Acceptance Without Getting Stuck Meditation: Find Freedom

In this acceptance meditation, we'll experience and feel the true meaning of the word, not the one we often resist due to fear of getting "stuck" with whatever we're accepting. By feeling this difference and discovering the space and energy it affords us, we'll feel empowered to apply the two-step acceptance process going forward and benefit immensely from its simplicity.

Transcript

Hey,

I'm Cyrus.

Welcome to this meditation on acceptance without getting stuck.

There's a really good chance that you're not accepting things in your life because you're afraid that by accepting them,

You'll get stuck in them.

And not only could that not be further from the truth,

It's actually making your life way more difficult without you even realizing it.

So by the end of this session,

You're going to have direct experience and a felt sense of what it is to accept things without getting stuck in them.

But to the contrary,

Being able to move that energy and the aspects of your life way more easily and fluidly than ever before.

So if you're ready,

Find a comfortable position sitting upright in a chair with good posture,

But a relaxed balance in your position and close your eyes.

Take a deep and slow breath in through your nose,

Breathe into your belly and exhale slowly out through the mouth.

Now we're going to do two short breath holds just to slow things down a little bit.

Breathe deeply in through the nose,

Fill up the whole body with the breath.

Hold the breath gently at the top and feel your body head to toe as you hold the breath.

And now slowly release the breath and that pressure out through the mouth.

Last one,

Deepest one.

Breathe really slowly,

Really deeply,

All the way down to your feet.

Hold the breath at the top.

Be fully present with the sensations in the body in this moment as you hold and slowly release out through the mouth.

Relaxing your muscles a little bit as you decompress and now start to become aware of any thoughts that are going through your mind.

Observe them for a moment without judgment,

But don't get involved in them.

Just notice them for a moment.

And instead of judging,

Resisting,

Or trying to change your thoughts,

Instead as an experiment just practice accepting them as they are.

Don't overthink this.

Just practice experimenting with having an accepting attitude and energy towards the thoughts that are appearing in this moment.

And notice how there might be a sense of space that opens up around the thoughts.

The thoughts might still be there,

They might move and flow a little bit easier,

But either way notice how there's this sense of space around the thoughts.

Perhaps they feel a little bit less constricting,

A little bit less important,

And you're just noticing them in this greater space for a moment.

Notice how from this greater space it's easier to choose the mental direction you want to go in with your thoughts because you're not trying to change them actively.

You're not going against them.

You started with that step of acceptance which made it easier to open up space and shift where you want to go.

Just notice that for a moment.

And now drop into the body.

Notice any sensations in the body that you notice as you scan the body with your mental spotlight.

Notice any tension,

Discomfort,

Or feeling that you don't like that might be bothering you in some subtle or obvious way in the body.

Without judgment just notice where that's located for a moment.

And counter-intuitively instead of resisting or trying to change this feeling,

Practice as an experiment just accepting that uncomfortable sensation as it is without trying to change it.

Let go of the fear of getting stuck in it,

And just practice accepting and watching that sensation directly for a couple moments.

Notice how as you truly let go of control and resistance and shift into acceptance there's more space opening up around the sensation.

Notice how as that space opens up it becomes easier to breathe effortlessly into that sensation.

You might notice the energy can perhaps flow a little bit easier in that area.

And you might notice some of that sensation flowing through like a wave and dissolving or evaporating up out and through the body.

And to whatever extent it does,

Just allow it to flow and evaporate effortlessly.

Sometimes it flows,

Sometimes it stays where it is,

But notice how either way that acceptance brought a sense of spaciousness around the sensation.

That perhaps made it easier for things to flow or at least hopefully made it easier for you to relax into the sensation and into the moment just through the power of conscious acceptance with your mental spotlight.

And now shift your awareness to someone in your life who you love or have a positive feeling towards.

Someone that you have a relationship with but perhaps they have some quality that is difficult for you to accept.

Don't pick something that's overwhelming but simply perhaps irritating or bothersome.

And be aware of this person in your mind's eye and this quality that they possess that you struggle to accept at times.

Let go of the fear that if you accept this quality that this person will never change in the ways that perhaps you want them to.

And instead as an experiment practice just internally accepting this quality and all aspects of this person,

Even just in your mind in this moment as an experiment.

Let go of the thoughts and concentrate on sending an energy of acceptance maybe even love towards this person and all parts of them.

And notice how as you do an internal sense of space again may open up perhaps within yourself,

Perhaps within that joint energy between the two of you that you feel when they come to mind.

And notice how in this space you can still have appropriate boundaries,

You can still communicate as necessary,

But in doing so from this more accepting place notice how you can sense that the other person will be more receptive to whatever it is you're sharing from this more internally accepting place that you've chosen.

Notice if this feels even somewhat true.

And now be aware of some aspect part or quality of yourself that you struggle to accept or judge as negative in some way.

Again don't select anything that's overwhelming simply something that's a little bit bothersome.

And once more let go of the fear of getting stuck in that quality.

And you know the drill at this point,

Practicing it on yourself now,

Choosing to shine that energy of acceptance as an experiment towards that part of yourself now.

Notice how in the internal space that you're opening up with that acceptance you can hold space for that part of you without trying to get rid of it but it also allows you more freedom to effortlessly pivot towards the part of yourself that you choose to embody instead without needing to reject any part of yourself.

Instead you can relax into that greater space of acceptance of all parts of yourself and simply choose what you wish to focus on from there.

Notice and feel that difference.

And finally now be aware of some aspect of your life that isn't where you want it to be yet.

Maybe it's a situation you're dealing with,

Maybe it's a goal that you're working towards,

But be aware of something that's not overwhelming but simply causes you some degree of internal resistance when you think about how it's not where you want it to be in your life.

And notice how you might have been internally resisting this aspect of your life and where you're at with it without even fully realizing how deep that resistance runs.

Notice that subtle or obvious feeling of internal resistance in your body when you become aware of that thing that you've selected.

And practice shifting this now as you become attuned to this difference and rhythm of acceptance in real time and begin to shift into experimenting with shining that light and energy of acceptance onto that aspect of your life.

Release any fear of getting stuck where you're at with it and simply practice easing into a sense of conscious acceptance of where it happens to be at in this particular moment.

With each moment and breath of conscious acceptance,

Feel more space and energy and freedom opening up around your perception of that issue.

Embrace and invite that spacious feeling to surround that thing you're focusing on.

Notice how you're simply accepting that this is where it's at right now in this moment.

You're not accepting that this is how it will be in the future,

Just in this moment.

And as you perceive and feel that space opening up and the internal resistance falling away,

Notice how there might be more energy and creativity and flexibility that opens up around your perception of this thing.

Depending on what it is,

Maybe there's no action that you can take right now and it's simply a matter of focusing on the mental and emotional flexibility of choosing to let go of that internal resistance and suffering that comes with it and just accepting that that's the way it is right now,

If that is indeed the case with this particular situation.

But if you notice there is action that can be taken,

Notice how it might feel easier to do so from this place of space that you've opened up around it through conscious acceptance.

And notice how it's a two-step process.

First,

You take a moment to consciously accept and open up that space within your body,

Energy,

And mind.

And then the second step,

If it applies,

Is you choose to take action from that place of increased energy,

Space,

And acceptance.

As opposed to what we often do,

Which is skip the step of acceptance because we misunderstand it to mean that we'll get stuck in it.

And then for any amount of progress we make,

We often set ourselves back just as much from all the energy we burn through resisting things.

So remembering to practice going forward.

Step one,

Taking a moment to consciously accept and breathe into the space that opens up internally.

And then step two,

Choosing to act or not act from that place of increased space and effortless energy.

Take a moment now to commit to this two-step process in your mind going forward as a habit if it's helpful now.

And when you feel ready,

Allow your eyes to open and come back at your own pace,

Bringing that sense of space and that one thing at a time rhythm of presence back into your day.

Remembering to practice that new two-step habit and this track as often as it's useful to you until you get the hang of it.

Feel free to share this with anyone you think it might resonate and I hope you have an amazing day.

Reviews

This is a really good practice though it went too fast for me to find the less challenging parts of others and myself to work with. I came to it with the most challenging parts and struggled to shift. Ironically , what I’m trying to accept is intolerance in someone else and then the urge to not tolerate that person for their intolerance. I will try it again.

Wow 🤩 I found it this surprisingly effective, maybe because or despite not having had any defined expectations (Exploring new meditations and awareness techniques is part of my newly established 3 hour rule routine 😉) . I can’t quite find the right words, but it made me feel lighter, more uplifted and optimistic. I will definitely come back to this. Thank you for sharing 🦚

I feel like this changed my life and is so helpful for my current situation, thank you so much

Lovely practice! Thank you for sharing this! Blessings

Thank you so much for this. It is exactly what I needed to hear. The non acceptance of certain current situations has been causing me alot of grief but I just didn't know how to move forward. As you say, I have been scared that to accept means I I'll get stuck there because I've said to myself it's OK. Fighting and resistance locks things in place, acceptance frees up space to consider next steps. Beautiful 😍