Hello,
Thank you for joining me today.
You may or may not have a regular sitting practice right now,
But I hope this session will be of value to you.
Perhaps any mindful or meditation practice could be said to embrace the qualities of awareness and acceptance.
And perhaps these are also useful qualities in our lives.
I already have one recording where I focused on awareness in a seated practice and awareness in our lives.
And today I'm going to look at acceptance in a seated practice and in our lives.
This gives us much more opportunity for practice and perhaps to the possibility of change.
Although that would never be the aim of a meditation practice.
You meditate because you meditate.
Continuing with today's focus on acceptance.
What does this really mean in a sitting practice?
We can understand acceptance of a situation or event in our lives and we usually think of that as a mental thing,
Something that happens with the mind.
But can we take that a bit further and feel how acceptance affects the body?
I think so.
And that's what we'll be exploring together today,
Embodying acceptance.
In particular,
We'll be focusing on the full appreciation and acceptance of a pleasant feeling.
Trying to discover what acceptance really feels like.
So that when there comes a time when there's a less pleasant feeling and we would like to accept it,
We know how to go about that.
We've got some ideas in our toolkit.
Sitting now,
Ideally with your feet on the ground and a straight back,
Take a few deep breaths to settle into position and then return to your natural breathing.
Place the fingertips of one hand very lightly on your chest,
On the breastbone,
Over your heart.
Let them rest there.
Keep the touch gentle,
Even tender,
To remind you that this is a time for the acceptance of how things are.
Let your awareness spread in the body and notice a place that feels relaxed.
Let's say the palm of your other hand.
Move that hand if you like so that it's comfortably supported.
If that's not a good place for you,
Choose somewhere else.
Perhaps the pads of the toes or the soles of the feet on the ground.
Having chosen where you're going to focus on pleasant feelings,
We'll continue.
Notice what feelings are in your relaxed hand.
I'll keep referring to a relaxed hand.
Just continue with whatever you've chosen.
Perhaps it feels heavy,
Warm.
Perhaps there's a sense of it being alive.
As you do this,
Let a gentle smile come onto your face.
Is this connected in some way to your chest?
Now let yourself be immersed in accepting all the feelings in your relaxed hand,
Not fixing on them but letting them change.
Let this acceptance spread from its home in the compassion of the heart.
The fingertips on the chest and the gentle smile remind you that this tenderness of the heart is available to you now.
Under this benevolent attention,
You are likely to find that feelings expand and deepen.
Space and time seem to open and stretch.
This is the sort of discovery we can make when we're dwelling on pleasant feelings.
Continue now as long as you like.
You might want to pause this recording,
Just keeping your attention on the embodiment of pleasant feelings.
You can take your hand away from the chest now or whenever suits you.
Let the smile come and go naturally and don't worry if you struggle with the smiling.
I do too.
So either pause now or continue.
This sitting with pleasant feelings,
It's a light gentle practice.
We shouldn't have heavy attention,
Heavy focus on our feelings.
However,
You may well be distracted by feelings of discomfort or pain.
Strange,
Isn't it,
That they're always more compelling?
Be aware when this happens.
I noticed too that the mind quickly engages with these unpleasant feelings,
Asking questions like,
What's happening?
Why?
What should I do?
Was your mind quieter when you were able to sit with a pleasant feeling,
I wonder?
I think that the mind amplifies the challenging feelings,
Physical or emotional,
With the mindset of non-acceptance.
Non-acceptance is of course rejection,
A rejection of your feelings.
Do adjust your posture or take a few deep breaths,
Then return to your tender heart,
Gentle smile and pleasant feeling.
Do this as many times as you need to.
There are no prizes for doing it only a few times and none for doing it many,
Many times.
Noticing and returning are all that matters.
The familiarization with the embodiment of acceptance can also be used with a simple movement,
The sort of thing that you might do in a Chinese exercise,
Qigong class.
I'll describe one here.
Standing now,
With your feet parallel,
A comfortable distance apart,
Shoulder width,
Let's say.
Transfer your weight from one foot to the other.
Not 100% of the weight so that you're balancing,
80% of the weight.
So both feet are still in good contact with the ground.
As you transfer onto one foot,
Arrive in it with your attention.
Let 80% of your weight drop into it.
Feel the sensation of the foot being flat on the ground and enjoy that secure relationship.
Feel your body stacked above the foot so that it's aligned with gravity.
So in that brief description,
Brief exercise,
We already have at least three pleasant feelings to explore as we continue shifting weight.
They are the comfort in each foot being flat on the ground and carrying 80% of the weight,
Feeling aligned over that foot,
Or enjoying a smooth transition from one foot to the other.
If you're happy with one or all of these,
Then pause the recording and carry on enjoying these pleasant feelings.
Or you can continue and introduce a more secure relationship with the earth by exploring the feeling that as you transfer the weight from one foot to another,
It goes under the surface of the ground.
That sounds impossible,
But just try it.
Another option is to coordinate breath with the movement.
Inhale when 80% of your weight is on one foot,
Exhale as it moves across to the other foot.
Then inhale when 80% of your weight is on the other foot.
I particularly enjoy coordinating the weight shift with the exhale so that the shift continues over the entire exhale.
I'm sure there are more pleasant feelings to discover in this simple movement and I hope that just resting awareness on the movement will put a gentle,
Natural smile on your face.
Don't forget the smile.
It encourages acceptance,
That is the entire focus of this recording.
In my previous recording on awareness,
I suggested that you explore awareness in your everyday life,
Again with acceptance.
I strongly encourage you to do that.
In particular,
Notice whether relaxing into pure and simple acceptance plays a part in your life.
Then crucially,
Become familiar with how you embody that acceptance.
Is there a smile?
Does your heart soften in your chest?
Do you breathe more easily or something else?
And if it is not so easy to find acceptance,
Find easy ways to practice.
If you left the washing up overnight,
Accept that rather than rushing to do it the next morning.
Have compassion for the tired self that left it.
Many,
Many situations can be the subject of our acceptance.
Many more than we use at the moment.
Notice also whether there are ways that you might sabotage acceptance.
The if and but words are pointers to this sabotage.
Notice when you're thinking trains of thought like this would have been perfect if my friend had been here or I could have relaxed and enjoyed this but the music was too loud.
Does this sound familiar to you?
Watch out for it.
But no need for self criticism.
Just embrace the practice in your daily life as I've accepted here,
As I've suggested here.
Saying goodbye for today,
I hope you've enjoyed this introduction to acceptance.
We need this familiarity before we can turn to the thorny subject of rejection.
That will be the subject of a number of upcoming recordings.
Until then,
Go safely and go well.
