Radical acceptance is one of the most profound acts of self-compassion we can offer ourselves. It’s the willingness to fully acknowledge the totality of our experience without judgment, resistance, or the need to change it.

Radical acceptance invites us to notice our experience and turn to it with kindness, rather than criticism or judgment. 

In this process, as we slow down and notice our internal experience, we become more aware of the present moment - our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, sensations, and patterns as they really are. It frees us from the grip of the stories we tell ourselves about how things should be, allowing us to tend to what actually is with a kind and open heart.

Inspired by Tara Brach’s Radical Acceptance Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha

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Every moment holds an opportunity to release suffering. With intentional practice we can remain present long enough to see our choices: run from the discomfort or walk through it.

Exiting when discomfort arises reinforces our habitual emotional reaction. Leaning into the discomfort we can interrupt this old habit to fully embrace the experience with compassion.

At Awakened Higher Self, together we can consciously become aware of each moment and explore sitting with what feels uncomfortable and makes us want to run the other way. Allowing emotions to be fully expressed liberates us from the chains of our triggers.

Quote from: Taking the Leap By Pema Chödrön @anipemachodron

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In the process of friending our emotions, we open ourselves up to see all that is there. We sit with it, we see it, we talk to it, we write about it, we hear the stories it tells us, we see the ways it has it impacted us, and see the harm it caused. And then, when we are ready, we can look to it for wisdom. This process happens many times, each time seeing something different, learning something new.

Quote: David Nichtern in Awakening From the Daydream Reimagining the Buddha’s Wheel of Life (page 125)

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Perhaps the most significant benefit of meditation is creating space to explore our inner landscape. When we pause, we enter a peaceful stillness that can only be found by turning inward. We are creating space for our innate wisdom and connection to our true being to be present. Here we can release attachment to our worldly thoughts and listen to our soul speak.

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Give your affirmations life by having fun with them!

Affirmations don’t have to be chanted or spoken out loud to be effective. Any expression of thought is powerful. Try these creative ways to integrate affirmations into your daily practice.

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Every thought is an opportunity to teach our brain a new way of being. How we talk to ourselves can impact our emotions, thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Affirmations allow us to consciously choose words to create change. Over time, affirmations can help to reprogram our mind.

Some ways to work with affirmations:

*In a difficult moment, repeat a helpful phrase

*Speak it out loud in front of a mirror

*Sitting meditation with a mala bead

*Visualize what you are affirming and imagine how it feels to embody the affirmation.

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Compassion: showing kindness and understanding to self and/or others.

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We are experiencing another collective trauma. It is okay to put yourself first. Pay attention to how your body, thoughts, and emotions respond to information. Be gentle with yourself. It is okay to create a space of safety by limiting social media content. Your mental health is worth it.

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Grounding is a way to focus on the present moment. It can be a helpful coping tool for anxiety, panic, high stress, intense emotions, or for calming and relaxation.

5-4-3-2-1 grounding uses your five senses to bring the attention out of your internal world and into the here and now. It pulls your mental energy into the physical world, away from unpleasant thoughts, memories, worries, or flashbacks.

5-4-3-2-1 grounding:-Can be repeated as many times as needed-No one has to know you are doing it -You can pick one to focus on in greater detail -Easy for kids and adults to remember -Can be paired with the breath -Can make it interactive

If possible, it is helpful to say it out loud. If you cannot pin point a sensory item, name and visualize your favorite. For example, if you cannot name a taste, what is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Or it might helpful to create a sensory taste by chewing gum or a sour candy. You also can make it a game by finding different types of each sense; find a soft item or instead of naming five things you can see in front of you, try going to a different room or outside.

5 things you can see (Ex: notebook, phone, card, door)

4 things you can feel or touch with your body (Ex: chair, blanket, soft socks, cold fresh air)

3 things you can hear (Ex: phone ring, cough, wind chime)

2 things you can smell (Ex: flowers, candle, detergent)

1 thing you can taste (Ex: drink, food, gum)

*This post is for educational purposes only.

Many hold the idea that they cannot endure the experience of suffering. Any time suffering arises, the antidote is to run in the opposite direction. But does that really stop suffering or are we just bouncing from experience to experience chasing an unrealistic view of happiness?

When we accept that suffering is a part of the human experience, we no longer have to run in the opposite direction clinging to temporary pleasure. Instead we can compassionately witness the suffering. Witnessing allows us to get up close in the face of suffering and see what is there. We can lean into the suffering, see what it is showing us, see where the roots are planted, and transform our relationship to it.

Source: Inspired by Buddhist concepts of suffering and happiness.

Quote: Sharon Salzberg from LovingKindness

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This is the secret – meeting emotions with tenderness instead of resistance. Doing the opposite of what we have been conditioned to do.

Rather than fleeing from the uncomfortable, we can pause and welcome it with curiosity. When we pause, we open ourselves to what is present.

When we welcome what is, we become open and spacious. When we resist, we become tight and constricted. Repressing holds onto the very thing we have an aversion to. Openness creates space for it to pass. Emotions need space to move, transform, and leave the body.

Curiosity shines a light on the unkown. When we shine a light in a dark room, suddenly the room isn’t so scary. We can look around, check under the bed, the closet and be curious about what we find. But when we tip toe around in the dark, anything can frighten us; even an empty room can be so scary that we run the other way.

I invite us to be curious.

Quote: Pema Chödrön from Taking the Leap (page 69)

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Connecting with your breath is the first step in building a relationship with your internal world. When we slow down to notice the breath, we can become more conscious of our current state and present moment.

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What can your breath offer you right now, in this moment?

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How often do we hide who we are because we are afraid of being seen? What could shift if we took up space with our voice and body?

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How we react in the moment is often a reflection of our past experiences. When we are activated, our nervous system is not only reacting to the current moment but previous similar emotional experiences. If our reactions are not proportionate to the current experience, our nervous system may be responding to previous threats. Unconsciously, we may also be playing out old conditioned patterns from earlier wounds.

Together, in therapy, we can increase awareness, unpack the source of activation, speak to the wounded parts of us, learn how and why our body responds the way it does, and make conscious changes to safely be present in the moment.

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We get caught in cycles – behaviors, emotional activation, patterns, thoughts, relationships, whatever we keep doing or keeps happening that does not serve us.

Each turn around the cycle offers an opportunity to be curious, create space to turn inward, gain awareness, and tend to our own needs. If the cycle continues, we can choose to see it as an invitation to go even deeper and learn even more about what the moment has to offer. Each time we do this, the cycle is never the same because we have changed.

This process is an internal long game that is always shifting in some way. Even when we think we are stuck, behind the scenes our unconscious is evolving.

We have much to gain when we witness, learn, and shift in a new way until we understand the purpose and feel safe to transform out of the cycle.

The journey can be emotionally exhausting AND full of wisdom when we take a step back and see it with an inward perspective.

Working together, we spend time exploring patterns and cycles, some that aren’t even yours to begin with.

*This post is for educational purposes only.