This term we have been referencing the book ‘Full Catastrophe Living’ by Jon Kabatt Zinn, the following is an excerpt from the chapter on Attitudinal Foundations for Mindfulness as read in class with a comment from me at the end.

Bedford Park by Harriet-Whitlock James

Acceptance

Acceptance means seeing things are they actually are in the present. If you have a headache, accept that you have a headache. If you are overweight, why not accept it as a description of your body at this time? Sooner or later we have to come to term’s with things as they are and accept them, whether it is a diagnosis of cancer or learning of some-one’s death. Often acceptance is only reached after we have gone through very emotion-filled periods of denial and then anger. These stages are a natural progression in the process of coming to terms with what is. They are all part of the healing process.

However, putting aside for the moment the major calamities that usually take a great deal of time to heal from, in the course of our daily lives we often waste a lot of energy denying and resisting what is already fact. When we do that, we are basically trying to force situations to be the way we would like them to be, which only makes for more tension. This actually prevents positive change from occurring. We may be so busy denying and forcing and struggling that we have little energy left for healing and growing and what we may have may be dissipated by our lack of awareness and intentionality.

My thoughts

It’s good to read these things and understand more but nothing beats actually feeling the change for ourselves when we accept and relax and let things flow. In our yoga practice we have the opportunity to try it (acceptance) and become practiced and familiar with the effects so that we start to notice the same feelings arise when we are resisting and closing up in our everyday lives. Ultimately, cultivating the courage to stay open and relaxed and allow life to flow a little more easily. In my experience this is easier said than done (understatement!) but feels so liberating that for me it continues to be well worth the effort.