Relieve Anxiety with Meditation and Ho’oponopono

Learn how to relieve anxiety with meditation and Ho’oponopono.

Anxiety relief can be close at hand through the simple, yet powerful technique of Ho’oponopono. Simplicity is the key, many of us have become so consumed by living in such a complex world and perhaps this is why anxiety is so prevalent. This article is based on my own experience in helping hundreds of people manage, relieve, and release their anxiety through Ho’oponopono. First, let’s look a bit at the landscape of anxiety.

Anxiety is the Most Common Mental Health Condition

Anxiety disorders are the most common of mental disorders

Recently, I came across an article from the Australian organisation, Beyond Blue, which is dedicated to promoting public awareness of issues concerning mental health:

“Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia. On average, one in four people – one in three women and one in five men – will experience anxiety at some stage in their life. In a 12-month period, over two million Australians experience anxiety.” Quoted from the Beyond Blue Website.

And this from the American Psychiatric Association: “Anxiety disorders are the most common of mental disorders and affect nearly 30% of adults at some point in their lives.”

In the field of Applied Behavioural Science it is often stated that 80% of all human behaviours are driven by anxiety. So even though we may not have a diagnosed anxiety disorder, we all experience some level of anxiety. For example, many people now participate in video calls over the internet using Zoom or Skype. How often during these calls has the notion of unmuting and speaking in a group caused you to feel anxious?

There are other common triggers too, like seeing a person looking at us in a strange way in the shopping centre. Driving your car in traffic can bring on feelings of anxiety also. Just moving through the activities of daily life can trigger anxiety for many of us. Anxiety comes in all shapes and sizes. What is routine for one person can be fraught with a sense of jeopardy for another. Extreme episodes of anxiety can lead to debilitating panic attacks, where breathing speeds up and becomes laboured, our blood pressure increases, and you can experience other types of physical symptoms such as having a dry mouth or nervous shaking.

But for right now, let’s consider the anxiety that each one of us experiences just moving through day-to-day life and coping with elevated levels of stress. In these situations, deploying Ho’oponopono mantra is probably the simplest most powerful technique I have found in alleviating that anxiety response. The Ho’oponopono mantra brings us back to a point of inner balance, emotional calm and mental clarity. When we are in the throes of anxiety, we generally have great difficulty in seeing past the problems and finding good solutions.

Anxiety comes in all shapes and sizes.

Let me just emphasize, if anyone suffers from a chronic or acute anxiety disorder, of course they may need professional assistance. You may already be seeing a psychologist or a medical practitioner, and I am not recommending that you stop because anxiety is something to take very seriously. However, Ho’oponopono can support those treatments and give people who suffer severe anxiety an additional avenue of coping and alleviating the fear and the stress along with whatever other treatment methods they may be using.

Underlying Causes of Anxiety

Causes of Anxiety - Anxiety is all about fear.

Anxiety is all about fear. We fear the future and what may or may not happen. Our fears about what might happen in the future are most often based upon what has happened in the past. Another common source of anxiety is often referred to as social anxiety, fears about coming into certain social situations, such as a date, a party or the first day on a new job. However, the most common social anxiety is in regard to public speaking.

For example, we think about unmuting ourselves in order to speak in an online Zoom meeting, but right away start to feel our pulse getting faster, our breathing becoming rapid, we want to say something, but we are starting to feel really nervous. What is it we are afraid of? Often it is a fear of being seen as a fool, or being judged by others for what we are saying. We become anxious about not being able to get our words out, “What am I trying to say? Can I formulate the right words to express what I am wanting to say?”

All of our fears are based upon what we think may happen. But where did this originate for us? Why are we afraid of what may happen? These kinds of experiences are a perfect illustration of how our past influences our present, and compromises our being both present in the moment and impactful. Everyone wants to matter, to be seen and be heard.

In the Ho’oponopono teachings we talk about how all our fears are borne out of experiences of the past, all that has happened in the past has created lasting memories deep within our subconscious. In our subconscious we store every memory of every experience we have ever moved through. Now the difficulty for us is that the memory that is having a huge impact upon us now may be stuffed so far down in the subconscious that we can’t even recollect it. But it is there hidden in the great abyss of the subconscious.

Our Past Casts Shadows on the Present

Consider for a moment that whatever we are going through in life now we are seeing through the filters created by the memories held within our subconscious. We may remember when we were a child at school and we wanted to say something, we put our hand up, the teacher called on us, and we said something that caused everybody to laugh.

We are beginning to recognize that the anxiety we experience are being triggered by memories from the past.

And we felt so ridiculed, so embarrassed that the little voice inside of us said, “I’ll never do that again.” And then every time we are called to speak in a public arena, there is that little voice inside that says, “Oh, you remember the last time you did that, everybody laughed at you, and you felt so ridiculed.” “No, I can’t speak!” Our face goes red, and the heart starts racing. Today we can’t recall why, we just know that we get anxious.

It could be we are anxious when we are sitting as a passenger in the car, we may get motion sickness, this is another form of anxiety. Why does this happen? Is there a memory, a trauma from when we were young? At some point something happened. When I was a child we would sometimes go on a family car trip through the mountains, and I would always get car sick. My father had a panel van and there were no seats in the back and my brother and I would bounce around in the back of the car. I felt so out of control, being thrown around all over the place. For many years, I would become ill whenever I had to travel as a passenger in a car.

Start to think about your anxieties. What causes your heart to race? Your breathing to get faster? Your face to go red? What is it that causes your anxiety? And then think about where that began, can you recall the first time you experienced anxiety in relation to that situation? When something caused a negative feeling within you that you have perhaps filed away in your subconscious with a label of “never do this again” or “if I do something like that again I am going to get embarrassed, hurt, ridiculed….” You don’t have to remember the incident, but it is an interesting journey to try and connect the dots.

We are beginning to recognise that the anxiety we experience as we move through our day-to-day life is being triggered by memories from the past. And this is where Ho’oponopono can help to alleviate our anxiety. Through the sounding of the Ho’oponopono mantra, we are cleaning all of the bad memories in the subconscious. We are bringing ourselves back to “ground zero”. Ground zero means being here, right now in this present moment, no longer being impacted by what has happened in the past. And therefore, no longer concerned about what will happen in the future. Because here in this present moment we are who we are. “I am that I am.” We are here in this present moment taking full responsibility for being all that we are right here, right now. We are bringing forth the totality of who we are, our best self is now accessible to us because we are not being buffeted about by the memories of the past.

Anxiety Relief through Ho’oponopono

Deploying the Ho’oponopono mantra is probably the simplest most powerful technique I have found in alleviating that anxiety response.

Anxiety Relief can start with the sounding of the Ho’oponopono mantra - four simple phrases said with intention, “I’m sorry, please forgive me, I love you, thank you.” We are saying these words within ourselves. We are saying to that part of ourselves that is becoming so anxious, “I’m sorry, please forgive me, I love you, thank you.” You see anxiety pulls us further and further away from who we truly are to the point that we forget, we become numb, we become frozen in fear as it becomes full blown. We no longer know who we are, why we are here, what life is all about.

I’m Sorry – Opening the Door to Healing

We begin the Ho’oponopono technique with the sounding of the words, “I’m sorry.” This is where the healing begins, opening the door so to speak, saying, “yes, I am choosing to create change in my life.” As we say these words within ourselves we are cleaning those negative memories that have been impacting us, those memories of darkness, of loneliness and despair. We are saying to our inner child, to every part of our being, “I’m sorry, I’m truly sorry that I forgot who I am.” “I’m truly sorry that I have lived all of my life believing myself to be bad, unworthy, unlovable.” “I’m sorry that I have created so much anxiety for myself.” “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please forgive me.” We are actually seeking forgiveness from ourselves.

Please Forgive Me – the Healing Power of Forgiveness

It is proven that forgiveness is the key to unlocking our own healing. Here is a link to a study that has been done on the healing benefits of forgiveness.

We can try so many different techniques, we can see so many counsellors, doctors, therapists, we can exercise, we can do breathing techniques, we can do all of this, but forgiveness is the key. We must forgive ourselves for whatever we think we did amiss. There is a part of us living in a little prison in the subconscious. We’ve placed prison bars around us through our beliefs about ourselves and our world. It could be that we are too afraid to step outside and experience the fullness of life. It could be that we think we are unworthy, unworthy of the air that we breath. We are unworthy of being loved. It could be that we think that we have to prove ourselves to everyone before we can be liked. These are the prison bars. So start to get a sense of your own prison bars. What is the prison you have created for yourself?

Sure, other people may have caused you to feel hurt, but it is only you that can release you from that hurt. When you can forgive yourself for the enduring pain you have experienced for harbouring such guilt or shame or hurtfulness, whatever it is, when you can forgive yourself that, then you can set yourself free, then and only then can you truly experience full freedom. Complete healing from the past.

This is why Ho’oponopono works and is so powerful because it focuses on our innate ability to heal our own pain and suffering, to forgive ourselves. It really is simply a matter of saying these words over and over and over. Why? Because the words are mantric, and mantra carries a frequency. The words, “I’m sorry, please forgive me”, carry a frequency that moves through our being and into the subconscious and sounds a note of forgiveness. And without any conscious comprehension of what is happening, the healing begins, just through the sounding of the words.

I Love You – Love is the Essence of Who We Are

As we forgive ourselves, we become open and receptive to love. The love of our divine self. The love of that most sacred part of our being. Our inner being. There is a wellspring of love deep within everyone’s heart, but many people in our world have put a little barrier over it, believing they are not worthy of this love. And this is not the truth. This love is the essence of who we are, and it is time for us to remove the barrier through sounding, “I’m sorry, please forgive me” and allow that love to flow. Allow ourselves to love ourselves. We say the words, “I love you, I love you, I love you” within ourselves, the energy of the words spiralling through our heart, awakening to that Love that is the essence of all that we are.

You don’t have to believe in Ho’oponopono for it to work, just keep saying the words and observe the response within you.

Thank You – the Power of Gratitude

As we begin to experience that love deep within our heart, we express gratitude by saying, “thank you.” Thank you for what? “Thank you for me being all that I am.” This is total acceptance of who we are. There have been many studies that have revealed the healing benefits of gratitude, particularly in the area of mental health. We begin small, being grateful for having a roof over our head, food to eat, clothes to wear, and then through sounding the Ho’oponopono mantra this gratitude grows to complete acceptance of ourselves. Here is a link to an article on how gratitude changes you and your brain.

Anxiety Relief through Forgiveness, Self-Love and Total Acceptance of Self

The moment you begin to experience the rising up of anxiety you can say the words, “I’m sorry, please forgive me, I love you, thank you.” You can say them silently, wherever you are, whatever you are doing, and very quickly you will come back to being right here in this present moment. No longer pulled around by the impact of fear of what might happen. The fear of what other people may think. You will be free to be all that you are right here in this moment.

Use Ho’oponopono as a Mantra

I recommend to everyone I work with, just keep saying the words over and over, so that it continues to run in the background throughout day-to-day life. We are then constantly cleaning the memories in our subconscious. It is just like reprogramming your computer. Think about your computer, we install anti-virus software on our computer to protect it from those viruses that could infect our computer every time we are on the internet. What kind of anti-virus program do we run in our own mind? We watch the news, we move through day-to-day life, every experience we move through we are subjecting ourselves to input that is potentially a virus, infecting our thoughts and beliefs about who we are. So, you could see Ho’oponopono as your anti-virus software and you need to run that program each day, more than once I would suggest, just to keep cleaning the input that we are all receiving constantly.

We do reach a point through all of the inner work we are doing that we begin to feel stronger, much brighter and happier. We start living with a beautiful sense of freedom, peace and joy. But then something will come along and “bang”, down we go. We succumb to the impact of negativity from our outer world. But you know what, we are getting quicker at picking ourselves up. And this is where Ho’oponopono is so beautiful. It is such a simple technique.

You know what I love about it? We are not dependent upon anyone else, we are doing it ourselves. Of course, you might choose to listen to the meditation recordings each day to help you reconnect, but you go through day-to-day life, whilst you are walking, driving, shopping, cleaning, and you can just sound this mantra over and over. It is so beautiful, we are taking control of our own lives.

You see you don’t have to believe in Ho’oponopono for it to work, just keep saying the words and observe the response within you. All of a sudden you may begin to feel lighter and realise that something is changing within you. I like to give the example of a person I worked with when I first started sharing Ho’oponopono about 15 years ago. She had chronic post-natal depression, having just brought her second baby home from hospital. She couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t look after the children, her life was a mess. I introduced her to Ho’oponopono and all she did was say the words over and over, when she was walking, before going to sleep at night, whenever she thought about it. The very first night she slept through, the next day she was feeling much better. Months later she wrote to tell me that her life had completely turned around, she let go all of that anxiety, all she did was say, “I’m sorry, please forgive me, I love you, thank you.” Over and over and over.

Just become diligent, whenever negative thoughts arise, as soon as they start rising up, “I’m sorry please, please forgive me, I love you, thank you…” Watch as the thought just dissolves, it is cleaned. You are no longer being impacted by the negative memories borne out of past experiences. This is a simple and effective way to relieve anxiety.

Relieving Anxiety with Interval Breathing

One of the recommended ways to work with anxiety is through the breath. Breathing in, breathing out, deep breaths. You can empower this process by adding Ho’oponopono to the breath. As you breath in you silently say, “I’m sorry”, breathing out, “please forgive me”, breathing in again, “I love you”, breathing out “thank you”. Do that a few times and you cannot help but be at peace. Here is a link to a diagram on working with Interval Breathing.

Experience a Guided Ho’oponopono Meditation

Anxiety Relief Meditation - Click to play video

Relieve anxiety with this gentle, guided meditation. Enjoy soothing music and a loving, compassionate voice guiding you through deep relaxation and transformation. Not only leaving you feeling calm, relaxed and at peace, but also offering the opportunity for profound healing of that which has been the cause of your anxiety. Listen now to our Anxiety Relief Meditation.

More Guided Meditations to Help Relieve Anxiety

5 Minute Meditation for Anxiety - Relieve anxiety and stress with this 5-minutes meditation utilizing the powerful Ho’oponopono mantra to calm your emotions and still your mind and bring the whole of your being back into balance. A complete reset of your day in just 5 minutes.

Meditation for Healing Sleep - A gentle relaxation meditation allowing you to prepare for a peaceful, healing sleep. Utilising the Ho’oponopono technique as a gentle yet powerful way to embody a greater level of love and self acceptance..

Gratitude for All That We Are with Ho’oponopono Meditation - There is such a power in appreciating the gifts that we bring into this life. For as we acknowledge these aspects of ourselves with love and with gratitude, we are able to utilise these gifts more fully to bring greater joy and happiness to our lives.

Forgiveness for Health & Wellbeing Ho’oponopono Meditation - In this meditation we utilise the powerful healing technique of Ho'oponopono to cleanse and purify all of these negativities and embrace the power of Forgiveness to set ourselves and others free.

Anxiety Relief Meditation - Relieve anxiety with this gentle, guided meditation. Enjoy soothing music and a loving, compassionate voice guiding you through deep relaxation and transformation. Not only leaving you feeling calm, relaxed and at peace, but also offering the opportunity for profound healing of that which has been the cause of your anxiety.

Be sure to check out our collection of meditations for relaxation and stress reduction.