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Compassion & Forgiveness Meditation For Breaking Through Toxic Situations

October 14, 2014 By Monica Stone 2 Comments

I think one of the hardest things is dealing with toxic people and situations that are beyond your control. I don’t just mean negative people, but I’m talking about emotional abuse or even bullying. I personally think we create our own world. Not that we ask ourselves or even put ourselves in situations to be treated bad, but that we might not realize that we’ve let these situations linger, and the intensity and trauma we’ve allowed it to take on us. 

We have patterns that continue to cycle in our lives because we unconsciously don’t know that life can be any different. This process is called Samsara. Samsara is the repeated cycle of life, death, and rebirth. We continue to live the same patterns over and over until we are able to learn and work through them. You can look at this as all happening during one lifetime as well. 

Simpe-diagram-of-Samsara

The Ashtanga Opening Mantra starts with:

OM

Vande Gurunam Caranaravinde

Sandarsita Svatma Sukhava Bodhe

Nih Sreyase Jangalikayamane

Samsara Halahala Mohasantyai

which means:   

I bow to the lotus feet of the Gurus,

The awakening happiness of one’s own Self revealed,

Beyond better, acting like the jungle physician,

Pacifying delusion, the poison of Samsara.


If we’ve spent our lives looking for approval or trying to prove ourselves, then we may not realize we’re continually letting people mistreat us, and our vision of ourselves becomes more and more skewed. The commitment to a yoga practice will help to reveal these patterns in the mind, and eventually we become stronger realizing our amazing potential.

We realize that these situations are not actually beyond our control. We’ve never been trapped, but we’ve been so stuck in these conditioned beliefs that we didn’t know the door was open, and we can finally break free from this self built prison. 

I’ve been in these situations before, and currently breaking free from one. If you’re experiencing something like this, I’d like to share something that has worked for me beyond my yoga practice. 

Forgiveness & Compassion Meditation: 

When people are cruel, it’s really an inner refection of their insecurities and issues. I know it’s very difficult to try to feel positive about someone who makes a point to beat you down and make you feel so bad, but we personally can’t take in their toxic energy and become negative ourselves. We have to find a way to stay positive and strong. One way I do this is by meditating:

  • Find five minutes during the day, perhaps before bed, where you sit in meditation position.
  • Picture the person of conflict in front of you. 
  • Picture a light from your heart transferring love and positivity to them. 
  • Say the words, “I forgive you”
  • Say the words, “I wish you light and love”
  • Repeat this for the five minutes, or until you feel your heart soften

By the end of this meditation you’ll feel more in control because you have developed a positive attitude, and are not letting the negative effects grow like a cancer. You are taking the steps to manifesting positivity and moving to a better place.

Compassion Meditation

In How To Practice The Way To A Meaningful Life, the Dalai Lama discusses this daily practice: 

  • Examine your motivation as often as you can.
  • Even before getting out of bed in the morning, establish a nonviolent, nonabusive outlook for your day. At night examine what you did during the day.
  • Adopt a positive attitude in the face of difficulty. Imagine that by undergoing a difficult situation with grace you are also preventing worse consequences from karmas that you would otherwise experience in the future. Take upon yourself the burden of everyone’s suffering of that type. 
  • Regularly evaluate the possible negative and positive effects of feelings such as lust, anger, jealousy and hatred. When it becomes obvious that their effects are very harmful, your conviction will strengthen. 
  • Repeated reflection on the disadvantages of anger, for example, will cause you to realize that anger is senseless. 
  • This decision will cause your anger to diminish gradually. 

What do you think about taking on the burden of everyone’s suffering? Why do you think he says that?

Follow me on Instagram for more handwritten #KarmaNotes
Screen Shot 2014-10-13 at 12.39.29 AM
With all of my love,
Monica

Filed Under: Instruction Tagged With: Meditation

Monica Stone

About Monica Stone

Monica is a lover of all things yoga, a vegetarian, an avid tea drinker, and never gets sick of soup and noodle dishes. She teaches yoga, practices daily, and runs a Spiritual Book Club in Orlando, FL. She likes to challenge the strict rules of yoga, and makes it accessible for everyone - especially people who suffer from daily life and work stress.

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Hi! I’m Monica

Monica StoneWell hello there! I'm Monica. I'm a yoga & meditation teacher (and junkie). I teach yoga practices that are quick and effective for the busy person who just needs a few minutes of quiet time in their day. Click around and you'll find quick meditation tips for calming the mind to simple stretches to relieve stress and tension. If you are sick of being intimidated by yoga or just confused by all of the different styles out there - then this page is for you. Yoga helps me daily & I know it will help you too! I'll show you how! Welcome to The Yogi Movement :)

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Testimonials

  • Jaime ShearerJaime ShearerYoga Student Since 2012

    Monica is dedicated to her own practice and the true path of yoga - the one of personal experience - which makes her an outstanding teacher. She is warm and easy to talk with, and she allows the student to have their own experience on the mat. She explains postures and breath in ways that are understandable so that the student "gets it." She makes yoga real and tangible in ways that truly serve the student. Work with Monica. You'll be glad you did.

  • Jacob AbercrombieJacob AbercrombieYoga Student Since 2011

    have always wanted to try yoga, but was always nervous. Monica took that fear away and made me feel like i was the only one in class with a room full of strangers. She is able to work with multiple students during the same move and still make it a personalized class for one.

  • Serena JonesSerena JonesYoga Student Since 2010

    Monica has been a highly influential teacher to me. She creates a safe environment for learning and practice. I have always felt grounded in her classes, and she pushes me beyond my own expectations. She inspires and motivates! I can't imagine my life without sharing a path with her!

  • Angela OrofinoAngela OrofinoYoga Student Since 2011

    Monica is a caring, wise, thoughtful, and talented yoga instructor. She has an in-depth knowledge of the philosophy and spirituality of Ashtanga yoga. My previous yoga experience had mostly just been at my local gym. Luckily, last year I found Monica. She has been guiding my practice at least once a week since then. As a newcomer to Ashtanga yoga, Monica made me feel comfortable and had the patience to teach me the basics. She also encouraged me to start an at home practice so that I was able to obtain a deeper understanding of Ashtanga. Monica is always encouraging and lets me know in subtle ways when she feels that I am ready to move deeper into my practice. I feel that the growth in my practice over the last year has been tremendous. Not only do I notice the change in me but others around me do as well. I am so grateful to have found Monica!

  • Sasha TamarSasha TamarYoga Student Since 2012

    I’ve come across many a yoga instructor over the years, but Monica stands out as genuinely amiable, as she glows with an infectious inner light, and highly devoted to and passionate about her practice. Her dedication to Ashtanga as a lifestyle is very clear, and creates for a contagious motivating force. Every time I’ve practiced with her, she eagerly transmits her devotion and passion of Ashtanga and meditation to everyone in class; she makes the most fledgling beginner feel at home, and simultaneously challenges the more advanced students. While I only practice Ashtanga with her, I know she provides therapeutic yoga sessions as well as meditation. And, if her methods of guiding students out of the Ashtanga vigor into the more meditative savasana are indicative of her meditational techniques, I’d recommend her to anyone

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