How Ho’oponopono Transforms Lives

Ho’oponopono is a powerful technique for self healing.

How Ho’oponopono transforms lives is becoming very evident throughout our world right now. Essentially Ho’oponopono is a technique for self-healing and uses a four-statement mantra for transformation. It offers a graceful and powerful way of cleansing our body, our emotions and our mind of negative thoughts and feelings that are affecting our health, our relationships, our vitality and preventing us from experiencing the joy in living life. Everyone can utilise this simple technique. All it requires is the intentional sounding of the four mantric lines:

“I’m sorry, please forgive me, I love you, thank you.”

There is so much written about the Ho’oponopono technique, and specifically how to use the Ho’oponopono mantra. You may already be familiar with this approach, but what can be truly valuable is hearing how others have benefited by sounding the mantra on a regular basis. I think these stories will provide some insight as to how Ho’oponopono can transform our lives.

The Ho’oponopono Legend

First, there is the inspiring story of Dr Ihaleakala Hew Len, PhD, a therapist who miraculously healed patients in a Hawaiian state hospital for the criminally insane. Although he had no physical contact with the inmates, he treated them by sounding the four lines of the Ho’oponopono mantra within himself. This story has been the inspiration for many people worldwide to seek out teachings on this most powerful practice.

Download this document for more details on what has been referred to as “The Ho’oponopono Legend”.

Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, PHD is known for healing patients with Ho’oponopono.

Learn Ho’oponopono

Personally, I have been sharing the Ho’oponopono technique with many people over the past 15 or so years. Over that time, through my own direct experience I have witnessed many major breakthroughs and healings. This is what inspires me to share the Ho’oponopono class on the Inward Bound Network. Incorporating teaching from various traditions and modalities and the sounding of the Ho’oponopono mantra in order that others can experience for themselves how Ho’oponopono transforms lives.

You are invited to join my free live weekly Ho’oponopono class and meditation.

Learn More

My weekly Ho’oponopono class is open to everyone. During the class I introduce a theme that we all have our own experience with. For example, one week we might talk about Self-Love, another week we might discuss grief or physical pain and illness. Then we talk about that theme in the context of the application of the Ho’oponopono mantra in our daily life and how we can use the mantra to transform our lives to set ourselves free from the imprisoning memories of past experiences.

We then spend time in meditation so we can integrate our insights and learn how to apply all of that which we have discussed. This class is experiential and conducted within a loving and compassionate environment.

Ho’oponopono Testimonials

During a recent Ho’oponopono class I invited the participants to share the benefits that they have received through the sounding of the Ho’oponopono mantra, the results were inspiring, and I thought it could be inspirational to others to read some of their comments and my responses to help deepen the transformation through Ho’oponopono:

Finding wonderful contentment within myself, having better relationships with my significant others.  Slowing down, less reactivity to negative situations, greater contact with my heart and loving side. Feeling more connected with others in the world at large, sending more love to them. Letting go of the past hurts, focusing on fun and finding the passion in this life!  ~ Helen, Australia

With Ho’oponopono I can move out of a negative space into a positive space much more quickly. ~ SL, Australia

I struggle with resistance all the time, but I have reached that point where I can move through these resistances much quicker now. Rather than thinking about my resistances as being, “this is my lot”, I can move out of it much more quickly using Ho’oponopono. I feel much more energised physically and emotionally.

I can move out of a negative space into a positive space much more quickly. I am trusting that I’m connecting more to my true self. It is more real. ~ SL, Australia

Response: As we sound the mantra we are rekindling our memory of our true identity and turning back towards our Divinity, towards our True Self. We begin to let go and to trust in the process. This empowers us, moving us from the attachment to what is going on externally, letting go and turning us back around to the true source of our being. The true nature of all that we are. It is just about remembering, and as we use Ho’oponopono we begin to develop spiritual certainty, we have gathered enough positive experience to know that it does make a difference.

With Ho’oponopono I am able to forgive myself and move on. ~ L, USA

When I first began to use the practice, it made me uneasy because I remembered my early days of making confession in the Catholic church and paying penance. Now I am falling asleep with it, waking up with it, I have finally realised that I didn’t need that “little man in that box” to forgive the things that upset me, that I am able to forgive myself and move on and that’s the most important. So that was huge for me and now I find it so comforting to be able to care for myself. ~ L, USA

Response: Basically, with Ho’oponopono we are saying “I’m sorry” to the Divinity within us, we are saying, “Sorry” within ourselves for all that we have done amiss. Now that we are growing into spiritual maturity we can look back and recognise that in a lot of those religious ceremonies and rituals there is truly goodness, there was an opportunity for healing. Anything that we are looking at through eyes of judgment, if we are judging anything in any way, we are not looking deeply enough to find that which is truth.

I have been practicing Ho’oponopono, not continuously but now and again, over the past few months to work with a huge issue related to guilt, and it wasn’t until we talked about surrender and feeling trapped I started thinking about it and it came to me and I realised I was actually trapped in guilt and began using Ho’oponopono to clean this guilt, I now feel no guilt about the issue I had, my past, it’s like it never happened, it’s like it’s a void now. I can’t even bring it up. When I try to think about it, there is nothing. I want to share this recommendation as it was a great healing, I am very grateful, it was probably the most beneficial thing that has happened to me all my life. ~ K, Australia

I used Ho’oponopono to clean this guilt I was trapped in. ~ K, Australia

Response: When we are ready for this complete surrender, whoever and whatever we are in need of to help us will be available for us. You were ready to break through this huge issue.

We can say, “I’m sorry, please forgive me”, over and over, but until we truly surrender to this repentance, then we are not going to actually shift it, we will stay blocked. Therefore, we say, “I’m sorry, please forgive me” with a heartfelt yearning to the Divine part of ourselves. We say, “I surrender”, “that’s enough, I’ve carried this burden long enough.” The humility to surrender at that level to say, “I truly mean this”, “I am sorry that I have carried the pain and the suffering of this memory from when I was 3 or 4 or 5 years old.” “That painful experience that has burdened me for so long, I am ready to let it go.”

This is what is behind the words, “I’m sorry, please forgive me.” This is seeking repentance within ourselves, to that sacred and holy part of ourselves. This is who we are confessing to. And it is not saying we have done wrong; it is just recognising the errors in our ways. Or acknowledging our ignorance in that we carried the pain of something that happened to us when we were so young and innocent, that we really had no choice in what happened. But we held onto the story and believed ourselves to be a sinner or dirty, or no good, or bad or ugly, and we carried it all the way through life to where we are now. That’s what we are saying sorry for. With that deep, deep yearning. “I’m sorry, please forgive me.” Saying, “please forgive me” to me, to ourselves.

It’s all about our relationship with ourselves. And then as we clean all of this with heartfelt yearning, we say, “I love you”. And the words “I love you” lift us in frequency towards our Divinity. That Divine Love, its beyond emotional love, it’s Divine Love. And then in that place we have incredible gratitude for every experience we have ever moved through because the so-called bad experiences have given us the fuel, the strength right now to be able to move deeper and deeper into ourselves. When something huge is tugging away at our heart, we are motived to do something about it.

I’ve been using the Ho’oponopono technique more and more as I have been struggling with medical issues and stress. I haven’t reached that point where I really want to be yet, but I have learnt that I need to put myself first. To listen to myself and my needs. M, USA

Through using the Ho’oponopono meditation I am finding a lot more peace and contentment within myself. ~ H, Australia

I had an issue with some old friends that I have had a problem with and utilising the Ho’oponopono technique I have realised that I have let it go, I no longer feel the constriction in my heart when I think of them. Also, the “I love you” part of Ho’oponopono has helped me, I have been listening to my self-talk and how I have habitually been putting myself down, I have been listening to everything that I say and think about myself and am now correcting this self-talk. I have also found that I am now able to stand and look at myself in the mirror, deep into my eyes without feeling so uncomfortable. ~ K, Australia

Through using the Ho’oponopono meditation I am finding a lot more peace and contentment within myself, much more than ever. It’s great, I really, really love it. ~H, Australia

I have struggled my whole life with needing love and looking outside of myself for this love, the need to be validated in my work and with my family, and I am now getting more in touch with my own inner child and learning more and more to love me. I aspire to burst through this completely to experience Joy in my life. ~ SL, Australia

Response: The pathway to “I love you” is through forgiveness. We must be careful to not jump over the “I’m sorry, please forgive me” too quickly. Because we are not going to turn around and fall into that huge sea of love until we have forgiven ourselves for whatever it is that has been keeping us separate from this love. This is so critical. We are recognising how important it is to awaken to self-love, but we must begin with the first step, “I’m sorry” – we may not remember the experience when we turned away from loving ourselves, but we say I’m sorry that I turned away from my own perfect Nature.

We are forgiving ourselves for turning away and living all of our life thus far expecting everything and everyone outside of us to show us that we are loved, when all we really had to do was turn around and recognise how loved we are. It always begins with “I’m sorry, please forgive me”. But as we develop a clear aspiration and intention we will be motivated to move through these first steps which can be very challenging. This is when we are facing all of those parts of ourselves that we have judged as being ugly or hurtful, those parts of ourselves that we may have been ashamed of. We may not even be aware of them in our conscious mind, and we don’t even have to bring them forward, just recognise their existence. If we are not truly experiencing a depth of self-love, there is something yet to forgive within ourselves. We sound the Ho’oponopono mantra, and as we sound it over and over, it spirals through our heart moving us deeper and deeper through the layers. To the true nature of our being, that infinite love that is unconditional and complete. And with joy in our hearts, we celebrate all of our realisations.

I use the Ho’oponopono mantra a lot, particularly in times of anxiety. ~ G, Australia

I use the mantra a lot, particularly in times of anxiety. I realise now that the cleansing takes place regardless of the cause and only I can clean the anguish in myself. The key for me is “Thank you”. If I change the way I am, particularly in relation to dwelling on the positive and showing gratitude when I can, this is me being truly me. I feel like I am getting real. Ho’oponopono has changed my life in a positive way. Particularly with family issues. Whenever I think about it I say, “I’m sorry, please forgive me”… and I believe that it will work. I feel positive in myself because of it. ~ G, Australia

Response: We begin to recognise that we serve, we help others around us with their healing purely by being an inspiration, we don’t have to lecture and “tell”, if we find ourselves giving advice when it is not asked for, it is alienating us. Causing a separatism. The healing comes when we recognise that “I am no different than any other”. If there is any kind of judgement arising in our relationships, if we start to see any kind of separation, that’s where we find there is a need to clean and clear within ourselves.

With Ho’oponopono we heal our relationships by healing ourselves. We can get so excited about something that we are doing that is causing us to feel better about ourselves, so excited that we want everyone to know about it, for example: “everyone should meditate…………..” But it’s when we begin to change, begin to radiate this joy and love and total acceptance, and it’s when we don’t engage in all of the negativities, the slander and gossip, putting others down, and so forth, that people notice the positive changes in us and ask what we are doing. Then we become a point of inspiration. People begin to enjoy our presence.

The Ho’oponopono line “I love you” is the most important for me.. ~ H, Australia

I am really enjoying the classes. The line “I love you” is the most important for me. Getting in touch with the little girl within me, recognising the pain from when she got lost and what happened to her. Saying “I love you” to the inner child is the most impactful. ~H, Australia

Response: Right now, where we are right now, if a small child came to us really distressed and upset and feeling like they must have done something wrong because they are not being shown love, they are lonely, or whatever it is, how would you respond to them? What would you do with this small child? Think about what you would say, what you would want them to know? Think about a little 3-year-old child, so innocent, so beautiful, but feels like they must have done something really bad because “daddy doesn’t love me” or “mummy doesn’t love me” – think about what you would say with all of your love and compassion and what you would do. This illustrates what we are going to do with this small child deep inside ourselves.

This vision of this precious child within you, this is what will really empower the Ho’oponopono.

Our inner child is so precious, so vulnerable, and now we are going to scoop them up and hold them in our arms and say, “I’m sorry that you feel this way”, “I’m sorry that you think you have done something really bad, but in truth you didn’t”, “Please forgive me”, allow that energy of forgiveness to come forth. That energy is so powerful it can move mountains. Then you can let this inner child know how loved they are, and you can express your gratitude for their very existence. Make it so real, this vision of this precious child within you, this is what will really empower the Ho’oponopono.

Let it be so real, see yourself at that age. Find a photo of yourself at that age, see what is conjured up and then do the cleaning with Ho’oponopono. You are really touching on the key here to Ho’oponopono. “I surrender and let go”. We are surrendering all the pain and the suffering borne out of our own past memories. We are still holding onto the memory of the small child that felt they were being punished, victimised, not listened to, not heard, or whatever it is for you. That is what we are cleaning, all of our memories around that.

Here are my thoughts on the benefits of Ho’oponopono Meditation for me.
Helps me to de-escalate conflict by helping to change my way of thinking about situations.
Helps me to clean the guilt of perceived wrong doings.
Strengthens my sense of self identity.
Helps me to learn forgiveness for myself and towards others.
Helps me to embrace self-love and clean self-pity and self-destructive thoughts.
Helps me to focus on my ‘inner work’.
Helps me to temper my reactive self.
It eases my worried mind, and the mantra helps clean unresolved experiences. My relationship with others is better. ~ Glen, Vic, Australia

Experience for yourself how Ho’oponopono transforms lives by doing some of the guided meditations and classes that are available on the Inward Bound Network, you can access these audio recordings anytime, anywhere, at no cost.

Recommended Ho’oponopono Classes:

Here are some recorded classes on the Ho’opoonpono technique that you can listen to at your leisure. Be sure to view our Ho’oponpono Members page for our growing collection of recorded Ho’oponopo classes

Cleaning Memories and Emotions Stored within the Body - how to utilise Ho’oponopono to unlock and clean the emotions and memories that are stored within the cells of our body that are often the cause of pain, stress, illness, disease and trauma.

Living Life with No Regrets -explore the areas of our life where we have “unfinished business”. Any conflicts that are unresolved, people in our lives with whom we are not at peace, things that have not been said that need to be said are all cause for regrets, that which weighs us down and stands in our way of living a life of happiness and joy.

Loving Yourself through Ho’oponopono - in this ho’oponopono class we take time to consider what self-love really is, where it originates and what causes us to turn our back upon it.

Recommended Ho’oponopono Meditations

Here are some guided Ho’oponopono meditations to get you started using this powerful healing technique. Be sure to check our complete collection of Ho’oponopono Meditations.

Cleaning the Programming of the Past - a relaxing meditation where we utilise the Ho’oponopono technique to clean our unconscious reactivity that is borne out of the programming we have taken on through all of our past experiences.

Cultivating Self Love - This meditation focuses upon cleaning those negative beliefs that stand in the way of us experiencing spiritual love – that which we call “self love”.

Deep Sleep Meditation - a beautiful, guided sleep meditation, beginning with a full body scan for relaxation and moving into the sounding of the Ho’oponopono, mantra to create a peaceful space within which you can move into a deep sleep.