“Imagine if someone says something to you that you find offensive, and rather than opting for resentment, you learn to depersonalize what you’ve just heard and respond with kindness. You are willing to freely send the higher, faster energies of love, peace, joy, forgiveness, and kindness as your response to whatever comes your way. You do this for yourself.” wrote  Wayne W Dyer.

Have you ever felt that even though you are fully aware of how good and needed the aforementioned forgiveness is (for you and for the entire world), you just can not do it – you feel that you can not forgive someone who has wronged or hurt you, and you just can not make yourself forget and move on that easily? I have. And I carried the hurt with me for a while trying to use all sorts of tools to “make it go away”. It did not, because I was totally holding on to it and definitely unwilling to let it go – as it defined me… (You know, because of “logically this” or “logically that”, however at the end the logic and all did not matter – I was the one carrying the resentment and walking around like a dark rain cloud!) So, I found that (in my case) the very best and most effective technique was to visualize an infinite supply of glorious, sumptuous yellow rose petals… and … pour/put/send/throw/scatter those rose petals in the paths of those who (as I perceived it) had wronged me. There are many rose petals in the world, you see. And we can’t run out of them as easily as we run out of patience, understanding and acceptance. And then… if we were to run out of the real ones…  there are even more rose petals in our imaginary world – an infinite supply, to be precise!

I personally pick the yellow ones as I can almost physically feel their healing power to bring sunshine and uplifting energy, balance and peace. Try it! I invite you to find your own flower blossoms (that… well… resonate with you or mean something to you) or colorful fall leaves, or rose petals (and surely they can be of different colors!) to help with letting go, and send those treasures to cover the paths of those who have wronged/hurt you!

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I also use my imaginary rose petals to cover the paths of or endings to my occasional nightmares, meaning, I recount my nightmare and then send rose petals its way – or, at least, to the ending of it – so that it can change. And it does. I send them to the events in my past – conversations, misunderstandings, mishaps. I tend to do the same when listening to people (not just my friends, but also friends of the friends of the friends, and neighbors, and students and teachers, and my own kids, and their friends and…)  going through tough times, sending those rose petals their way – literary imagining that the petals line the paths these people have to walk on.

I try to end my annoyances, disagreements, residual bursts of anger with my yellow rose petals. I have learned that the dark dust in me that, say, a rude stranger or an aggressive driver, or a super loud sneeze or unsilenced cell  phone during the concert (not that any of that is right) brings, can be swept away by those rose petals. Magical? Well, yes, almost, and it also requires willingness, awareness and discipline to do that. And I am still learning to apply the yellow rose petal “spa treatment” to myself – when I wrong or hurt myself with my own thoughts, words or commitments. So far, so good, but/and there is still room for improvement!

I resolve to walk on the roads covered in rose petals (not dark dust of resentment and annoyance). So, I am willing to send the yellow rose petals out to the world. No, I am not just willing to do that, I am doing it. Will you join me?

Written by Indra Strong, Certified Let It Go Yoga teacher.

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