Does practising mindfulness mean I have to unconditionally accept everything in my life?
Not quite. Acceptance in mindfulness does not mean that we lie down, yield and passively accept our life as it is. It definitely does not mean that we need to like everything or pretend all our feelings and thoughts are nice.
Accepting means ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด our experience without immediately reacting to it.
If you have ever tried to stop yourself from thinking, you might have noticed how hard that is. Trying to control the mind is not a reliable path to calm.
Brushing away our feelings; convincing โitโs nothing.โ or that โwe are sillyโ is not very kind nor effective. Our feelings are valid.
So, instead of avoiding, numbing or trying to change how we feel โ we pause and recognise things as they are.
When we begin to see feelings as feelings and thoughts as thoughts, we have taken the first important step to respond to them better.
Acceptance eventually leads to freedom because we come to realise that for us to feel peace does not require changing who we are or suppressing our feelings. We can let go of the battle with the busy worry-prone mind too.
If youโd like to feel more peace in your life, and let go of reactive stress patterns ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ฎ ๐ญ:๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. There are no strings attached but it might just be that one crucial step to better wellbeing ๐ท
P.s. You may want to have a look at my 8-week mindfulness course starting in September: https://www.southcoastmindfulness.com/mbsr
It focuses on these exact topics! ๐