Forgiveness is good for your health! According to Caroline Pena, L.Ac., Dipl.OM, of Holistic Health Palm Beach, forgiveness is a letting go of sorts, that removes resentment and hatred from your heart and replaces it with peace, solitude, self-love and best of all, creates a new space for new beginnings. When you forgive it is simply a feeling that you get to have. It is a feeling of no longer being burdened by the weight and the darkness of un-forgiveness. Since forgiveness is all about how you feel, it has nothing to do with the person or circumstance that hurt you. Forgiveness, being an internal feeling of freedom, also means that letting go is not saying that what happened was okay.
When you forgive it allows you to enjoy life, even amidst chaos or other personal unrest. Forgiveness allows you to enjoy moments with family and friends that otherwise would have been ridden with a personal depression that may have settled deep within you. When you forgive you can now “see” yourself and the world around you once again in a much happier light. When you are willing to see things through a slightly different lens, it gives you the fortitude to achieve forgiveness, and true happiness is letting go of believing that you can have a better past. You cannot mingle in the unchangeable long enough, just waiting for that which you resent, to now somehow be different and expect it to change. It’s nestled in the past, and you cannot revisit it to make it better.
Where to begin? Well, smile and rejoice in your victories. Sometimes you may be the only one doing it, and sometimes you may have a crowd of cheerleaders, but you are never alone, you always have yourself. Forgiveness frees your heart and mind, and people will feel it when you no longer let hatred serenade your heart. Even when they do not support you or want to believe that you have forgiven, they cannot take it from you because you feel it, and it is the most authentic feeling you’ve had in a long time.
Don’t worry, forgiveness does not require reconciliation. Whether or not you decide to spend time with the person who hurt you should no longer hold you back from forgiving and letting go of the past. Forgiveness is simply a feeling that you get to have, it’s a freedom you can only truly understand the magnitude of once you have experienced it for yourself. Being in nature is healthy as it helps calm your mind and sets your nervous system on peace-mode. Take a walk in nature, barefoot if you can, so you can really feel the earth beneath your feet. As you walk think of yourself as being perfect just as you are. Repeat, “forgive,” or “forgiveness,” quietly in your mind or out loud if you have privacy. Stop to watch the squirrel and his happy little strut. Sit down and stare up at the clouds. When you can let go, if even briefly, it opens you up to accept what is possible, and forgiveness is possible!
Caroline Pena, author of the book The New Forgiveness, is a successful Forgiveness Coach and owner of Holistic Health Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida. As a nationally double-board certified acupuncture physician, licensed herbalist and Asian bodywork therapist, she specializes in Forgiveness Coaching (in person or virtual), acute and chronic pain, injury, depression, insomnia, suicidal thoughts, relaxation, and vitamin injection therapy.
Your Herbalist and Acupuncture Physician has a Bachelor of Science from The Ohio State University and a Masters of Oriental Medicine from The Atlantic Institute of Oriental Medicine. Call 561.601.0999 or visit us online at www.CarolinePena.com to schedule Forgiveness Coaching and www.PlantScript.com
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