Mindful Acceptance

It dawned on me the other day how resistant I can be to experiencing the discomfort of both physical and emotional experiences. 

Yes yes yes.. sometimes it is easy to sit and patiently wait for a pain to resolve itself (such as the shingles on my shoulder right now). Or confidently know that the emotional nostalgic feeling I am feeling will dissipate as I am moved by whatever life is bringing me to. 

It though is a completely different experience to accept what is going on with absolute openness to the present experience, not just a means to an end. 

I am talking about undiluted and complete acceptance, with no resistance. Pure surrender to the moment! 

A mindful acceptance of the present moment with an awareness that life is ever changing, and because it is ever changing the experience will change to something greater if and when I allow it. 

Inducing more mindfulness into our life is a medicine that can be both heightening and frightening. 

The other night I had a friend text message me. She was inquiring about meditation and in my half glanced read I thought she was reaching out to me about a problem she was having with medication. Thankfully I was wrong and she was wanting to learn more about my meditation practice. It dawned on me then and there how similar the words meditation and medication are. And it also became apparent that this simple experience was another invitation for me to ACCEPT my imperfection without judgement. To really see the opportunity to not take myself so seriously; ACCEPTING my humanness with love and empathy. 

Gratefully, this experience also led me to an epiphany.. 

Meditation is a type of Medication! 

How does meditation play into self-acceptance? Is it through this centering practice of quieting my mind or hearing what my mind is saying that I have become more aware of myself. This awareness though has heightened my everyday experiences, yet it still has not brought me to the yogic glory of pure surrender and acceptance to all life experiences. 

I wonder, what will it take to get myself to this pure acceptance? 
How can I break the patterns of resisting painful experiences? 

I know this.. through these experiences it is clear that self-acceptance is right in line with self-love. It plays into kindness, compassion, and validation that I have for myself and how I show up to my life experiences. 

When I hold myself in resistance that is where my suffering lies. 
I resist because of fear that it will be too much for me handle.
 I resist because I think it won't go away. 
I resist because I don't know what it will be like once I move through it to the other side. 

Accepting this resistance too is apart of my journey. 

I am committing to deepening my self acceptance and self love through experiencing the present moment as mindfully as the moment will allow....

 And I invite you to join me.