The Process of Forgiveness

(cursor clicks) (bright music) Headspace Studios. (light music) Hi, everyone. It's Rosie. Welcome to "Radio Headspace" and to Monday. So back when I was going to college, I had a falling out with a dear and close friend. We'll call her Jen. We were on different paths and ultimately, outgrew each other, but it was hard to let go because we had been friends for a long time. Then, one day, we disagreed, we argued, and we parted ways. Not long after, my heart carried feelings of anger, resentment, and regret; a weight that got heavier with time. I've been thinking a lot about how I was able to get through that period in my life and what it took to heal. So today and for the rest of this week, I thought it would be good to talk about the process of forgiveness. I've found that it's the key to opening up a whole new world of compassion and self-love. So back to the story. This argument happened around the time that I had began my mindfulness studies, which taught me the importance of forgiveness. And the incident with Jen, along with a few others, would consistently come up for me. And maybe that sounds familiar. Has mindfulness ever made you notice certain patterns in your life? I occasionally would hear her name in conversations with mutual friends and all of those feelings would come up again. I debated calling or writing a letter, but I would never allow myself to fully go there. During this time, one of the key strategies I embraced was self-reflection. I dedicated time to introspection and I dove into my own emotions and triggers. I journaled a lot. And little by little, I gained clarity on how some of these past experiences impacted me and showed me what I needed to release in order to move on. Fast forward to many years later, at a mutual friend's house, Jen and I had an unexpected reunion. I wanted to be defensive, but a realization dawned on me: It was time to let go. We had a long history together and I had already been on my healing journey. It wasn't easy and it didn't happen overnight. I had to accept the hurt, acknowledge the pain, and finally, decide to let it go. As I began to practice forgiveness, I experienced a transformation. My heart, which was once filled with resentment, started to feel less achy. I noticed that by forgiving, I was not only fostering compassion towards my friend, but also towards myself. I was no longer captive to those past incidents. Instead, I was giving myself the gift of peace and acceptance. It was liberating to realize that forgiveness was not something we do for others. It's a path we choose for our own growth and wellbeing; an act of self-compassion. (gentle music) So if you wanna try forgiveness, here are a few things that can help you on your journey. First, acknowledge...