By Robyn Lev, Author of Your Divine Inheritance: Learn to Use your God-Given Spiritual Gifts, Hay House Press, Remote Healing Practitioner
If God gave you more time on your hands what would you do with it? For sure in the last eight months many of us have had more time than we have had in the past, and it also feels like time has slowed down. We have been forced to take a closer look at ourselves, and spend more time alone and with the ones we live with. This lockdown has deleted much from our busy schedules and has created a silence or quiet that some have never experienced.
Movies, parks, restaurants, cruises, and other entertainment services were brought to a grinding halt. Those with children were challenged to be a source of encouragement and stability in helping their offspring transition to virtual classes, engage in projects at home, maintain peer relationships, and helping them emotionally through these life changes. Others have been given the opportunity to clean out cobwebs in cupboards, literally and figuratively.
Many have developed new routines like buying groceries and other products online and enjoying delivery of those goods. Some found themselves at a cross roads in their life as they were furloughed, laid off from work, and forced to seek new employment; while others were challenged with creating new ways of continuing to work.
What emotions, life disappointments, or regrets surfaced for you during this time? How have you navigated the changes in your everyday life? Are you happier, did you have periods of sadness or depression, or become overwhelmed? What have you learned about yourself at this time? Were you able to adapt easily or did you have a lot of anxiety navigating these changes? Was it easy to tune into your heart space, or was there too much chatter in your mind? Do you choose adaptive coping mechanisms like yoga or movement or exercise or journaling or talking about your feelings, or did you choose to drink alcohol or smoke or use drugs to numb yourself of the pain?
This is a time for deep inner reflection, assessment, and evaluation. Do you feel stuck, stifled or restricted in any area of your life? What deep wounds are you ready to let go of? Is there someone you need to forgive? Or do you need to forgive yourself for something? It takes energy to hold onto life experiences you wish didn’t happen, wish you could change, or wish you could repair. It takes energy to hold onto grudges. It takes energy to hold onto the emotions attached to those experiences like: anger, rage, shame, embarrassment, humiliation, and disappointment. Are you ready to forgive and move on with your life?
I invite you to take time to engage in self-healing, or schedule a time with a healing practitioner. I know many of you have kind hearts and enjoy helping others, but often put yourself last. Here’s a little incentive, and a little secret I love to share about healing work. When you do healing work on yourself, you are also healing others around you.
I’ll tell you a story. There was a ward of criminally insane population in a psychiatric institution in Hawaii where they couldn’t keep a head psychotherapist as no traditional nor other therapeutic protocols provided measurable changes for recovery. This facility was desperate and looking for a new psychotherapist. They offered this position to a Hawaiian psychotherapist Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len who responded with the following. He would accept this position as long as he did not have to engage physically with any of the inpatients. The interviewer was perplexed and wondered how he expected to treat if he did not engage in traditional 1:1 nor group sessions nor other in person protocols. The doctor explained “I will remain in my office and recite the Ho’oponopono (ho-o-pono-pono) prayer”.
The interviewer knew the facility has been through handfuls of psychotherapists and was pretty desperate at this point to find a new one who would accept this position and thought maybe it’s time to try something different - so she hired him. For the next few months this man did exactly what he said he was going to do and remained in his office and recited the Ho’oponopono prayer. One day at a team meeting medical personnel and caregivers started reporting changes and new observations in patients’ behavior, like they were calmer and more cooperative. As time went on, the doctor continued to recite the Ho’oponopono prayer and the inpatients continued to make progress.
Ho’oponopono means ‘to make right’ – it brings balance to your self, to your relationships, and even to your ancestors. This ancient Hawaiian prayer is composed of four powerful phrases: “I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.”
Understand all the while Dr. Len recited the Ho’oponopono prayer he was focused on healing himself and by doing so he healed others.
The Ho’oponopono Prayer is about taking responsibility for everything in your life, and for the world around you. This is a powerful forgiveness prayer that provides for letting go of the most challenging of life’s experiences. You can use this prayer to heal losses, traumas, or hurts you endured. Recite this prayer from your heart focused on specific regretful incidents or people in your life that you have been hurt by or have hurt.
Recite aloud over and over to let go of and release past hurts, resentments, and undesirable energies:
I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.
We come into this human experience to learn, grow, and evolve. Taking time to recite the Ho’oponopono Prayer is a simple but most powerful step you can take today to heal the world. When you look back at this time in history what do you want to recall - how did you spend your time?
Learn more - www.robynlev.com
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