The ho’oponopono, which comes from the Hawaiian ho‘o ("to make") and pono ("right") is a mantra, a practice for forgiveness and compassion of oneself or for others.
After a healer introduced me to it as a way for me to begin forgiving and having love for my own body, a body I felt had failed me for so long, I began practicing daily. When my creaky joints caused me to limp, I said the ho’oponopono to them. When over and over again my body refused to detox on its own, I said the ho’oponopono to it. When I found myself judging my past decisions, I said the ho’oponopono. It wasn’t always easy or believable and it took some time to quiet my ego’s pushback that came in loud and clear to question what I even had to be sorry for. With practice, I was able to speak gently to myself, to treat my body kindly instead of beating it up for all the pain I felt from it.
The story of this technique is quite interesting. Here is an excerpt from Healing Earth about how the ho'oponopono came about:
"A therapist in Hawaii was called in to help at the Hawaii State hospital where the insane patients were totally out of control.
The ward where they kept the criminally insane patients was a dangerous place. Psychologists would quit on a monthly basis and the staff would call in sick a lot or simply quit. People would walk through the ward with their backs against the wall because they were afraid of being attacked by the patients.
It was not a safe place to work.
Dr Ihaleakala Hew Len, an expert in the spiritual practice, Ho’oponopono, was asked if he would work there and see what he could do.
Dr Hew Len (for short), agreed to see what he could do. So he worked there for three years and by the end of that time the ward was closed because all the patients had healed.
Dr Hew Len never saw any of the patients professionally or counseled them at all, all he did and agreed to do was review their files.
While he studied their files, he would work on himself – he would repeat a mantra over and over – and miraculously, gradually all the patients began to heal.
After a few months of Dr Hew Len being there, patients who had been shackled started being allowed to walk freely; others who’d been heavily medicated started getting their medications reduced; and those who had been seen as having no chance of ever being released, were being released and freed.
Not only that, but the staff began to enjoy coming to work. Absenteeism and turnover disappeared. They ended up having more staff than they needed because patients were being released and all the staff were showing up to work every day.
... continue reading here"
