Acceptance And Allowance

This is a mindfulness practice revolved around the concepts of acceptance and allowance. These are two out of five basic needs of the heart that are taught by Valerie Mason-John. This practice is trauma sensitive and invites you to greet yourself with grace and explore what you need.

Transcript

Hello, My name is Julianne, And today I am offering a meditation revolved around practices of acceptance and allowance. And acceptance and allowance are two of the five needs of the heart that Valerie Mason John teach. Actually, Here on Insight Timer, You can find her recording of five needs of the heart. It's been a practice that has been really important for me and impactful for me over the last handful of years. And so today I'm offering a mindfulness practice revolved around acceptance and allowance. And so if you'd like, I'll invite us to find a comfortable shape, Whatever that looks like for you today. So we could be seated, You could be standing, You could be laying down. And feel free to move or adjust as you'd like. And our eyes can be opened or closed, Your choice. And wherever we are, I'll invite us to start off by taking a big breath in, Through our nose or mouth, A big breath out. Two more if you'd like, Inhaling as you're ready, Exhaling as you're ready. If you'd like another big breath in, As you're ready, A big breath out. If you'd like from here, Maybe finding some softness in your forehead, In your jaw. Maybe softening our shoulders and our chest. And maybe bringing some softness into our bellies. And if you'd like from here, I invite us to bring our awareness to the ground beneath us. Maybe noticing the pressure of the ground beneath you, Whether that's your feet or your seat. We may feel a lot of sensation here, We may feel not much at all. Both are totally normal experiences. And now if you'd like, I'll invite us to tune in with any noises that we hear in our environment. And just knowing that it's totally normal for our awareness to jump to these external stimuli as they come and go. And as this happens, I just invite us to acknowledge these things in our mind. We can name them. So for me, I'm sitting on my porch, I hear some birds. The breeze. I think a school bus just went by. And we can also acknowledge any feelings that arise in us because of these external stimuli. So for example, When that bus just went by, I at first was a little distracted. I was a little bit worried. I thought to myself, Oh gosh, Is this going to mess up my recording? And so I'm just acknowledging these things, Acknowledging these feelings. And then to practice acceptance. Just maybe saying to myself, Okay, The bus just went by. Yeah, Maybe my recording might be a little messed up or loud at that moment. And so any feeling that arises in us, I invite us to greet. Even with just the tiniest bit of acceptance. And if we can't greet something with acceptance, We can also acknowledge that. And now if you'd like, I'll invite us to bring our awareness to anything that we see. So using our sight and just taking a look around, Maybe noticing any colors or textures that we see. And while we're doing this, I invite us to notice where our mind wants to take us. So for me, I'm looking at the paint on my porch. It's starting to chip in some areas. I'm acknowledging this. And then for right now, I'm doing my best just to practice acceptance here and allowing the paint to be chipped. To right now. With different things, We may find it easier or harder to practice this acceptance and allowance. That's totally normal, Depending on the stimuli. And now if you'd like, I'll invite us to bring our awareness to our breath. Maybe first to the tips of our nostrils. To feel or imagine our breath going in and out through our nostrils. I say imagine here because sometimes it's hard for me to really feel much sensation at my nostrils. That's normal if that's also what you're experiencing today. But if it's helpful, We can come back to this place right at the tips of our nostrils whenever we need. And just noticing our breath coming and going. Our inhales and our exhales. Or we could bring our awareness to our chest to feel or imagine our lungs expanding as we inhale. Softening as we exhale. We could bring our awareness to our bellies to feel or imagine our bellies expanding as we inhale. Softening as we exhale. And our breath can be something that we return to maybe when we notice our mind start to wander or we get distracted by a stimuli that we don't want to be distracted by anymore. Our breath can be an anchor. Something to ground us. And I invite us while we're here just to notice where our mind is going. Again, Just checking in with our thoughts. Seeing what's coming up. And it's up to you. You can choose. Sometimes I really like to use my meditation practice as a place to just allow my mind to wander. To brainstorm or to think through something. And that's a practice of allowance there. We can just notice the types of thoughts that are in our head today and we can allow them to be there. Maybe we can even explore those thoughts or feelings that are coming up. We can use this time for ourselves. Or we can return to our breath if that feels better to you right now. If you've gone down a specific thought path long enough, You can find an anchor to come back to. So that's our breath. That can be our breath. Or it could be something different. It could be your environment around you. Maybe you want to continue just to look around and notice colors or textures that you see. Movement can be an anchor. Maybe checking in with our bodies. Just seeing where we may want to adjust or wiggle or stretch. Or maybe what you need is something different than what I've described so far. And that's great. Okay. So I invite us to just take about one more minute just to ourselves. I invite you first to check in, To notice maybe what you need in this next minute, And then practicing to honor that for whatever you need. Wherever we are now, If you'd like, I invite us to take another big breath in and a big breath out. Perhaps bringing our awareness now to the ground beneath us again. Maybe starting to take a look around us. Taking in our environment. And wherever we are, I invite us to take a few more breaths to ourselves. And from here, I'll invite us to start to come out of our practice if you're ready. If you'd like to continue to do whatever it is that you're doing, Feel free to do that as well. And I just thank you so much for listening. And please let me know if you have any feedback or questions or comments. And I wish you all the best. Thank you.