One of the things that has been coming up a lot lately with people in readings is forgiveness. Just the idea of forgiving someone who hurt you can trigger all sorts of emotions in people. What I see with a lot of people (myself included) is that we just want to forget about it and stuff back down what we are feeling. It may feel like relief at the time. However, it’s only a temporary fix because over time those shoved down emotions will start to bubble up and can cause physical issues.

How do you know if you need to forgive someone?

• You keep thinking about the person(s) involved
• You keep thinking about what happened
• You can’t think about the person(s) or the situation without getting upset
• You can’t think about the person(s) or the situation without emotionally reliving it

There’s a saying “Not forgiving someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die”. It’s not hurting the other person, it’s only hurting you! The way I see it energetically is that until you forgive someone, you are carrying around the energy and emotions of what happened like a suitcase. That suitcase may not feel heavy at first, but it will slow you down and get heavy after a while. In spiritual truth we are light and high vibrational, so why lug around stuff you don’t need?

From an energetic perspective, what does it mean to forgive? It means you are releasing the energy and emotions of the situation. Emotions like anger and hurt do not serve you well, so why not let them go? Forgiving does not mean that you are condoning someone’s actions or what happened, because let’s face it, people can be little stinkers in this lifetime! And we are certainly not meant to put up with any kind of abuse or unloving behavior from anyone. By forgiving, you are actually loving and honoring yourself!

So here’s the Forgiveness Technique that I learned a few years ago. I have used it to heal myself and I can confirm that it works! As you go through it, don’t worry if it feels difficult to do some of the steps (especially steps 4 – 7). Rome wasn’t built in a day and if you can’t forgive 100% right away, just be patient and keep working on it, you’ll get there!

1. Start with a prayer to call in Spirit and create a safe space. Say whatever feels right to you. Or use what I always say “I call upon God, the master teachers, the angelic realm and my guides and angels. I ask that you surround me with unconditional love, healing, lots of amusement and the highest truth possible”.
2. Create a grounding cord at the base of your spine. This will help your body feel safe and also act as a garbage disposal for what you release.
3. Release any emotions you are still holding on to related to the person(s) and/or situation. Do one emotion at a time by simply saying “I release any (say the emotion)   that is ready to be released”. You may already know what you need to release. If you don’t, then you can simply say you release anything related to the person or situation that is ready to be released. Proceed to the next step when you feel everything that was ready to be released has been released.
4. Picture the person(s) in front of you. Send a huge blast of forgiveness energy to them, from your heart to theirs.
5. Now send a blast of forgiveness energy to yourself, knowing that you and the person(s) involved were doing the best you could with what you knew and had at that time.
6. Send a blast of love from your heart to the person(s) involved.
7. Send a blast of love to yourself!

How does that feel? Was it easy to send forgiveness energy and love to yourself and the other person(s)? If you found yourself stumbling over that, no worries! When you are ready, do the technique again as many times as you need to until you can send love and forgiveness easily. This may take a few days or longer. Don’t judge how long it takes, instead pat yourself on the back for taking steps to heal yourself! And how do you know when you’ve completely forgiven someone or made peace with the situation? When you can look back at what happened and appreciate the lesson(s) you learned from it. When you can think of the person(s) involved and have love and compassion in your heart for them. And that is one way to love and honor yourself!