Ancient Hawaiian Tool for Transformation

There is an ancient Hawaiian tool called Ho'oponopono,which I have been using an adaptation of to transform my life. In this post I will talk about how it has been used to heal others, how you can heal relationships, how you can use it for money.

Though I would love to share it with you so that you can heal and transform your life. I want to say right from the start, that my interpretation of it is a white woman's interpretation and may not be culturally accurate, and should not be treated as remotely equivalent to this technique as practiced by the people it belongs to.

Ho'oponopono is a practice of reconciliation and forgiveness,with another, with a situation or in yourself. It uses forgiving phrases to heal and clean an issue or a feeling. The thing with Ho'oponopono is, you take responsibility for all issues. If you read a bad post on your facebook feed, you can clean it. Finances, conflict, grief, shame... you can clean those. It isn't just a way out of guilt. For me, it is a tool to really consider my impact on my life, and then let go of that behaviour and the negative patterns it brings, as well as helping us guiltlessly decide what to do next instead of just stressing out. And it is remarkably simple.

How to do it?

You can choose to clean something far outside of yourself, for instance a war or a natural disaster, but to begin with I suggest cleaning a problem you know you created and feel some remorse for. Have you shouted at your children, distanced yourself form your partner, are you skint, getting fat is your job making you miserable? That is your starting point. Now say "I AM SORRY".

Then ask "PLEASE FORGIVE ME". don't be concerned with the source of forgiveness. It is many and it is beautiful. Often, especially with guilt or shame, it comes from within; but it also comes from the Universe itself, the Goddess or Higher Power.

Hold gratitude fore whatever it is that forgave you. Be thankful for what you have. Be thankful to yourself. Say "THANK YOU".

Say "I LOVE YOU". To your family, to your children, to yourself, to the universe, to the Goddess, to someone suffering.... And take a moment to feel that love.

Examples from what I have used personally:

After conflict with my daughter "I am sorry I yelled at you. I am sorry I get mad with you. I'm sorry I haven't been patient. Please forgive me. Thank you for being there for me, thank you for your unending love. Thank you for being so forgiving that I know you'll have forgotten all about this in the morning. Thank you for having your own inner fire. I love you, Eartha." I now actually do this IN conflict with her, and remind myself that I am a peaceful person.

When I am skint, "I'm sorry I didn't spend my resources properly, and I created a struggle. Please forgive me. Thank you for the roof over my head, my utilities, thank you for work and for my family who I can depend on when I need to. Thank you for my wifi and my food, and that I can still take my daughter to the park. Thank you for being so useful! I love you!" And this helps me think of all the ways that I have harmed my finances and also the ways I have used them well. It deprogrammes negative spending patterns!

In a relationship "I'm sorry I didn't realise you cared so much about this. I'm sorry that I created sadness between us. I'm sorry I made you feel abandoned. Please forgive me. Thank you for being there, for loving me, for seeing me and for caring. Thank you for helping me be better to you. I love you".

When changing lifepaths. "I'm sorry I persisted at something that was spoiling my life for so long. I'm sorry I invested my time there. I'm sorry I let it cause tension in my home. Please forgive me. Thank you for the time to rebuild my life in a way that brings me joy. Thank you for the skills I can take elsewhere. I love you, enough to leave this situation."

Another tip I use actually came about by accident. I had heard this called Ho'oponopono Cleaning and thought it really meant CLEANING. Now this sounds naive, but actually I found doing this inner cleaning whilst also doing housework meant that I did more repetitions. You zone out when you're scrubbing right? Well instead of wasting that thought time singing and stressing, I use it to do my Ho'oponopono. What has happened as a result is that it has become a daily practise for me which occupies my mind in a healing way whilst my hands are also occupied. I would recommend doing it during any repetitive task. Cleaning, showering, knitting and so on. This way it becomes more focussed and you don't have to carve out time outside of your usual life for this practise.

Traditionally, Ho'oponopono was performed in times of issue or before a wedding, so that everyone could heal and move on. The ceremony was conducted by an Elder with the whole extended family there, gathered at a place in nature. First, there would be a discussion where everyone shares their burden of sadness with the family. What has been going wrong? How do They feel? Next, each person would own and apologise for any part they played in the problem. Everyone forgives and asks for forgiveness, lets go and begins the healing process. Over time and with it's use in the New Age movement, people have begun performing it as individuals. The premise of this is that we are performing it instead of with our family, with the Universe; the Higher Source, Myself, The Goddess... Don't be concerned with where the forgiveness and healing comes from, just trust it.