Ho’oponopono

Ho'oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian prayer used to promote healing and forgiveness. It literally translates to “to make right.” It works to clear blocks in your life that cause you stress such as a conflict, shame, anxiety, resentment, or regret

I first learned of this ancient prayer when I came across the story of Dr. Hew Lin, a psychologist who was tasked to work with criminal psychiatric patients. By holding each inmate’s file, Dr. Lin repeated the Hawaiian prayer of forgiveness. Things began to shift, patients became less violent, prisoners started to heal and be released. Eventually, the facility had to close because there weren't enough prisoners to warrant it staying open. 

.What’s amazing about the prayer is that it doesn’t focus on forgiving others. Instead, the person praying seeks to forgive themself. Dr. Lin would ask himself, “What’s going on in me that I experience these patients a certain way?” He explains that he talks to the Divinity within himself to ask forgiveness for experiencing the memories of the patients in a negative way.

By working on his “memories” of each patient, they eventually heal. 

Dr. Lin is very emphatic when he explains that when you use this prayer you are only working on yourself and looking within. You are not looking outside yourself.

They say that you will know the prayer is working if you feel better. If that is true, I can honestly say that it does work. I have used this prayer and I did feel a sense of peace at some of the things that were gnawing at me. My thoughts are that by repeating the prayer I was able to let go of the tension I felt which in turn caused energy to shift.

I’ve written the prayer below. You can also find guided meditations on YouTube. 

I’m sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you.

What does the prayer mean? The idea is that we can only change ourselves to heal another or a situation, and that we must work within to change the way we see the problem.

How to Use the Prayer to Assist Manifesting

I’m sorry. You are taking responsibility for your role as the observer and acknowledging that the suffering exists within your consciousness. Saying I’m sorry acts as a way to clear the memory or thought pattern from your consciousness. Here you are taking responsibility for carrying the suffering and for how you respond to it.

Please forgive me. Here you’re asking to be released from the memories or unconscious patterns. It is a way to ask that the patterns be cleared.

Thank you. This part of the prayer indicates that you trust the process and that the energy is being cleared.

I love you. This is a way of saying you bring love to what is hurting. Love is what heals.

As Above, So Below

What I love about this prayer is that it resonates with the idea that everything is connected. That our thoughts, words, and actions carry weight which impacts us as a Whole.

One beneficial way I have used this prayer is to repeat it before I sit down to do a visualization. The prayer calms my nervous system and I see it as a way to clear the slate so that I release negative thoughts that might block my visualization.