How to practice forgiveness

[Week Four] How to Breathe Immersion

Jul 17, 2024

∙ Paid

Checking in with you from the library this week :) Please excuse the background noise - turns out libraries are not as quiet as I thought!

Hi and welcome to week four of the How to Breathe Immersion.

We have been practicing together for a full month now. Isn’t that amazing? I am feeling deeply held by our group container and want to say how grateful I am for each of you.

Thank you for continuing to show up for yourselves and each other.

If you are feeling behind in your practice, it is okay. Do what you can this week and know that these practices will be archived so you can access them anytime you need to. You may also pop into any of the threads from previous weeks and join the conversations. As I mentioned last week, reading the shares is very supportive.

Now, let’s jump into week four…

Breathwork Practice: Forgiveness

I remember hearing in Al-Anon years ago that resentments are like drinking poison and expecting the other person to get sick. Intense? Yes. Uncomfortably true? Also yes.

When we’re angry or resentful at someone, ourselves included, it compromises our health and our ability to make clear decisions. When you feel resentful, your body is in a state of stress, and hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline are flowing through your bloodstream diluting endorphins and other feel-good chemicals. Prolonged stress, in this case resentment, has detrimental effects on our health because our bodies are not designed to function with those stress hormones at such high levels for long periods of time.

Without dealing with our feelings of resentment, they grow and fester at an alarming rate. This is in part because the hormones that ramp up our system also increase heart rate, slow down digestion, and weaken immune function. Making a conscious effort to get to the bottom of our resentment and shift our subconscious beliefs is a radical and necessary practice for the health of our hearts, minds, bodies, and communities.

Forgiveness is also about taking healthy responsibility. Oftentimes when we do the work of unpacking our resentments, we can flip in the other direction and be incredibly hard on ourselves, willing to take on way too much responsibility for ourselves and others.

When we start to practice the Forgiveness Breath, it helps us keep the focus on our own actions and hearts in a way that is practical. The Forgiveness Breath is a healing salve that helps us tune into our own vulnerability, hold witness space for ourselves, and allow ourselves to be perfectly imperfect.