Acceptance Practice

Life can be challenging with all its ups and downs, ebbs and flows; it can be hard to stay present in a fast-changing world. One of the hardest aspects of this is letting go of our need for control and to accept life as it is and as it comes. This Meditation and Breathwork will help to practice the art of acceptance. Observing our body, breath, and mind, we'll expand our awareness, strengthen our capacity to allow for what is to be, and hold life in acceptance and compassion.

Transcript

Hello everyone and welcome.

Today we will get started in a comfortable seat.

So wherever you're sitting,

Maybe you're sitting on a chair,

Bench,

Couch,

Or the side of your bed,

Sit more towards the edge of that seat.

And if you were sitting on the floor,

Take any leg position that feels comfortable.

And feel free to place any props underneath your hips,

Block,

A bolster,

Cushions or pillows,

Or even some folded up blankets.

And after you've found your seat,

Sit up nice and tall through your spine.

Raise the crown of your head up towards the ceiling.

Level your chin to the floor and lengthen through the back of your neck.

Tag weight into your elbows and use that weight to draw your shoulder heads down.

Lightly draw your shoulder blades back towards each other.

Spread your collarbones as your chest broadens.

As you find this alert position with your spine,

Just notice the difference between your spine and your hips.

Notice the groundedness of your hips and your legs into the floor or your chair.

Just notice how that differs from the raising energy from the base of your spine all the way up to the crown of your head.

As you tap into this alertness and this groundedness,

Coinciding with each other,

Take a moment to just notice your general surroundings.

Use your five senses,

Sense of sight,

See what's around you,

Your general area.

Open your sense of sound to hear what's not only going on within your room but even outside of your space.

Are there any smells that you notice?

A lingering taste in your mouth?

Can you feel the clothing,

The fabric of the clothing along your skin or maybe even feel the air quality of the air around you?

And then after you've noticed your general surroundings,

Gently close your eyes and start to turn your attention inwards.

Just start by noticing your physical body.

So starting at your toes and working your way up your limbs,

Just notice any body sensations that you're feeling currently right now.

Noticing if you have any aches or pains,

Stress or tension.

And as you're moving through your body scan,

Notice if at any point in time your thinking mind automatically wants to change or fix any of the sensations that you're feeling and noticing.

And if that becomes the case,

Take a moment to pause,

Recognize,

And without further questioning,

Just tell your mind that it's okay to allow the sensation to be there,

That it's okay to accept,

And it's okay to move on.

And then continue with your body scan.

And wherever you are in your body scan,

Take a moment to pause and just notice how far you come along and what's left to finish.

And then notice in your mindset if there's this desire or urge to finish,

To complete the body scan,

To continue on.

And if that's the case,

Tell yourself that it's okay to pause here,

It's okay to leave it unfinished,

That it's okay to be where you're at,

And that it's okay to move on.

And then turn your attention now to your breath,

Noticing the natural rate and rhythm of your inhales and exhales.

Notice the quality of the breath as it's moving in and out through your nostrils.

Notice where the breath expands into in your body.

And as you continue to observe your breath,

Notice if at any point in time your mind moves towards an urge or a desire to change or fix anything that you may feel is wrong within the breath.

And then take a moment to pause,

Notice that thought,

That urge,

That desire,

And then tell yourself that it's okay to breathe as is,

That the breath is just the way that it should be,

And then it's okay to continue to breathe the way that you were observing and noticing.

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And then please invite a deep inhale in through your nose.

And a gentle sigh out through your mouth.

And inhale through your nose.

A more audible sigh out through your mouth.

Seal your lips and deep inhale.

Lips stay sealed,

Deep exhale.

Inhale for the count of 4,

3,

2,

1.

Hold 4,

3,

2,

1.

Exhale 4,

3,

2,

1.

Pause 4,

3,

2,

1.

Inhale 4.

Pause 4.

Exhale 4.

Pause 4.

Inhale.

Pause.

Exhale.

Pause.

And inhale for 5,

4,

3,

2,

1.

Hold 5,

4,

3,

2,

1.

Exhale 5.

Pause 5.

Inhale 5.

Pause 5.

Exhale 5.

Pause 5.

Inhale 5.

Pause 5.

Exhale 5.

Pause 5.

Inhale 6,

5,

4,

3,

2,

1.

Pause 6.

Exhale 6.

Pause 6.

Inhale 6.

Pause 6.

Exhale 6.

Pause 6.

Inhale 6.

Pause 6.

Exhale 6.

Pause 6.

Continue to hold the breath out and just notice what you feel.

Notice any sensations arising or maybe you're just feeling the empty space.

Slowly through your nose,

Breathe in all the way to the very top.

At the top,

Pause and notice what you feel here.

Slowly breathe out through your nose.

At the bottom,

Hold,

Empty out all the way.

Very slowly breathe in.

Hold at the top.

Notice if you tensed up through your body,

Soften through those places.

Slowly let the breath go through your nose.

Pause at the bottom.

Like a glass of water being poured into,

Slowly let the breath in.

At the top,

Hold,

Soften your shoulders,

Your neck and your jaw.

Like the glass of water being poured out,

Slowly let the breath go.

Hold at the bottom.

Observe the mind,

Observe your body.

Tell yourself it's okay to be in this space.

Slow breath in.

Hold at the top.

Any tension building or arising,

Tell yourself it's okay.

Just observe and allow.

Exhale all the air out.

Hold the empty space at the bottom.

Slow breath in.

Pause where you are.

Slow breath out.

Hold at the bottom.

Now inhale only about half of the air in.

And hold.

And then inhale all the way to the top.

Hold.

And then exhale half of the air out.

Pause.

Empty out all the way.

Pause.

Again,

Inhale a half.

Hold.

Inhale the second half.

Hold.

And then exhale a half.

Pause.

Empty out all the way.

Pause.

Now inhale a third of the breath in.

Hold.

Inhale the second third.

Hold.

All the way up to the top.

Pause.

Exhale a third.

Hold.

Second third.

Hold.

Empty out.

And pause.

Again,

Inhale a third and hold.

Inhale a second third and hold.

Fill up to the top.

Hold at the top.

Again,

Notice any sensations arising,

Any tension building.

Be in a place of acceptance,

Knowing that it's okay.

Exhale a third.

Second third.

Last third.

Hold at the bottom.

Then inhale a third.

Second third.

All the way to the top.

Pause.

Exhale a third.

Second third.

Empty out.

Holding at the bottom,

Notice what you feel.

Inhale a third.

Second third.

Last third.

Hold.

Last time,

Exhale a third.

Second third.

Empty out.

Pause at the bottom.

Take a slow breath in all the way to the very top.

At the top,

Pause.

And let it out with a sigh.

Take a moment to do absolutely nothing and simply observe how you feel.

Notice any changes in your body,

Your breath.

Whatever those changes are or maybe no changes at all,

Allow yourself to be in an acceptance of what is and where you've come so far.

Knowing that it's okay to be here and it's okay to move on.

As you continue to let your breath move in a natural rate and rhythm,

Start to turn your attention to your head space.

Your thought space.

Just notice what thoughts are going through your head right now.

Notice the speed of the thoughts.

Notice how many thoughts may be going back and forth into the center of your mind.

And imagine that your head space was a vacuum chamber and the thoughts were whirling around the walls of that chamber like a tornado or a hurricane.

Then imagine yourself stepping into the center of that chamber,

The center of that room,

Watching and observing the thoughts around you,

Whirling and rushing around you.

Just notice what thoughts are prominent,

What thoughts are not so prominent.

Notice what thoughts may be from the past or maybe from the future.

Are the thoughts caused by fear,

Anxiousness,

Stress?

No right or wrong answers,

Just simply observing the thoughts much in the same way you observed your body sensations,

You observed your breath.

And as you observe this vacuum chamber of thoughts whirling around you,

Notice if your mind goes to that tendency or that urge or desire to want to change,

To want to suppress the thoughts,

Make them go away or slow down.

And instead of purposefully trying to make the thoughts slow down,

What if instead you allow yourself to be within that whirling of thoughts,

Accept the thoughts as they are,

Telling yourself it's okay to have these feelings,

These emotions whirling around,

That it's okay to be exactly where you are right now,

And that it's okay to not be carried away by the thoughts,

To give in to the storylines.

It's okay to simply just be the observer of your own mind.

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Notice if any new emotions have arisen,

Maybe frustration or irritation or impatience,

And know that those are okay emotions to feel too.

Just continue to observe,

Continue to tell yourself that it's okay to be here,

It's okay to not get involved,

Yet it's okay to notice if any new sensations,

Any new thoughts or emotions arise.

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Wherever you are,

Allow the image of the vacuum chamber of thoughts to simply dissolve.

Just see yourself sitting at the center of that room.

And then just take a moment to reflect on your experience with the vacuum chamber of thoughts imagery.

And as you reflect,

Pick one thought or one emotion that seemed the most prominent,

That stuck out to you the most,

Affected you the most,

Or maybe it kept coming back into your view and recurring.

And I want you to imagine that this thought or this emotion transforms into a ball of light.

And the light can be any color or any form.

But I want you to just imagine that this ball of light is right in front of you,

Sitting at the center of that room in your headspace.

And for the next few moments,

Just allow yourself to simply observe that ball of light that represents the emotion or the prominent thought from the previous exercise.

And as you're sitting and observing it,

Notice what new sensations or new emotions or thought arise.

Maybe there's a sense of fear,

Sense of sadness,

Aversion.

Maybe there's this urge again to want to change it,

Make it go away or fix it.

Just like we've been doing throughout this meditation,

Be in a place of acceptance of it.

Allow it to be there right in front of you.

Allow yourself to face it.

Tell yourself that it's okay to be with this thought,

That it's okay for this emotion to exist within your headspace,

Within your psyche.

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Reviews

It starts with about 10 minutes of directed breath work, then 15 minutes of unsupervised observing of thoughts, and finally, in closing, a directed extinguishing of thought. I would not call it an acceptance practice, i.e. it's quite far from open awareness, but it's useful for what it is.

That was nice… thank you. 🙏