To prepare your mind and body for the heavy lifting of forgiveness work, try this two minute Qigong exercise on Akimboo.
According to Professor of Psychology Loren Toussaint, living a more forgiving life is important for stress reduction.
Carrying painful emotions is a burden on our mind, spirit and body.
But forgiving can be a difficult thing to do.
Sometimes we're stuck before we even get started.
That's why Akimboo asked Loren Toussaint, a specialist in forgiveness, to help get us started.
The forgiveness process as five elements.
Remembering. It's probably not healthy to forgive and 'forget'. It might be important to remember what hurt you. Instead, a forgiveness practice aims to forgive and remember so you can try to avoid the same hurt in the future.
Empathy - In order to forgive another, you have to first try to understand the other persons perspective. This can be difficult, but gets easier with practice.
Gifting - Forgiveness is a gift you give willingly, of your own volition.
Commitment - Make a commitment to yourself to practice forgiveness. You may want to share with a trusted friend your desire to forgive someone or something in your life.
Resilience - Some days you may slide back and not feel as forgiving. This is normal. Forgive yourself.
Forgiveness is a daily practice.
Find more mind and body exercises on Akimboo.com