The Healing Power of Forgiveness: Free Your Heart and Reclaim Your Peace

Kathleen (00:02)
Welcome to the journey of an awakening spirit.

a sacred space where transformation begins. This podcast is your guide to rediscovering your true self, breaking free from old limitations and embracing the power of your soul's calling. Here, you'll receive practical tools, soulful insights, and uplifting conversations that remind you you are never alone on this path. We'll open the lines and dive deep into the questions that matter most to you.

Now, let's begin this powerful journey together with your host of the journey of an awakening spirit, Kathleen Flanagan.

Kathleen Flanagan (00:49)
We are stepping into one of the most important acts of healing, forgiveness. This is not about excusing what happened. It's about freeing your heart from the chains of the past. Forgiveness is grace in motion. It dissolves pain, restores peace, and awakens the light from within. So take a deep breath, open your heart, and let's walk the path of release.

and renewal together. Hello everyone and welcome to the journey of an awakening spirit. I am Kathleen Flanagan, your host.

I want to begin with a call, I want to begin, excuse me, by saying we've all carried pain that wasn't ours to keep and moments where forgiveness felt impossible.

And forgiveness is not about approval of what happened, but it's about releasing the energetic hold that it has on you. And what I want to share with you is I have been doing a lot of forgiveness work this week, well, probably the last two weeks. And I met this from Catherine Giovanni, who's going to be coming on the show and we're going to go more in depth into what forgiveness is.

Excuse me, and the process that she actually has within it. And I bought her book because we had a long conversation and she's going to be writing two more books that go even deeper into the forgiveness. But she was giving me an overview of what the books were. And so I bought the book and I started forgiving because I noticed in my own life that the more I forgave, the more I saw freedom, joy, happiness, like my shoulders relaxed more. I wasn't always walking around like this.

And I also noticed that it was like money came to me, more love came to me, more friendship and happiness and joy. I mean, it was just this gambit of positivity that came forward. But that doesn't mean that I ever excused the people that harm me. So I'm gonna tell you what I've been going through. And I had the most biggest aha yesterday and I was not a happy camper.

at the same time of realizing what this aha was because I saw a pattern. So in this forgiveness, basically what you're going to do is you're going to list a bunch of people, however many people that you're still kind of holding the grudge on because they've moved on, they don't care, but you're the one holding it and you're the one that's suffering and they're not.

So when you put this list together, then you're going to rate their, what they did to you from a scale of one to 10. So, I mean, there's a lot of people that are number ones in my life, real easy to forgive, okay? And I'll tell you about some of those stories. And then you've got your tens. And I spent a lifetime with my father as a 10. And he's not a 10 anymore, neither is my mother, but they were tens. And that's kind of what you want to do is you want to get the tens down to zeros.

And the ones are really easy. That's why you generally you'll start with the ones. And then move your way up because it's going to take time. This is not an overnight thing. This doesn't happen in an instant. Well, the healing can start happening in an instant, but it takes time for all of this. So the story that I have is when I did this, I decided to do it to my business partner and to sell and a couple of other so-called ones, twos or threes that were showing up at the moment.

So, and it's recommended that you don't do more than five people a night. And it makes sense because you can get sick because there's a lot of stuff that goes out of your body when you start doing this. and what you do is you bring the person in, you put your hand on your heart and you're talking to them about what they did. And this is all your perspective. It's not about anything other than this is how you took it in, how you felt about it. And you tell them what it was. And then you say, forgive you.

whatever the name is, and I forgive the energy around it, around the situation. Then you forgive yourself, you forgive the energy around the situation, and then you forgive the entire situation. And then you say, so be it, thank you, whatever it is, and walk out the door. And if there's no charge left after that, then they're down to a zero and it starts releasing. So when I did this with Sal and Michael,

I went down the roads of what the things that I think that they do to me, not that they're doing anything to me, but it's my perception of what I think they do. And Michael's a great button pusher. And I started doing forgiveness on him. And I did the same thing with Sal. And the next day they both tried to push my buttons and neither one of them were successful. Now I'm not at a zero by any stretch of the imagination with them. It was, just started the process.

and I was so blown away that I wasn't triggered and that I stood further in my power than I normally would stand in my power. mean, there's a thing and I came to the realization that how men...

I think my father, my mother always made it that the man is the strong one, we're the weaker sex, blah, blah. You took it on, you didn't mean to take it on, but you took it on. And thinking men are right and women not so right all the time. Even though I've spent a lifetime proving that wrong, there's still a paradigm in my consciousness that still is out there and I'm aware of it. But that doesn't mean I can always be stronger than it. And so,

What I found is when I didn't let them push my buttons, my relationships were changing around it. mean, like, Sal and I are getting along way better than we have, and not that we were getting along bad, but we're getting along better. He sees the change in me. I'm, Michael is not, he can't make me crazy. I mean, he still makes me crazy, but he doesn't make me as crazy as he used to make me crazy because I'm like not being triggered by it.

And I thought that was very interesting. And I was like, wow, this is really something. I haven't even, and I'm not really, I mean, there probably, he's maybe like a five, maybe, if that. Anyways, so I keep doing this, right? So every night when I go to bed, I come up with people, I talk to them and I forgive them. And you know what's really weird about this whole thing? How many more people are coming up into my consciousness. It's unbelievable how many people keep popping up from.

I mean, I'm back to like, I've even gone back to like high school so far of people, cause that's about where I start remembering is high school. But that's where I'm at is just, you know, I have forgiven so many members of my family. I have forgiven friends. I have forgiven ex-husband. I've forgiven ex-boyfriends. Not all of them are a hundred percent there by any means, but I started the process to where I feel like that weight is leaving.

And what's even more interesting about this is I started realizing as this is going about how many people have stolen me from me. And sometimes it's money, sometimes it's what I have, sometimes it's other things, but there's always been a theft associated with it in some form or another.

And when somebody's stealing something from you, if it's an idea or if it's money or it's whatever, and some of these people I never even met in this lifetime and yet they're stealing money from me. And I always kind of forgave it and said, well, I must've got them really good in another lifetime. Maybe I owed them money in another lifetime. And that's where I went. Except for this time around, I started seeing that this is way beyond that. And I started realizing that

This mission that I took on for the creator is way bigger than I ever dreamed. It's more vast than I ever could have comprehended then and up until now. And I just started realizing that I have to forgive like the planet. Because I was not a nice person. know, for eons of time on the many lifetimes that I have lived, I was not.

a nice person. And I know that I'm aware of what I was because that was what I was designed to do. And if you read the books, you will understand. When I woke up and started remembering who I am, that's when everything shifted. And that's when the whole new set of karma took over, new everything started happening. And I'm aware of a lot of my past lives.

And as I'm going through this and we are global now, it's globally things are happening too. And I just remember when I woke up yesterday morning and I realized that I have to do a forgiveness on the whole planet. Because you can also do like organizations if you work for an organization, there's ways to do it. Now she hasn't.

brought that forward, but I'm doing what I know to do. And the one thing that I added to this was chords, that there are chords. Because when we get close to somebody, they put their chords in us, we put their chords in them. It's a back and forth, it's kind of what we do. And it's not something that we plan on doing, it's just something that just happens, that we get connected and we're connected. And then when it ends, we don't always remove the chords.

And so what I started realizing as I'm going through this because I'm like, you know, the angst is still kind of there and I've been doing this for several days and what's going on and why is this still going on? And I realized that, you know, there must still be courts because I know years ago that it wasn't just about me unplugging from other people. I also had to have them unplugged from me. Now we can do that. And there are times where the other person has to forgive us. Now we may have to come back and face them

in another life, but if I have forgiven them in this life, I don't have to go through that. It'll be up to that person to do the forgiving because I'm not there and I'm not gonna play. And what that will look like, I do not know. I cannot answer that question at this moment. I just don't know how that would look. But.

what I do realize and what I'm finding that when I unplug, because part of my forgiveness is not just about forgiving the person, forgiving the situation, forgiving me, forgiving the situation, and then forgiving the overall situation. And then if there's something even further, like if you're in a tent and you can't really get to that person to really forgive them, and you may not be able to forgive them in this lifetime. But what if you can forgive the area, you could forgive the building, you could forgive the park if you were raped or.

injured or stabbed or whatever. Forgive the things around us so you can start releasing that hold that's on you from that. So when I started to realize when I was forgiving all this but still felt there was still a tie, and you're going to know that when you start really working on this forgiveness thing, you're going to know if you've been released, if you're still being tied, then you have to find what that tie is. And my thing, what I found was

I started seeing the cords were still there. So even though I'm forgiving all of this, there's still a cord and I'm still not real bad of the angst and the ⁓ kind of thing. It's not really bad. And, the reason I noticed this is because I'm so angry at the roofers and my insurance company about this roof claim that I've had. And I'm just very upset about a lot of things. So I have started doing the forgiveness work so I can proceed properly and efficiently and effectively.

when I have to address the issues. And that's when I discovered that people, there's a pattern that people are stealing from me and have stealing from me. And I realized why it was. And that's why I decided I'm going to do a global thing. Forgiving everyone and unplugging. Unplugging myself from every human, even though I don't.

know who they are. That doesn't mean because we've all been on this planet for a very, very long time and I guarantee you we're all connected in some form or another. We've had a relationship with probably just about everybody on the planet.

So when I unplugged from them, they unplugged from me, and I also decided that I needed more help on this one because this was so big that I actually asked God and told him to make sure that this unplugging, that this ends because it's not working for me. Now I created a money meditation that is so powerful, but it's not sticking.

And I'm thinking, why is it not sticking? And then it was like, it's the forgiveness element that's not in this. And because I'm going in your back and I'm taking you across all timelines, because when you start forgiving, all timelines are affected in your life. Past, present, future. We live in simultaneous time. Every timeline that you're in right now, past, present, and future are all being rewritten as you're going through this.

So it takes time. That's the first thing. Secondly, when you start breaking the cords and you do this forgiveness work, because in this meditation I got that I have to add this component of forgiveness on it because you created your money stuff, okay? You did this all by yourself for whatever reason, whatever lifetime that drew you into this. And I know when mine was and I know why I did it.

And when I did this and I took, did this test on me to begin with, I realized at that moment, like money was coming towards me, things were happening. It was so cool to watch this. It took like six weeks before I started really seeing things shifting. I mean, they were starting to shift before, but six weeks was when it was really solidified. And then it seemed like after a couple of weeks, it was like,

Okay, why is this stopped? What did I miss? Something's missing. And when I got into this forgiveness, I think it's the forgiveness component because I didn't forgive myself for creating that money thing. I rewrote it, I'm rewriting it, I'm reweaving a word into it for money so it's always flowing because we're all entitled to it to flow towards us.

So I had to do this. So I'm in the process of putting it together, because I have the original meditation and I've got to get this put in. And I started working on that today to make sure that I get it in so I can see if it's going to work and flow, because it needs to stick.

And I believe that when we, I believe this in my heart, that when I ask God to help me to make sure that these cords are completely severed from every human, it's not like I'm detaching from the world. I'm detaching from whatever that is for the anger because it's like, even though I don't know these people and even though I'm not operating like that in this lifetime,

I'm still being punished in my opinion and having money stolen from me from people that are saying they can deliver when they don't. I need to have those cords removed so that way I am now working with a clean slate. Now I'm not done on forgiveness. mean people are still coming up. It's mind blowing. It's mind blowing.

Cause I'll do this when I go to bed. I'll wake up at three o'clock in the morning and I found a whole new set of people I'm forgiving. Then I wake up in the morning before I get out of bed and I'm forgiving more. I mean, it's like a nonstop thing, which is very agitating. I managed to stop at last yesterday just for a little bit. think because of the chords, because I asked for the chords to shift.

And because the cords have been broken, when I did this yesterday, I think that's why I'm not so crazy in my head about the forgiveness. Because people I can talk to are like, I gotta put them to the list and then I put them on the list to work on the forgiveness. that's why it's so important because forgiveness has always been a very strong, important thing in my life. And in my Soul Activation course that I've created,

I have probably three or four different types of things for forgiveness because each one of those forgiveness techniques that I use actually took me a little bit further. And I'm gonna add this one into the course the way I see it. I'm not taking Katherine's stuff, but I'm taking it for the modification, the way I'm doing it, the way I see it. And it's there if you wanted to use it or not because forgiveness is so critical.

I mean, I have forgiven my father. I have a little bit more forgiveness with my mother because there's more stuff that comes up. I mean, that's what it is. I mean, we have so many layers of things that happen between us and other people. And we can forgive the easy things, the things that are at the surface, the things that are giving us the most angst, but what happens when...

You get through that and you're feeling good and it's like, your relationships are getting better. But then every now and then something comes up and it triggers you and you're like, okay, why is the Tasmanian devil coming out? Well, it's because you got triggered by something and you need to go find what that trigger is and then go find what it was and who did it. Because there's a correlation. I mean, you don't just turn into the Tasmanian devil for no reason. There's a reason.

So I would suggest at that point you add them to your list or you do a real quick instant release forgiveness kind of thing until you can go further in depth with what this situation is.

Just the fact by doing this, and even Sal's been doing it, and he's saying the same thing. He's like, my God, I just can't seem to stop this forgiveness thing is just coming and coming and coming. And his thing was like, God bless, God bless, God bless. Well, God bless is not forgiving. You're blessing them, you're not forgiving them. So when you forgive them, you forgive the energy, you forgive the situation.

Because people are nothing more than mirrors. They're letting us see what we need to see within us because they are mirroring back. It's how we interpret it and we take our little emotions and then we create drama because that's what our brain does is it creates drama. And when we create that drama and we add our emotions to it, then what do we do? We just create a turbulent storm all around us.

And that person probably didn't even know what they did. How many times has that happened where I'm sitting here, I've got the grandest story, mean, you can make a movie out of some of the things I think people did to me. And I go and talk to them and they're like, what are you talking about? I didn't do that, I didn't say that, I didn't mean it that way. Because it's you, you did it. And that's why forgiveness is so important because as we're holding onto our, because you my anger,

was what my survival technique is, what kept me alive this long. So Catherine in her book talks about I like my anger and I'm not letting it go because it becomes that security blanket. And it was, and I wasn't gonna let go of my anger because I thought if I let go of my anger, it wouldn't be like I gave permission for them to do what they did. I was afraid I would die. So we have to look at why we hold on to these grudges because they are, they're just grudges.

So why are you holding onto it? What is the real purpose of holding on to something that no longer serves you? I know that I love that I'm feeling freer, I feel better, I feel happier, I feel like I have more energy, like I'm not so weighed down and heavy. Because as she described it, it's like, here's this glass, and you hold it here, and then eventually you have to use your hand, because you can only hold this as all your anger.

and unforgiveness and things that people did. And then you put it here in front of your face. And so all this really cool stuff is happening out here, but you can't see it because this glass is in front of your face. So as you start forgiving, you can start moving it away from your face or hand and you start having a sense of freedom that you've never felt like you've had before. And that's what is so amazing about forgiveness is when she described that, I was like, my God, that is so true. How much have I missed because I had

I was tunnel vision into anger and what you did to me.

I was a victim.

I didn't think I was a victim. I talked like a victim, but I wasn't a victim in my mind. But everything I did was a victim. Just like most other people, they're victims. We're all victims, but we're not victims. We created this. And when you can get out of that victim mentality and take total responsibility for what went on in your life and for the grudges and accept that person, because the thing that I have said for years is you're a gift.

and you bring value to this world.

It's not a one-sided street. So whatever you've received, you gave gifts to other people too. I mean, you were a mirror to them where they're holding grudges against you. That's why I say we need to release the cords. That if that person's no longer in your life, sever the cord. Because that helps that person to release too. So that way you don't have to keep coming back and redoing this and rehashing over and over and over again.

You cut the cords, you start new, you start fresh. From this day forward, this is who I am. We want to start from this place, not what you did 10,000 lifetimes ago.

Because what you're doing is the crabs in the bucket at that moment in time. We become the crabs in the bucket. We're never gonna get out. And what we need to do is help each other lift up.

You know, back in the day, I remember I had a neighbor and I'd come home from work and the police would be knocking at my door and I'm like, I don't know what the hell is going on. And I was so angry and frustrated and I just wanted to kill this neighbor because I'm not even home and I come home and the police are knocking at my door and I'm like, what the hell? And it turned out, I mean, I think we ended up taking her to court. I couldn't go to court because I think I was suffering a migraine that night because I couldn't deal with it anymore.

And it turned out that she was angry at the guy I was living with at the time because he was in the garage cussing and she had little babies at home. So instead of going to him and saying, can you stop cussing? No, she calls the police on me. And I'm not even cussing. I'm not even doing anything. I come home, I'm in my house, I'm quiet. But I remember the rage that I felt. And what I did because I was Catholic is I said a novena to her. That was a long thing.

And let me tell you what the outcome of that was. As much as it was like doing a rules re-differ like this, I mean, it made me crazy.

What it did is she wanted to be my best friend. No, I wasn't about to be her best friend because I already saw her color. So I had no trust in this woman, but I was nice. I was civil. I acted appropriately, but I wanted nothing really to do with her, but I would be a good neighbor. I would talk to her. would, you know, she invited me over for coffee. I would be kind enough to do that because I wanted

to keep moving in this forgiveness, but it was something that shocked me. I was released, she didn't care. I was released from it. I was released from that angst that I had so badly because my whole body was responding. I mean, I'm getting migraines, okay? What the hell? am I getting, you know, I'm the only one drinking the poison, not her. So that's why I did it and that's why this is such an important thing and that's why I say,

release the cords from people that have done things like that to you. And I needed a lot of help because forgiveness doesn't come from here. It has to come from your heart. And you still need a higher source to forgive because as humans, I think it's really hard for us to do it. So we need that intention of really wanting to be free and really meaning.

this because they're not idle words. I'm doing this, I am really speaking from my heart, my hands on my heart, I'm speaking from there to remind me. It's not you did this, you did this, you did this. It's like, this is how I felt. This is what it made me feel like. That's taking responsibility for how you interpreted their actions. So I wanna thank you for being on the show with me today. I hope this helped. ⁓ Catherine Giovanni is gonna be on the show probably in April.

And we're going to go further in depth with this. And as soon as I get this money meditation dealt with and figured out and finalized, I will definitely be marketing it because I think this is a very strong component. But who do you know, excuse me, who do you know that you're still angry with that's holding you back from what you want? That you've got your walls up, your hands in front of you, you've got your walls up and you're stopping the flow of love and joy and peace.

and look at that and then work on forgiving them. Work on seeing them in front of you and forgiving them for what they did because you're the only one suffering and it's up to you to be happy and let them go. Nobody's worth to take all that kind of time away from you and take your peace from you. So if you enjoyed the show, feel free to reach out. My website, if you want to have a conversation about this, I'm more than happy to. It's a free minute of consultation.

I have the light activation guide that can help start you moving in a new direction, which they're baby steps. And sometimes that's all you need is a baby step to change the trajectory of your life. And forgiveness is a great way to start. And if you found value in this and you know somebody can use it, then feel free to give the link to them so they can get some help that they need. So again, this is Kathleen Flanagan with the journey of an awakening spirit.

and I will see you all next Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. And from my heart to yours, I hope you have a fabulous week.

Kathleen (29:25)
You've been listening to the journey of an awakening spirit with your host, Kathleen Flanagan. Join us each week as Kathleen invites those who are ready to awaken, heal and rise to live their highest vision anchored in love, joy and truth. Tuesdays, 4 p.m. Eastern.