Yoga BLOG

Overcoming feelings of guilt: the five best tips Being human means experiencing many emotions. Humans can experience countless different emotions or feelings: When they're pleasant, it's all the easier. Fear, anger, sadness, or guilt, on the other hand, are usually more challenging, and many people find it difficult to deal with them appropriately. If you haven't behaved according to your moral standards, feelings of guilt can haunt you. To successfully overcome these feelings, you can follow the tips presented in this article. Why should you work on guilt and when is it appropriate? Everyone knows the feeling of doing something and then a thousand feelings of guilt popping up in your head. Is this the case for you too? Then you should take the time to reflect and let them go. Constantly complaining about a guilty conscience isn't doing yourself any good. You can adjust your behavior in the future, but there's no point in torturing yourself for past situations. This reduces your joy in life and also affects your physical and mental health. Also important: Feelings of guilt sometimes arise in the context of low self-esteem or a lack of self-confidence. You need to differentiate: Was your behavior really wrong and did you make a mistake? If this was the case, you can ensure that your behavior or approach changes in the future. Be aware that the first step is to become aware of this. This way, you can adjust your thoughts accordingly and steer your behavior in the right direction. Are you just being told that you behaved wrongly? We often experience toxic behavior in relationships. Phrases like "If you were a true friend, you would..." are commonplace. If you hear such phrases, you should be aware that your conscience is being played on. It could also be emotional blackmail. You don't tell a true friend that they should have done this or that. In this case, the guilt isn't necessarily appropriate; instead, you should reflect on the friendship or relationship. The five best tricks for dealing with guilt In the following section, we will explain the most sustainable methods you can use to deal with feelings of guilt. Tip 1: Perceive and recognize feelings Often, we are plagued by a feeling, but can't quite identify it. If, over time, you realize it's guilt, you should take a closer look and try to understand what exactly happened. In this context, it can be helpful to talk to other people or write down your feelings. You can be sure that this is very valuable in reducing your feelings of guilt. Questions could be: What did you do or not do that made you feel guilty? Have you violated your rights or those of others? Have you violated your values or those of another person? If you find it difficult to go deep and relax, a yoga session on the mat can help you to get deeper into yourself and your body. Tip 2: Everything is fine and you are wonderful You made a mistake. That's completely human, and everyone makes various mistakes throughout their lives. This is partly due to our patterns, beliefs, or entanglements from the past. As a result, we don't always manage to act the way we or others might want. In this context, it's important to try to understand that you are perfect as you are—even if you made this "mistake." This is the most important step to continuing on your path without guilt. Furthermore, working on the patterns can help you avoid problems in the future. Tip 3: Forgiveness Ritual To move on, you need to forgive yourself and everyone around you who was involved in this issue. This can be done with the help of a small ritual. If you want, you can write everything on a piece of paper and then burn it. Alternatively, you can just write the sentence "I forgive myself for this mistake and love and accept myself as I am" on a small piece of paper and then burn it. If circumstances allow, you could do this ritual together with those you have hurt. Tip 4: What can you do to make amends? The first step to gaining understanding in a conversation is to admit your mistake and say you're sorry. Many people won't be able to accept it the first time. If they do, you can repeat it several times. It's also advisable to ask what you can do to make amends. Of course, the answer always depends on the specific problem. It makes a difference whether you've caused significant damage or not. This conversation should be as open and authentic as possible so that both sides are satisfied with the solutions. This usually helps you get rid of your guilt. If this doesn't work immediately, consider other things you can do to make yourself feel better. Important : The feelings of guilt can of course be resolved externally, but at the same time the internal step of forgiving yourself is essential to bring about lasting change. What should you do if the other person has already died and no compensation is possible? It's not uncommon that you can't make amends for everything. In this case, you can perform a small ritual in which you write everything down in a letter, which you can then burn or tear into small pieces and throw into the river. You should also know that you aren't dependent on outside people forgiving you—first and foremost, you must forgive yourself. Tip 5: How can you avoid these problems in the future? The goal should be to avoid these situations in which you feel guilty. This means becoming clear about what caused you to behave in a certain way in such a situation (e.g., conditioning, patterns, beliefs, etc.). Once you've recognized this, you'll be able to avoid it in the future. Helpful : A nice, deep meditation on your pillow is helpful to see the whole situation from a bird's eye view and to understand the connections that can be used to avoid it. Are you familiar with feelings of guilt? If so, how do you deal with them? What are your experiences?