COURSE

The Art Of Accepting Hard Things

There are moments in life where we just have a hard time accepting things as they are. It could be a relationship dynamic, a work situation, an emotion, health problem, death, or a thousand other things. When that happens, we might begin to ruminate, over-analyze, obsessively problem solve, feel despondent or confused. Our inability to accept reality as it is can lead to a lot of pain and suffering. The gap between the way the world is and the way we want it to be can even become unbearable. In this five part video course, David will walk you through a powerful process of facing, accepting, and shifting your energy in relationship to something difficult in life. You'll choose the hard thing, meet it in stillness, and allow whatever resistance and emotion is there to move through you. The paradox is that when we accept things as they are, that is often when they begin to change. What we resist tends to persist. But when we turn toward difficulty with awareness and courage, something can shift from the inside out. Filmed in the mountains of Boulder, Colorado, this is a grounded, honest, and deeply practical approach to one of life's most essential skills: the art of accepting hard things.

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Meet your Teacher

David Gandelman

Boulder, CO, USA

David Gandelman is an author and spiritual teacher, whose mission is to awaken souls on their path of growing into being human, and living an enlightened, purpose-driven life. He is the host of the popular Grounded Sleep podcast, and his meditations have been streamed millions of times. He has taught at Cornell University, NBC Universal, SAP, and numerous other organizations.

5 Days

3.1k students

4.9 stars

11 min / day

Acceptance

English

Lesson 1

The Birth Of Resistance

In this opening lesson, you're invited to become present with feelings of resistance rather than pushing them away or getting lost in rumination. Through a gentle guided meditation, you'll have the chance to notice where resistance lives in your body, feel its texture and quality, and discover that when you stop fighting it, something starts to soften on its own.

Lesson 2

Facing The Truth Of Your Feelings

In this lesson, you'll have the opportunity to delve into the process of accepting hard things. Often when we struggle with a difficult situation, most of our energy goes into trying to change it, analyze it, or mentally solve it. But much of the suffering we experience is not the situation itself. It's our relationship to how we feel about it. Through meditation, you will bring a difficult situation you're working with into awareness and explore your emotional response to it. Rather than pushing your feelings away or trying to explain them, you'll have the chance to practice something simpler and more powerful: allowing them to be as they are without any judgment.

Lesson 3

What Something Hard Is Trying To Teach You

In this guided meditation, you'll bring the hard thing forward again and this time ask it a direct question. What is it that won't go away until you understand it? The answer may come as an image, a feeling, a word, or simply a layer of emotion clearing so you can see more clearly. Whatever arises is the insight. You don't need to engineer it. You need to be still enough to let it surface.

Lesson 4

When Things Don't Feel Fair

At the core of most things we struggle to accept is a feeling that life simply isn't fair. Someone wronged us. Things didn't go the way they should have. And that feeling deserves to be acknowledged, not argued with or bypassed. In this lesson, you'll have the opportunity to go beneath the surface story and meet that deeper current. Not to decide whether life is or isn't fair, but to feel the weight of that belief and let it begin to soften. Like diving beneath choppy water into stillness, there is a deeper layer of peace underneath even the heaviest emotions.

Lesson 5

When Acceptance Opens The Path

Many of us try to manage pain by controlling outcomes or chasing perfection. But when we act from that place, from anxiety, fear, or the need to force things into a certain shape, that energy poisons whatever we touch. The invitation of this final lesson is to take action from a different place: from presence, awareness, and compassion. In this closing meditation, you'll return to the hard thing one last time and ask it a final question: what is my next step with you? The answer might be a deeper layer of acceptance, an emotion that still needs to move through, an honest conversation, or a concrete action in the world. Whatever arises is your truth. And when you stop being in resistance to life, far more doors open than you ever thought possible.

4.9 (324)

Recent Reviews

Julian

August 3, 2026

David, you are a wonderful person. Thank you!

Kimie

August 3, 2026

This was so good and practical. I felt it in my body and could use this practice in a tangible way. Thank you

MaryAnn

August 3, 2026

Thank you for the wonderful course 🙏❤️

Monika

August 2, 2026

Found it helped me

Holly

July 30, 2026

This is an excellent course to help you get on with your life after something difficult. The instructor guides you through it gently and with caring so you don't feel alone. I loved it!

Jenny

July 29, 2026

Good advice and insight - would have loved longer sessions with insightful discussion. Thank you kindly.

Lisa

July 29, 2026

Awesome course! Luv you, too.

Laurie

July 28, 2026

Such good material!

Katrina

July 21, 2026

Amazing course with insight, humor, love and great teachings. Thank you!

Jeroen

July 19, 2026

Really good to the point course. Helpful to uncover what blocks you from feeling at peace. Thank you 🙏

Gemma

July 14, 2026

Need to re do this course. Your voice is so reassuring and encouraging. Thank you very much.

July 10, 2026

Such helpful guidance toward working through resistance and grief after a traumatic experience. In gratitude

Carrie

July 5, 2026

Subtle, yet powerful. Ready for grad levels please 😀 Love 🩵✨

Lucy

July 3, 2026

This was a clear and simple course that had tremendous impact. Thank you!

Philip

June 30, 2026

We want more insights like this!!! Thank you David! Namaste!

Angela

June 29, 2026

Thank you David . I love your laugh and dad joke.

willa

June 29, 2026

A great topic to do a class on only i didn't particularly find it useful. The laughter however, was almost contagious because David gandleman is so genuine

Nancy

June 27, 2026

I really appreciate such a gentle and kindhearted approach with touches of humor. You are a talented teacher, David. And you make acceptance of the difficult so much more accessible. Thanks.

Sofia

June 26, 2026

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