“I forgive, I forgive, I forgive,” says a recent client whom I will refer to as Sue. She was telling me how her life changed after she began forgiving the people in her life who had wronged her. “I did the work that you recommended, which was to write letters of forgiveness,” Sue told me.
Sue took the advice further than the writing assignment. She said that throughout the day she would say aloud, “I forgive. I wanted to make sure that I was consciously forgiving, not just doing an assignment.” During our sessions I had suggested that she write letters of forgiveness and place them in an envelope addressed to the individuals who, in her opinion, had wronged her. She did not need to mail the letters. Her mind would accept the fact that she was moving ahead from the anger and disappointment that she felt. The energy of the universe would allow the individuals to be aware of the forgiveness. It is no different from sending prayers and love which is an accepted practice for most people.
Sue’s divorce had been very unpleasant. Years later, she still harbored deep resentment toward her husband who had left her for another woman. Sue had developed chronic digestive problems several years after her divorce. In my work as an emotional healer, I tune into where the emotions are stored in the body. In Sue’s case, I could feel the emotions in her stomach. In fact she tended to hunch over a little with rounded shoulders-a typical posture when people feel sad and depressed.
When we experience a trauma, whether we are physically or emotionally injured, the emotions stay with our body. After that, when we have a similar emotional feeling, we tense up in the same part of our body. Eventually the stored emotions cause our physical body to break down. Sometimes the emotions are locked into the muscles such as the jaw or neck, thus contributing to vision problems.
That was the case with Joseph who had a bitter argument with his father when he was just seventeen. “I begged him to let me go to Los Angeles. I wanted to be an actor which probably sounds immature, but acting was the only thing that I wanted to do as a youngster,” says the now forty-five year old man. Instead, Joseph attended university classes with deep resentment. Although the resentment was aimed at his father, Joseph soon began suffering headaches and loss of vision. After several months of work in recognizing the reason for the original tension, releasing the emotions toward his father by writing a forgiveness letter (even though his father is no longer living) and a weekly massage, Joseph started doing eye exercises. His neck and jaw muscles are relaxed and his eyesight has greatly improved. “I can look at my relationship with my father differently now,” says Joseph, “I have a better understanding that he thought he was acting in my best interests.”
During a recent workshop, Caroline Myss, perhaps the best known Medical Intuitive and teacher of spirituality, spoke about the importance of forgiveness. She says that when there are transgressions and you feel “wronged”, you can become involved in a power play, that is, get mad or vengeful and stay emotional, or you can forgive the transgressor and let go.
I suggest to my clients that they write letters of forgiveness to all of the people who have wronged them. Keep the letters in a file or a box. When the time is right; the letters should be buried or burned during a ceremony of farewell similar to a passing or funereal ceremony. It is important to honor feelings of sadness regarding the original transgression. It is also important to forgive and let go. Myss says that to move forward in the spiritual world, we must experience the death of ego. Instead of staying in our wounds, we should recognize them as lessons that we needed to learn. She points out in her book, Anatomy of the Spirit, that “Many people who lose something that represents power to them-money, or a job, or a game-or who lose someone in whom their sense of self or power is vested-a spouse or lover, a parent or child-develop a disease. Our relationship to power is at the core of our health.”
In order to clear yourself of the past, find a comfortable place; usually
laying down is best. Make sure there will be no interruptions. Take a few deep breaths to relax. Reflect on past traumas and feel in your body where the emotions from each trauma are stored. Recognize how your stored emotions are hurting you-not the individual toward whom the anger or unhappiness is directed. Make a decision to move on. Write forgiveness letters (sometimes you will need to be asking forgiveness). While you are lying still, imagine that the emotions and any related pain are being placed on a cloud, in a balloon or even an imagined likeness of yourself which is then allowed to drift away. Day by day, when emotions come up on past topics, remind yourself that you have forgiven the transgressor, accepted the lesson and moved on. Your changed attitude will be immediately evident to you. You will no longer suffer the emotional pain in your body.
“I forgive, I forgive, I forgive,” says Sue. “This is the way I remind myself to hold on no longer to emotional pain whenever the past comes up in my thoughts.” Sue told me that she has experienced dramatic improvement in her life since she processed her emotional experiences of the past. Now she is experiencing much more happiness and joy. This method worked for Sue and it can work for you!
About the Author:
During Marie Wilson’s Focus on Emotions sessions she tunes in to where you have tension in your body by using her unique posture profile. Her energy healing work brings emotions to the surface and releases the emotions, resulting in relief of physical pain. Her Focus on Vision sessions center on proven techniques to help you improve your eyesight through simple eye exercises featured in her booklet: Love Your Eyes, How to Improve Your Eyesight Naturally. www.MarieWilson.info and www.BeingTheBest.HubHub.org
