The Power Of Radical Acceptance

In this guided reflection and meditation, Lou explores the deep spiritual practice of radical acceptance. Through heartfelt storytelling and somatic awareness, you’ll be invited to remember the wholeness already within you—and to gently soften resistance to life’s challenges. With the support of teachings from Richard Rohr and Thomas Merton, this track offers a profound shift in perspective.

Settle in, open your heart, and let this be a space of remembering, healing, and coming home to yourself.

Transcript

Hello,

Welcome.

My name is Lew Redmond and I am so grateful that you have chosen to practice with me.

I believe this spiritual journey that you and I and many others are on is really a journey about remembering.

Some traditions say it's remembering our true nature,

Remembering our real home.

In Zen,

They might say it's remembering the face you had before you were born.

There's a great story of Father Richard Rohr giving a talk and someone came up to him afterwards and said to him,

You know what,

I liked everything that you said,

But you didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know.

And Father Richard thought that this was the greatest compliment that he could receive,

That what he was really doing as a spiritual teacher is being a mirror for people to recognize their own truth,

To recognize divinity,

God,

Within them.

And he would say that all true cognition is a recognition.

It is a,

Oh,

I already know that something deep in my bones already is resonating with this.

When we talk about things that resonate,

It's because it is something that is already within us.

So it's about remembering that spark,

That divinity that already lives in us.

Not only is the spiritual journey about remembering,

But you could say the same thing for our healing journey,

That all healing is a remembering,

Meaning the sense that we are putting pieces,

Pieces that have been dismembered from our wholeness,

That there's been a fracture in ourselves.

We begin,

We are born from a state of wholeness.

What happens is things happen to us as we grow up that create wounds,

That create fractures in the wholeness,

That we are remembering,

Putting the pieces back together to remember the wholeness that was already and is already there.

And the breakthrough therapy of IFS and parts work has given language to this remembering and given a structure to how we might go about the process of healing the parts that were wounded and also healing the parts that came in at the time of wounding to protect us,

That don't want us to be hurt again.

That we can actually allow those parts to soften,

To remember the wholeness that is still lying underneath the surface that is us.

Why am I talking about remembering in a practice about radical acceptance?

Well,

If the spiritual journey is about remembering,

Acceptance is its foundation.

Meaning that we can't put back the pieces,

We can't remember,

We can't come home to our true nature without an acceptance of how things are,

Without an acceptance of this is the way it actually needs to be for the next evolution,

For the next part of me that's ready to unfold to come into existence.

And acceptance is really hard because there are wounded parts of us that don't want us to accept it,

That think life should be something else.

They are resisting us from moving on and in many ways they are doing the best they can.

But as the adage goes,

What we resist,

Resist back.

If I were to ask you to take your right hand and push into your left hand,

What you will probably notice is that your left hand automatically pushes back,

It offers resistance.

And so often when things aren't going well in our life,

We end up pushing,

We end up trying to fix and that can often just create more resistance,

More stuckness.

Radical acceptance is how we start to shift this process,

How we start to open ourselves to the transformation that is actually wanting to come through.

And the idea of it being radical is not just accepting it as it is what it is,

But accepting it as a divine gift,

That this is happening for a reason whether we like it or not.

We're going to get into a meditation in a moment,

But first I want to offer a passage from the Christian mystic Thomas Merton.

He says,

We must learn to realize that the love of God seeks us in every situation and seeks our good.

His inscrutable love seeks our awakening.

His inscrutable love,

Inscrutable means impossible to understand.

And so whatever you are facing in your life,

What happens if you open up and say,

Whoa,

That this is God's will seeking me in this situation and some ways seeking my good.

It is an inscrutable love.

It is an impossible to understand love that is seeking your awakening.

Let's practice this in our meditation.

So begin to close your eyes if you haven't coming into your meditation posture.

Letting everything slow down and settle.

And as you relax,

Already coming into this posture of acceptance,

Accepting what is here right now.

And to practice this,

We're going to explore mindfulness of body sensations.

So beginning to scan your body and just noticing if you can connect with something that is pleasant.

Maybe there's a peace in being here and slowing down.

Maybe there's a enjoyment and just noticing the rhythm of your breath.

Maybe you notice a lack of pain in an area that used to have pain,

Maybe an injury or a surgery.

Just the awareness that it's not there might feel pleasant.

And as you identify some part of your experience that is pleasant,

Seeing if you can just allow it to be as it is.

So it's not that you want to make it get more pleasant.

You're just practicing noticing it and being with it just as it is.

So you're practicing in that posture of acceptance,

Of noticing it and being with it just as it is.

And then letting go of the focus on what is pleasant and scanning your experience now to notice something that is unpleasant.

Maybe it's a tightness or a pain somewhere.

Maybe it's an anxiousness or a recurring thought that continues to come in.

And seeing if you can,

Again,

In this posture of acceptance,

Notice what is unpleasant in your body or in your experience.

And not needing to push it away,

Not needing to resist it,

Not needing it to be any different than it is.

And just as you were with what was pleasant,

Seeing if you can just breathe and be with it.

And then letting that go and taking conscious breath in together.

Breathing out.

And staying in this posture of acceptance as you now bring up a situation in your life that you are having difficulty accepting.

Maybe you're going through a breakup,

Maybe there's a crisis,

Financial health,

Relationships.

It could be something profound or it also could be mundane.

You're having a tough time accepting the loss of your kid's sports team or that they didn't have the right bread at the grocery store that you like.

Anything can go.

There's so much of life that is our practice if we can see it as that.

Another way to ask this is,

Where are you resisting life?

All is welcome.

And as you connect with the situation,

Notice if you can contact what's happening in your body.

What is this stirring up?

Is there a tightening in the chest?

Is there a fear,

A doubt,

An anxiety?

Connecting to the somatic experience,

This situation,

Evokes.

And just as you did with the pleasant and the unpleasant,

In this posture of acceptance,

And you just breathe and be with it.

And as you do this,

You might notice that naturally there's a shift.

So that might happen or it might still be somewhat strong.

That's okay.

We're not needing it to be anything different.

That's the key here.

And to continue working with this resistance that might be showing up,

I would like you to try to be in relationship to the part of you that's having a tough time accepting.

We're going to ask it a question.

So just see if you can notice that relational posture where you can actually ask this part that is resisting the situation a question.

And the question I'd like you to ask it is,

What is the good you're trying to do for me?

What is the good you're trying to do for me?

Ask the question and just listen for it to give you an answer.

What happens is most of our resisting parts in some shape or form are just trying to keep us safe.

And so notice if that's true in the response that you got.

And it's okay if it isn't either.

The invitation either way is to offer this part any opportunity to be a part of it.

Appreciation that you have for what it's trying to do.

You might just say to it,

Thanks for keeping me safe.

Thanks for protecting me.

And just sending it any loving appreciation that you might have for it.

I do want to note that if you're having a tough time seeing the good in this part,

It might be because another part is activated that doesn't like this part.

And so we don't have the time to unpack everything that could be happening here.

But I just want to normalize that in case you're noticing it.

And wherever you're at,

Seeing if you can,

Again,

From that posture of acceptance,

Maybe offering this resistance,

Letting it know that you accept it just as it is.

I accept you just as you are.

You don't have to change.

You don't have to go away.

Breathing and continuing to be with it.

And then taking a cleansing breath together.

And letting it go.

And for this last part of our practice,

I want us to connect again with that line from Thomas Merton.

We must learn to realize that the love of God seeks us in every situation and seeks our good.

Can you hold this situation in your awareness and really take in this message that even in this situation,

This is God seeking you and seeking your good?

How does this situation look like from that perspective?

I know it might be hard.

Thomas Merton goes on to say,

His inscrutable love seeks our awakening.

God's impossible to understand love is here for our awakening.

And this situation is,

As Ram Dass might say,

Grist for your spiritual mill.

And so repeating these words to yourself if it feels true.

God's inscrutable love seeks my awakening.

God's inscrutable love seeks my awakening.

God's love seeks my awakening.

Imagine yourself leaving this practice,

Going into your day,

And accepting each moment as God's love seeking your good,

Seeking your awakening.

Notice how that changes the way you look at things.

And the freedom,

The spaciousness that can come from such a radical perspective.

Whenever you're ready,

You can slowly start to open your eyes and come back.

I wish you so much love and support on your journey.

I hope you found something in this practice that connected with you.

I hope the perspective can offer a big shift in how you go about your days and your life.

And yeah,

Let me know what came up or any comments you have.

I love hearing from you.

So feel free to leave a comment.

Know that you can always go to my profile to connect with me more and find my circle.

If you want to join Lew's Circle,

It's a place where you can stay up to date on new meditations and talks that I have.

Sending you so much love and deep bows for your spiritual journey.

May you continue to remember your true nature and trust in the path that is unfolding.

Trust that maybe it is the love of God that is giving you this situation.

And how perfect,

How beautiful.

Thanks so much.

Take care.

Reviews

Thank you for this kind meditation on opening to love 💕

Powerful & beautiful! 🥹❤️‍🔥🙏🥰

Lovely, thank you Lou

Love this! Ties in beautifully with the parts work I am doing. Many thanks Lou 🙏❤️💫

I feel more deeply connected to my path of personal growth having listened to your meditation, thank you. ☺️🙏

As always, Lou offers God's love and acceptance to us in a concise and affirming way.

Thank you Lou!

Suzanne

🙏🏻