The courage of forgiveness

“Forgiveness is like releasing a prisoner and discovering that you were the prisoner yourself”  —Lewis B. Smiths

Do you want to find the strength to take the sting out of the pain and live more peacefully amid scars from the (recent) past? Do you want to feel the freedom to let go of the past and create space for softening?

Resentment, anger and frustration often produce negativity and therefore stress. In the live online course Forgiveness you learn to have (more) compassion with how things work out. With the things that you simply cannot or cannot change because you have no influence on them. Instead of trying to change it against will, look at it with more understanding and compassion. 

All religions and wisdom traditions recognize the value of forgiveness as a way to live and coexist more in harmony with ourselves and the world around us. In addition, contemporary research confirms that forgiveness has qualities that promote health and well-being.

Forgiveness can be seen as a conscious, deliberate decision to let go of feelings of resentment toward yourself or someone who has hurt you, whether or not they deserve your forgiveness. It can be about something stupid or an ethical slip that you made yourself or about something that was done to you by someone else.

During this online Live course we will explore different forms of forgiveness. In this way we will pay attention to forgiving ourselves, to asking for forgiveness and to forgiving others. We do this on an individual level and in relation to groups and communities. Moreover, the increasing polarization in the world around us is also discussed. However, there will also be attention for all kinds of dilemmas and difficulties in the practice and how we can and may deal with them compassionately. 

The training has a non-religious character; we will explore forgiveness in different ways:

• In theory – through explanations of the different forms of forgiveness. In this, forgiveness is connected to knowledge from scientific research and from neuro- and positive psychology.
• In practice – through guided mindfulness-based meditation exercises and interpersonal explorations in pairs or threes using the break-out rooms in Zoom. Participants who prefer not to participate in these interpersonal explorations can do a writing exercise as an alternative.
• With the help of practice suggestions at the end of each session - how to further develop forgiveness and integrate it into daily life. 

The Live online course 'The Courage of Forgiveness' can contribute to a life with more inner balance.