The Art of Forgiving Anyone and Anything, Especially Yourself with Dara McKinley

Forgiveness is an essential tool for freeing up energy, taking back our creative power, and living our fullest lives. 

So many of us think we've forgiven when, in fact, we've just buried our resentments. 

This leaves us drained and cut off from our full potential, and, often, not knowing why. 

Dara McKinley has dived deep into this work to discover how we can really, truly forgive. 

Dara experienced her own big betrayal some years ago, and she found herself unable to let go of the hurt and resentment it left her with. Her life was impacted - with cyclical thoughts and the eventual development of a "mystery illness." Dara found herself in a perfect storm of physical and emotional turmoil that spurred her to look for answers. She began to research forgiveness, then implemented what she learned in what came to be a successful 3-week forgiveness journey that left her feeling completely liberated from her burden of hurt and resentment.

She's turned her research into a methodology which she calls, simply, "How to Forgive." According to her, once you know how to do it, you can use this methodology anywhere, anytime, with anyone or anything. 

We focus the second part of the show on how to apply forgiveness to eating disorders and our often delicate relationships with ourselves. 

In this talk, we dive into: 

• What forgiveness is and why it's important. 
• What betrayal is and how to know whether you have been betrayed. 
• Dara's own story of betrayal, how she connects it to a "mystery illness" she developed, and how she eventually found her path of healing. 
• The biggest misunderstanding folks have about forgiveness. 
• What is the difference between forgiveness and compassion? 
• What is the difference between forgiveness and bypassing? 
• The inner work of forgiveness and why it's so powerful.  
• How does forgiveness apply, on the eating disorder path? 
• How do the steps for forgiving ourselves differ from and overlap with the steps for forgiving others? 

A Little Bit About Dara: 

Dara McKinley, MA possesses an unwavering curiosity for emotional health, spirituality, and the practical  intersection of these two worlds. Her passion has led to a 15 year career in human services which includes an M.A. in Contemplative  Psychology from Naropa University, and a private counseling practice. In 2007 she began a 10 year journey studying the feminine essence with renowned divine feminine teachers, and through tracing back and studying her own indigenous roots. 

Dara has created and facilitated workshops and retreats, but today she is devoted to raising up a modern, and dogma-free forgiveness path called How to Forgive. She defines forgiveness as “a spiritual experience that heals betrayal,” and asserts that forgiveness mastery is core to the success of feminine power.

Register for her course at https://howtoforgive.com/ref/16/