You’re finally ready to meditate. You get comfortable, relax each section of your body, and turn on your Expand app to your favorite exercise. Just as you start to get pulled into the experience, something appears in your mind that triggers you. Perhaps it’s an emotional obstacle that you haven’t had the time to work through yet. Your initial reaction is likely to shut down and jolt out of the meditation as a defense mechanism. There is another option, however, if you’re up for the challenge. Instead of pushing away your emotional triggers in meditation, think about embracing them and healing through them. Being in a safe meditative state can be a great way for you to process the emotional triggers you may not have dealt with yet and to work through them with forgiveness. Now, I’m not suggesting you face anything you’re not ready for, but if you’d like to work on an emotional trigger that appears in your meditation, here are some steps to process it with love and forgiveness so you can move forward.

I’ll start with a personal example. This happened to me recently. I’m deep in my meditation, and something comes forth that just makes me sick, something I’ve been fighting to work through. My best friend passed away last year, and I’ve been having a hard time getting through it. Instead of pulling away, however, I felt at that moment that I was able to face it and move through it. I allowed myself to see what my higher self was trying to show me, and I truly took in what happened, trying to fully process it. Healing isn’t always easy, and it sure can be painful, too, when you must process trauma, but by trusting ourselves to process and work through the bad things with love and forgiveness, we can come out of a situation much better for it. Instead of pushing it away, I breathed in a healing light as I faced the situation head on.

Instead of pushing away your emotional triggers in meditation, think about embracing them and healing through them.

You might be thinking that forgiveness isn’t needed in your specific case. However, regardless, I think it’s always important to experience these emotional downs coming from a place of forgiveness for yourself. Sometimes, you may be holding onto something because deep down you blame yourself, or you just can’t seem to shake the idea that you could have done something differently. But living in the past can only lead to madness. By knowing you did what was right for you in a given moment and allowing yourself the option of forgiveness, you can move forward with grace and the ability to heal. When I hit emotional blocks that I need to work through in meditation, I practice the mantra, “I’m healing. I’m a work in progress. I forgive myself for everything that happened.” I breathe, experience the feelings I harbor about something—no matter how negative they may be—and then breathe out any negativity with my exhale. Then I repeat the mantra.

Now, there’s a time and a place to work through blocks that appear in meditation. Sometimes, the time just isn’t right. And that’s perfectly okay. Part of having forgiveness with yourself is having patience and allowing yourself to move away from something you’re not ready to tackle. However, on those days when you are feeling the need to work through triggers as they arise, be sure you are in a safe space. Keep reminding yourself that you are loved and accepted, and maintain a sense of compassion as you work through things that may be weighing you down.