefully and start the next day with a fresher perspective. Together, these gratitude and forgiveness meditations help us create the most positive life possible if we do them daily.
Practicing Gratitude
We’ve already discussed the importance of gratitude in Grateful Heart, Joy-filled Life. You may want to look back at it to learn about other ways you can experience gratitude throughout your day. The following guided meditation will really help you. If you’re feeling like your days are monotonous, overwhelming, and that life is unfair, this can dramatically alter your perspective.
If you have children, this is a wonderful practice to introduce to them. Depending on their age and temperament, you may want to do it with them or just model it for them.
Practicing Forgiveness
At the end of the day, there’s a tendency for many of us to rehash the events of the day. Sometimes, we obsess over interactions with other people that were unpleasant. Other times, we’re overwhelmed with how certain conditions, politically or socially, are negatively affecting our lives. Perhaps we’re upset with ourselves for behaving in a certain way. We don’t want to go to sleep holding a grudge! Sleep will be restless and unsettling, and you’ll just be carrying these feelings over to the next day.
In the recorded meditation below, we work with specific affirmations to help you accept what occurred and all the feelings that resulted. We forgive to the degree that we don’t carry a load of hate & resentment, but we don’t brush off or forget injustices. When the time is right, we can process these incidents further to find the lesson learned.
Again, if you have children, let them know what you’re doing! Teaching forgiveness is essential for your child’s emotional intelligence. I love this, from Sherrie Campbell, PhD in 5 Ways Parents Can Teach Their Kids to Forgive:
“The relationships our children have will, for certain, be their greatest teachers of love and pain. They will never need to use forgiveness more than in their relationships. Forgiveness is many things — but we also must teach that forgiveness doesn’t always mean reconciliation. It is not about condoning harms which have been done. Forgiveness is about taking power back.”
I’m eager to hear how you did with these meditations. Did you feel a positive shift? Please let us know in the comments. And if you found the meditations helpful, please share this post far and wide! Namasté
