Acceptance is what allows us to take in and receive the world.
We accept the beautiful blue of the sky,
Of the birds floating by.
And yet when we experience something difficult,
It's harder to accept.
Acceptance is not agreeing with everything.
It's not surrendering in a sort of weak way.
It's not fighting or forcing a solution,
It is peeling back the layers of our illusions,
Of our delusions,
Of our misperceptions,
Of the thoughts that cause us suffering.
And with acceptance we go straight to the direct experience underneath those other layers,
Which add to the confusion and we take off that code of confusion.
In this space of clear seeing,
Of clear hearing,
We are present with what is.
It takes courage to enter acceptance,
To let go of our ideas of right and wrong and try to see more clearly what is happening underneath.
I invite you to wrap yourself in a field of compassion that will give you the courage to accept whatever is in front of you.
Hold this compassion with you and you will be able to navigate whatever situation more smoothly and wisely.
It is compassion for yourself and compassion for others.
Acceptance that you are exactly how you are in this moment and that is okay.
And that others are however they are and that is part of their experience,
Not necessarily attached to you.
We'll just take in an everyday version of experience practiced first,
So just make yourself grounded in your chair or whatever surface you are supported by and allow yourself to receive the breath.
Allow yourself to be nourished by these simple ways that you interact with the planet.
Breathing in,
Nourishing your body,
Breathing out,
Releasing that which is not yours.
Breathing in,
Your lungs naturally bring this air to nourish your body and release this air that is no longer needed.
As you accept this gift of life in every moment which you have to do nothing for,
Life is living through you.
You are accepting it on a day to day basis,
Yes.
You are saying yes to life with every breath.
You are conscious or beneath your consciousness.
This yes to life is your first layer of acceptance.
Now as we head into the meditation,
Inviting awareness of something that is difficult to accept,
I want to invite you to choose something that is in a middle range.
Not your most difficult thing but something that's a little difficult that has something to it,
But which you feel safe approaching with me in this meditation.
You are not alone and yet if you have bigger difficulties you can find other support and guidance in addition to this.
So choose a medium level difficulty thing that is difficult to accept and allow yourself to go as deeply into it or as shallowly as you need.
You can choose to follow the directions I'm giving or simply to return to your breath.
If emotions become intense,
Bring your attention back to your body and your breath.
Just place your hands on your heart or on your belly and just breathe with yourself.
Now I'll invite you into the practice of compassionate holding with your difficulty.
Allow yourself to drop off any stories,
Any perceptions,
Any analysis of the difficulty.
Let it go.
If it helps you can imagine putting it in a special box or container.
Just let it go.
And invite yourself now to attend to the raw experience of your feelings,
Your physical sensations.
Allow whatever is feeling a need to be expressed to come up.
Again,
Letting go of any stories or analysis,
Just that basic feeling.
Maybe a tension in the throat,
Maybe a frustration or a sadness.
Just be a vessel for that emotion to arise and meet it with compassion and allow it to be held in that compassion.
Whatever that emotion is or that physical sensation,
Bring your breath to it.
Bring compassion to it.
You'll have the capacity to meet whatever life brings you.
This pain,
This sorrow,
This anger.
It's here longing for your attention,
Longing for you to accept and be with it.
It holds some wisdom for you on the other side.
Just be with it.
Allow it to be here.
Whatever you're feeling,
Allow it to arise and breathe with it.
These feelings that arise will not stay forever.
They will shift and flow through us.
If another feeling arises,
You can thank the first one for coming and now meet the second one with compassion.
Yes,
I am here for you.
Trust that you have the capacity to be with these beautiful teachers.
And that if you need support,
You can always continue to seek support outside of this.
The simple act of turning towards these difficulties is radically healing.
It allows them to be unstuck and to feel free to move through you.
Just tune into any other feelings or physical sensations that want your attention.
Bring your breath and your compassion to them.
If it ever becomes too intense,
Just put your hand on your body to hold whatever part needs it and let it know that you are here for yourself.
This devotion to your human experience will help both you and those around you as we all share this human experience together.
Remember,
Whatever you are holding,
It is not only on your shoulders.
You are part of this bigger system of humanity,
This bigger cycle of life.
You can share this weight as needed.
Your body naturally longs to heal itself.
And it starts with letting go of those stories and those misperceptions and inviting yourself into your raw emotional and physical experience.
With compassion,
Meeting it,
Accepting it,
Trusting it as part of a bigger plan the universe has for you to grow and blossom as the beautiful human that you are.
Go into this experience just as little or as much as you feel resource to on any particular day.
You can always come back to this practice.
And please widen your circle and invite others to help support and guide you to be with whatever difficulty arises,
And to explore it in life affirming ways.
Thank you for coming on today's beautiful and courageous journey into awareness and acceptance,
Returning to the flow of your life energy,
So that you can come out feeling more clear and more resourced to move forward,
Accepting where you are in a space where you can receive wisdom.
For the next steps.
This is a wonderful gift.
May you move gently into your day,
Opening your eyes and wiggling your fingers and toes to return to this life that awaits you.
Namaste.
