A Powerful Way to Heal the Past and Let Go

This visualization helped me heal when I felt the most stuck

Sandra Pawula
Mystic Minds

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A cropped image of a young black woman sitting in meditation with her eyes closed in front of a gold and white plaid couch.

As a young girl, I attended a Catholic elementary school, which meant morning mass every weekday and periodic confession.

The dark, tiny confessional cubicle creeped me out. Being shy, introverted, and obedient, I stressed over what to confess. I rarely had real ones, so I made up sins.

“Father, I lied twice.”

That moment in the confessional counted as one big lie, the other just a fantasy. Do you go to a special hell for lying to a priest?

As the years went by, I became a better sinner, but I still dreaded the confessional.

My family moved to California when I entered junior high, which released me from Catholic school. Hurrah! No more creepy confessionals and fake confessions.

I didn’t give confession (or spirituality) another thought until my early 30s when I stumbled into Tibetan Buddhism and quickly became a devoted student.

Buddhism offered inner peace, and not just for me. The entire world could become an enlightened society if everyone embraced its practices. Imagine the end of war, hunger, and poverty — a thought that thrilled my heart.

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