Happiness Break: A Note to Self on Forgiveness, with Alex Elle
The Science of Happiness
PRX and Greater Good Science Center
4.4 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 8 September 2022
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Letting go of our regrets can motivate us to improve and help us grow. Alex Elle, a certified breathwork and writing coach, guides us through a meditation to forgive and accept ourselves.
How to Do This Practice:
Take a deep breath. As you exhale, remember all you have done in the past that led you to come to be where you are today.
Remember that you are allowed to forgive yourself and let it go. Give yourself permission to release any shame that you’re carrying. Forgive yourself.
Think of the good things about yourself. Trust your worth and acknowledge that you are evolving. Remember, you are worthy of good things even when you think you are now.
When you're ready, you can bring your attention back to the present moment. Take a few deep breaths in through the nose, and out through the nose. Drop your shoulder and unclench your jaw.
If you'd like to take this practice a step further, you can write your own letter of self forgiveness, it can start with “Dear self, I forgive you for …”
Today’s Happiness Break host:
Alex Elle is a certified breathwork coach, author and restorative writing teacher. Her new book, How We Heal, will come out soon.
Learn more about Alex and her new book: https://www.alexelle.com/about
Follow Alex on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alex/
Follow Alex on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@easewithalexl
Follow Alex on Twitter: https://twitter.com/alex__elle
Follow Alex on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlexElleFB
More resources from The Greater Good Science Center:
Listen to a Science of Happiness episode on self-compassion: https://tinyurl.com/2hundtmc
How to Grow from Your Regrets: https://tinyurl.com/ys8239k2
Just One Thing: Forgive Yourself: https://tinyurl.com/5ybny4xx
Forgive Yourself, Save Your Relationship: https://tinyurl.com/49by7ma6
The Healthy Way to Forgive Yourself: https://tinyurl.com/4p3e9eha
How to Let Go of an Old Regret: https://tinyurl.com/4mryyyfy
We love hearing from you! Tell us how letting go of your regret makes you feel. Email us at [email protected] or using the hashtag #happinesspod.
Find us on Amazon Music: https://tinyurl.com/28hcdfsd
Help us share Happiness Break!
Leave us a 5-star review and copy and share this link: pod.link/1340505607
We're living through a mental health crisis. Between the stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout — we all could use a break to feel better. That's where Happiness Break comes in. In each biweekly podcast episode, instructors guide you through research-backed practices and meditations that you can do in real-time. These relaxing and uplifting practices have been shown in a lab to help you cultivate calm, compassion, connection, mindfulness, and more — what the latest science says will directly support your well-being. All in less than ten minutes. A little break in your day.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Dacker Keltner, welcome to Happiness Break, a series by the Science of Happiness where |
| 0:10.2 | we share research back practices to give you a boost in your day, all in under 10 minutes. |
| 0:15.4 | Today we're doing a guided practice in self forgiveness, a gentle reminder to give |
| 0:20.3 | ourselves the compassion that we so readily give to other people. |
| 0:24.6 | We know from research from my colleagues here at UC Berkeley that practicing self-compassion |
| 0:28.3 | helps us grow from our regrets, we're more accepting about whatever it is that happened, |
| 0:33.2 | and that acceptance can lead to a motivation to improve. |
| 0:36.8 | Self forgiveness also supports our parasympathetic nervous system, including the vagus nerve, |
| 0:41.0 | which as you may know helps regulate heart rates and is a key player in our social connections. |
| 0:46.5 | Guiding us in today's meditation is Alex L. Alex is a certified breathwork coach, author, |
| 0:52.8 | and restorative writing teacher. |
| 0:54.9 | I hope you enjoy this practice. |
| 1:24.9 | The second skin that you can't seem to outgrow, perhaps even make you want to forget who |
| 1:32.0 | you are and who you were and all it's taken to get here. |
| 1:38.8 | But I'd like for you to breathe into the fact that you are still standing and I am proud |
| 1:45.6 | of you and who you're becoming. |
| 1:53.0 | As an air of self-awareness that you've grown to know deep in your bones and on every |
| 1:59.4 | exhale, I hope you remember that. |
| 2:05.7 | Where you've been and what you've walked through has shaped each footstep that you've left |
| 2:11.0 | behind. |
| 2:14.3 | There will be times in this journey where even though you've reached new heights in your |
| 2:19.0 | quest and have come so far. |
... |
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