Radical Self-Acceptance

In this meditation, Dr. Julien Lacaille gently guides you into cultivating a non-striving attitude to practice relating to yourself in a more accepting way.

Transcript

Okay,

Let's begin by allowing the body to settle in whatever way it chooses to,

Whether it's lying down or sitting up.

And deliberately switching from a kind of doing mode,

Getting things done,

Getting things accomplished to a being mode,

Where we practice and attempt to just be present with our moment to moment experience.

And as you make that shift from doing to being,

See what changes happen in your posture,

Physical posture and your mental posture.

Maybe scanning the body for places where we are kind of holding tension,

We are bracing,

We are kind of leaning forward into the next moment where there's agitation,

Restlessness,

And just checking in where that shows up,

If that shows up.

And if it does,

Seeing if it's possible to release 1%,

2% more.

Making a deliberate effort in some way to release whatever holding is here.

And this is a practice,

Not a performance,

Not a perfection.

We're experimenting.

So noticing one's posture as we lean back into this moment,

We open to our experience as it is right now.

And noticing the stillness.

Noticing the stillness of not having to do anything,

Not having to go anywhere to achieve anything just for now.

Noticing the stillness that comes with giving ourselves the permission to take a break,

A break from doing.

And from time to time,

Checking in with the body,

Sensations of tension,

Of holding,

Of bracing,

Of resisting,

Of leaning forward.

And then intentionally softening around these sensations,

Seeing what's possible.

And gradually becoming aware of the body breathing on its own.

And noticing that there's nothing to do here.

We don't have to start breathing.

We don't have to change the breathing.

Just as an experiment,

Just for fun,

Seeing what it's like to just delegate that to the body.

The body can do the breathing.

We can do just the watching,

Just the being receptive to,

Just the allowing breathing to happen.

In other words,

Just being with breathing.

And maybe noticing what the mind is doing with this,

With this just being with the breath.

Are we noticing that the mind is wanting to figure something out,

To do something,

To get somewhere else,

To get rid of something that we don't want?

And when we,

If we notice that,

And when we notice that,

Just seeing if we can label the activity of the mind,

Whether it's planning,

Planning,

Problem solving,

Problem solving,

Problem solving,

Fixing,

Fixing,

Avoiding,

Avoiding.

And then just practicing coming back to just being here with the breath.

Kind of like leaning back into this moment with this inhalation,

This exhalation,

Nothing to fix,

No problem.

And then just noticing when the mind says something like,

But no,

There is a problem.

There's this and there's that and this and that.

Just seeing if we can catch those moments when the mind pulls us out of the present moment into a world of problems that need to get fixed and resolved.

Just labeling it,

Fixing,

Fixing,

And then practicing just coming right back here.

This being human,

This being me right here,

Right now is not a problem.

It's not a problem to be fixed.

It's an experience to be lived.

Can I give myself the permission for the next few moments to just be here with the breath?

Lived.

Can I give myself the permission for the next few moments to just live it,

To just be me?

And as we do that,

Maybe widening our attention to encompass the whole body and being aware of breathing and of other sensations and maybe even emotions that are present right now.

And breathing with these sensations,

Breathing with these emotions as an act of radical self-acceptance.

It's okay to be me with my experience right now.

So and noticing that the mind may not like radical self-acceptance very much.

You're not good enough.

You first need to fix that and that and that.

So just noticing when the mind does that.

Labeling it and then attempting to just come right back here.

What is it like to be me right now sitting here,

Lying here?

And if you find it useful you can also name or label what it's like to be you right now.

So I'm noticing sadness maybe.

Anxiety is here.

I'm noticing some pain in my left leg for example.

You may also notice pleasant or neutral sensations or emotions.

Noticing warmth in my hands.

I'm noticing that I'm breathing in and now out.

That's also what it's like to be oneself.

So noticing the constant dance between being lost and thoughts about how to fix things and then coming back to just being with whatever is present right now for you.

Being aware of the body as a whole.

Breathing with what we're noticing.

Naming what we're noticing.

Seeing if we can include really just the whole range of experiences that a human can experience,

Can have.

Perhaps reminding yourself from time to time this is what it's like to be fully alive,

To be fully present,

To be fully who I am.

Aware of the body as a whole,

Sitting or lying.

Breathing on its own.

Noticing the flow of sensations,

Of emotions,

The flow of thinking.

Noticing all of that in awareness.

Noticing the flow of emotions,

Of emotions,

Of thinking.

Seeing if we can bring this maybe more spacious awareness with us in the rest of our day.

Reviews

Excellent, I enjoyed sitting back a little separate from the breath and letting the breath run its course. A great meditation thanks 🙏

Gentle and compassionate, a wonderful way to start my day.
Thank you 🙏

I always appreciate your meditations. You have so many good things to say that help gu8de me just when I need it! Thank you so much for being here!

Good for all practice levels, especially good for beginners. Ending bell was moderate in tone, low in volume.

Soothing and gentle voice and instructions. Just enough to keep me in the moment without judgement. Wonderful

This was soothing and smoothing for me. Thank you Julien. 🥰🙏🏻💜💫

So well paced. Wonderful calming voice

Radically brilliant! Many thanks 🙏

Beautiful. Esp the quiet spaces in between to reflect. Thank you

Quiet, calm, refreshing. Allowing myself to relax into the present moment and finding the spaciousness to allow who I am right now to be enough.

Speaks to me. Deep and meaningful. Quiet. Focused.

Simply beautiful

Really helpful. Learning to accept and not think of myself as a problem to be solved. Thankyou so much. 🙏

I find his voice to be so gentle and calming. He offers just the right amount of guidance for my very busy mind. He is my favorite meditation guide, so glad to have found him.

Really helpful in terms of decompressing and sorting out being vs thinking

Great for a busy mind

I love this mindfulness style of guiding. Very good. very calming too.

Beautiful pace, soothing voice, feeling really chilled now
Thank you

Thank you. Excellent guide