Feeling Guilty? How to Finally Let It Go

If you have ever experienced feeling guilty, then you realize that it can be quite debilitating, burdensome, and stressful.
It's like the weight of the world is on your shoulders and you can't seem to shrug it off and, if you can, it only lasts temporarily and then the heavy thoughts and feelings return.
You may find yourself tossing and turning at night and losing sleep over what troubles you.
Some people feel so remorseful that it last a lifetime.
You may feel that if you let go of the guilt then you aren't taking responsibility for that about which you feel guilty.
Perhaps you don't believe you can forgive yourself or don't know how. You can learn to though, one step at a time.
If what has occurred involves another person, and you want their forgiveness, this may or may not happen. Remember, you need to forgive yourself whether the other person is able to forgive or not forgive you.
Forgiving doesn't mean forgetting; it means moving forward from that which is continuing to hurt you.
On some level you may believe that feeling guilty is your penance for how how you feel or what occurred.
You may find you are angry at yourself; this is quite a common feeling.
"Guilt is anger directed at ourselves - at what we did or did not do. Resentment is anger directed at others - at what they did or did not do." Peter McWilliams
It might feel like you can't seem to lift this weight of guilt off your shoulders, but oh, you can.
When I did body-psychotherapy with clients, and now coaching, the two places most people hold guilt in their bodies is in their necks and shoulders. The heart is often affected as well.
Guilt has a heaviness to it and can be exhausting.
It may feel like it's yours and yours alone to carry. It doesn't have to be that way though.
There are ways you can begin to heal, forgive yourself, and let the guilt go.
You can share with someone why you are feeling guilty. You might be afraid that if you tell a person how you feel they might judge you, or not forgive you. Choose a friend, coach, counsellor, mentor, who you believe is non-judgmental.
Write down how you are feeling. Writing and talking about things are very healing. Instead of keeping everything all bottled up, you are opening up to heal.
Ask yourself, "Why am I holding onto this guilt?"
Ask yourself, "When do I want to let this feeling go?" Today?
Ask yourself, "What do I need to do to let go of this?" Maybe it's writing a letter, talking to someone, meditating upon it, doing a ceremony around it, doing visualization, body-work, etc.
"Ask yourself, "Do I need to forgive myself?" Easier said than done? Sometimes yes. This is an important and necessary step to moving through the guilt, letting it go, and then healing.
Learn from what has occurred. For some people it takes more than one time for them to learn the same lesson. What's key when something occurs where you feel guilty is to learn from it. What if anything could you do differently now?
Some feelings of remorse are easier to let go of than others. What's important is recognizing when you are feeling guilty, then proceeding to do something about it.
Don't allow guilt to weigh you down any longer. Begin to lighten the load by doing something about it.
Today, will you choose to let go of your guilt?
Use these techniques to assist you in letting go of guilt so you can get back to living and enjoying more of life.