Sonic Resets: Music for Emotional Release & Forgiveness

Please find the transcript for this Sonic Reset below:

This is a sonic reset brought to you by Sonic Connections.

In this reset, we’re going to be using music to help us let go, to explore what it feels like to forgive.

Yes, that means forgiving others, but it can also look like forgiving ourselves, which can sometimes feel even harder.

So to start, let yourself connect to the flow of the piano sound that you hear.

You can sway or follow along to a particular melody.

Once you feel connected, if you’re able to, I invite you to close your eyes or just let your gaze rest softly and bring your attention inward.

When I say the word forgiveness, what thoughts or feelings come up for you?

You might want to reflect on the question, what might I be holding on to that I’d like to just release and let go of?

This could be an experience, maybe a grudge, or even a feeling like guilt.

Maybe it’s an expectation that you have for yourself or an expectation you have for somebody else that they might not have met.

Whatever it is that you want to release, I invite you to imagine that you’re holding that thing as if you were gripping a pen or holding a piece of paper between your side and your arm so that it doesn’t fall down.

And in just a few seconds, I’m going to invite you to squeeze that pen or that piece of paper against your side as hard as you can.

Ready, squeeze.

Squeeze this imaginary pen or piece of paper with as much effort as you usually use to not feel whatever it is that you want to let go of.

Keep going.

Keep squeezing as the piano melody kind of cycles again and again.

Notice where your attention is.

See what physical sensations come up.

Give one last squeeze as hard as you can and release.

Take a breath.

Gently open up your palm or let your shoulders drop.

Let yourself reconnect to the sounds that you hear.

You might want to sway or tap to the music again or just bring your attention outward.

Often when we want to let go of something, we end up gripping onto it even tighter.

That’s usually because it’s so common to think that we shouldn’t feel something.

I shouldn’t feel guilty.

I shouldn’t feel anxious.

I shouldn’t have said this thing or acted in that way.

It’s really common to try to control the past or to control our present emotions that we feel about the past, but when we shame ourselves for not being perfect or for something that we no longer have control over, it can make us feel stuck.

So as you continue swaying or tapping or listening, bring back to mind the thing that you were squeezing onto, that thing that you want to let go of.

And this time, instead of gripping it tightly, can you make space for it?

Just like when you let your shoulders drop, when you opened up your palm after squeezing.

Maybe think to yourself, I didn’t choose to feel this, but it’s here.

Can I accept that it’s here and let go of trying to control it?

We’re going to bring this reset to a close with a quick breathing exercise.

Breathe in the words, I accept myself.

Breathe out the words, I can let go of the things I can’t control.

Breathe in acceptance and breathe out that need for perfection.

We’re always able to learn from the past, to make different choices going forward, but to still love ourselves for the choices that we made that got us here.

Thanks for trying this Sonic Reset.