Welcome everyone.
This is Jonathan.
I hope you are well.
Thank you for joining me.
This session is aimed at practicing acceptance of non-judgment and non-reaction to help us navigate the negative or unwanted events in our lives.
Let's get started.
First,
Find yourself a comfortable sitting position.
You could be on a mat,
On the floor,
Or on a chair,
Or lying down.
And as you settle in and get comfortable,
Take a few moments to just allow your breath to find its own natural rhythm.
Now,
As you breathe comfortably,
Scan your body from head to toe for areas of tightness or tension and relax these areas.
And we'll start today with our eyes open.
Begin by just allowing your eyes to fall on any object in your view.
Gently place your eyes on this object and keep them there.
Pay attention to the seeing of this object.
Do not label the object or name it.
Don't want it to be different in any way.
This object is not wanted or unwanted or positive or negative.
It just is.
See this object without judgment or reaction and just allow this object to be.
And now gently close your eyes and turn your focus to any sounds in the room.
Try to find something that's constant or focus on the lack of sounds in the room,
If there are none.
And pay attention to the hearing of these sounds.
Experience how these sounds come to your ear.
Do not label them or name them.
Just focus on the raw sound itself.
It is not wanted or unwanted.
It is not positive or negative.
It is only a sound.
Hear this sound without judgment or reaction.
Simply continue hearing this sound with acceptance and just allowing it to be.
And for a few moments just sit in acceptance of this sound.
Now move your focus from sounds in the room to your body.
Feel having a body and scan your body for any sensation that grabs your attention.
Maybe tightness or tension or comfort and allow these sensations to be exactly as they are.
Do not label them or name them.
Do not cling to them or push them away.
Just allow these sensations to come,
To go,
To stay or to change.
And for a few moments sit with the experience of these sensations in acceptance.
Now turn your focus from your body to your breath and gently place your mind on the rising and the falling of your belly.
And feel the sensations of breathing as the belly rises and as the belly falls and the gaps between the breaths.
Accept your breath just as it is.
It is not fast or slow or deep or shallow.
Do not try to speed it up or restrict it or control it in any way.
Just allow your breath to be.
And for a few moments sit in the acceptance and the experience of your breath.
And now move your focus from your breath to any thoughts in the mind.
Become aware if the mind is thinking.
Allow your thoughts to be just as they are.
Allow them to rise into your awareness and pass from your awareness.
Do not cling to them.
Do not push them away.
Just allow them to come and to go as they move through the awareness of your mind.
And for a few moments sit in the experience of acceptance of your thoughts.
And now move your focus from your thoughts to any emotions you're experiencing.
Maybe confusion or frustration or joy.
Pay attention to the experience of having these emotions.
Do not judge them.
Do not react to them.
Do not cling to them or push them away.
Simply allow these emotions to be exactly as they are.
As they rise into your awareness,
Pass from your awareness or stay or change.
And for a few moments just sit in the acceptance and experience of your emotions.
And now as we end this meditation on acceptance,
Bring your focus back to the body.
Back to the sensation of sitting.
Feeling the pressure below you.
The contact with the floor or the mat.
And take a few more deep breaths.
And when you're ready,
Gently open your eyes.
Now the purpose of this meditation is to counter the fact that we add a lot of unnecessary suffering to our lives.
When we want events or people or things to be different than they are.
When we let go of the resistance that we have to these things and accept them as they are.
We experience peace.
We work with this tendency to want to change or control our realities by practicing acceptance.
I hope you find this meditation useful.
I hope you find it peaceful.
And I hope you take this skill out into your daily lives.
Thank you.
