Pray + Regulate — Acceptance

In this Pray + Regulate session, Nicola gently guides you into the practice of acceptance through a compassionate, trauma-aware approach blending EFT tapping, somatic regulation and prayer. This practice recognises that difficulty with acceptance often arises from the nervous system’s natural responses to disappointment, uncertainty, unmet expectations, or emotional discomfort not from failure or weakness.

Through grounding, prayer, and gentle tapping, you are supported to soften inner resistance, release the strain of “how things should be,” and reconnect with a sense of safety, presence, and steadiness. This session offers a calm, restorative space to regulate your body and mind, allowing greater peace with what is, and a kinder relationship with yourself and your experience.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to your Pray and Regulate for Acceptance.

So this is part of the Pray and Regulate series here on Insight Timer and this is where we combine prayer with nervous system regulation.

So we create safety in the body through EFT tapping and somatic safety tools and we also invite the mind,

We invite God to be with us in this process.

So yeah,

So this particular Pray and Regulate is for acceptance.

So just take a little moment,

Maybe you're closing your eyes,

Maybe you're just listening to this as you're out and about and just notice,

You know,

What does acceptance mean to you?

Is it something that you struggle with?

Is it something that,

You know,

You struggle with just in one area?

And just take a little moment,

Just notice what arises.

You know,

Maybe you're really good at accepting other people but struggle to accept yourself or maybe it's the other way around,

Maybe you're struggling to accept a specific situation in your life right now,

Something that's really not that pleasant,

Something that,

You know,

You absolutely wouldn't have chosen.

So just notice what comes up for you.

And as always,

Feel free to change the wording from God to higher power,

To universe,

To whatever works for you but for the purposes of this,

I am using the word God.

So taking a moment,

God,

Please be with us while we learn to accept the things we cannot change,

The things that we don't want,

The things that we don't like,

The things that we wish were different.

God,

Help us to understand that acceptance can provide freedom,

Freedom from pain,

Freedom from struggle.

So God,

Please be with us.

Please help us to accept everything that we cannot change,

Just like you wholly accept us to.

So then tapping on the side of the hand,

This is how we regulate with a practice called EFT tapping.

EFT stands for emotional freedom techniques.

So just tapping on the side of the hand and repeating after me.

So even though sometimes I don't want to accept the things I can't change,

I deeply and completely love and accept myself.

And even though those words might not be true,

Maybe there's parts of myself that I really struggle to accept.

Just here in this moment,

I'm open to the possibility of one day accepting myself.

And even though there might be situations or people which I'm really struggling to accept right now,

Maybe I can be open to the possibility of accepting these things in the future.

So for now,

I'm asking God to be with me,

To guide my journey to acceptance.

Tapping on the middle of the eyebrow,

There's some things I don't want to accept.

The side of the eye,

Why do I have to accept everything?

Under the eye,

I don't want to accept these things or these people.

Under the nose,

It's not fair.

Why do I have to accept everything?

Middle of the chin,

Why can't these people,

These situations just change?

Collarbones,

Acceptance feels really heavy.

Side of the ribcage,

Acceptance feels a million miles away.

Top of the head,

Acceptance feels really hard.

Middle of the eyebrows,

But I know if I am honest,

Side of the eye,

That acceptance would bring some freedom.

Under the eye,

It would bring some freedom from resentment.

Under the nose,

It would help my mind feel lighter.

Middle of the chin,

And it's not like I have to like the things I accept.

Collarbones,

I just have to accept they are what they are.

Side of the ribcage,

So maybe I can allow God.

Top of the head,

To guide me on this journey.

Middle of the eyebrows,

To accepting the things I cannot change.

Side of the eye,

So I'm opening up.

Under the eye,

To the possibility.

Under the nose,

Of accepting the things I cannot change.

Middle of the chin,

Accepting the people that I cannot change.

Collarbones,

Exactly as they are.

Side of the ribcage,

Accepting situations that I cannot change.

Top of the head,

Exactly as they are.

Middle of the eyebrows,

Accepting the parts of myself.

Side of the eye,

That I cannot change.

Under the eye,

I'm being open to the possibility.

Under the nose,

Of loving myself instead.

Middle of the chin,

So I don't have to love the people and the places and the things.

Collarbones,

But I welcome some more self-love.

Side of the ribcage,

I welcome God's love.

Top of the head,

And when I do that,

Acceptance will flow easily.

Relax the hand,

Take a really nice deep breath in.

Take a lovely breath out.

Maybe taking this as a little mantra with you for the rest of the day,

The rest of the week,

The rest of the year.

I allow myself to accept the things I cannot change.

I allow myself to accept the things I cannot change.

And you could also probably turbocharge it a little bit by adding,

With God's help,

I allow myself to accept the things I cannot change.

So yeah,

For me,

That feels softer.

For me,

That feels more achievable because,

You know,

With God,

All things are possible.

So if that's the case,

Then with God,

Acceptance can also be possible for those things that I might be struggling to accept.

So little safety somatic tool.

These are super,

Super simple.

And for this one,

I just invite you just to kind of rub your legs.

It sounds a little bit strange.

We kind of do a lot of these somatic tools quite instinctively anyway.

So just feel,

Feel the feeling of the material under the palm of your hand,

Maybe feel the pressure of your hand on your leg.

It's just bringing some awareness back into the body,

But also right now into this moment in this present time.

So you're just feeling and you're just feeling the textures,

Feeling the sensations.

And it can be nice to pair it with the breath.

So just as you slide the hands,

Maybe up the thighs,

You could inhale.

And as you exhale,

Slide the hands back down and you can play around with kind of the pressure.

You know,

You can press a little harder.

Maybe you could press a little lighter.

Maybe you could press harder as you inhale,

Really feel that kind of inhale coming in and then really gently press as you exhale.

Again,

You can't do this wrong.

Feel free to alter this.

Let your intuition guide you in that as well.

And thank you for being here and for doing the work to what feels like very difficult work sometimes to accept the things that you cannot change.

If you're anything like me,

You might need to come back to this process many,

Many times because I also seem to forget that acceptance is the answer to all of my problems.

So for today,

I remember that and I will see you back next time.