Word of the day: acceptance

acceptance

acceptance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Word of the day: acceptance. “Accept – then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it…this will miraculously transform your whole life” ~ Eckhart Tolle

In working with the present moment, one of the qualities you can cultivate is acceptance. You may be familiar with the opposite of acceptance, resistance. In fact, you may encounter it on your mat, when you are attempting a forward bend, and your hamstrings say, “hold on a minute, not ready! not willing! not able” and instead of waiting or backing off, you push through…maybe injure yourself.

“Why are some people weakened by stress, while others gain strength from it? Basically the answer is simple: those who know how to transform a hopeless situation into a new flow activity that can be controlled will be able to enjoy themselves, and emerge stronger from the ordeal” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

This is a quality that needs to be practiced (usually anything does) to see the results. There are times when we have to warrior it up to get through something, and these are times when our perspective either hinders or supports..

cultivating presence

Cultivating presence through yoga is a multi faceted process. I mentioned mindfulness the other day and suggested an exercise on my Yoga Mind Cd to help you along on the journey.

Eckhart Tolle is a wonderfully inspired and inspiring author on the subject of presence and the present moment; “Emotion in itself is not unhappiness. Only emotion plus an unhappy story is unhappiness”

presence

presence

Alertness, awareness, mindfulness are all words that require us to be with – be present with- experience. If you can be quiet enough inside to recognize what is happening (whether in your head, your body, your environment) you can react less and respond more. “Awareness is the greatest agent of change” (Eckhart Tolle, A NEW EARTH)

It is, of course, way more common to have a scattered mind, where, although the brain is active, it is unfocused typically, and just basically follows one thought after another. This creates stories and layers of confusion in the mind, as well as doubts and fears. On the other hand, the calm state, or sattvic state (you may have felt in touch with this after deep relaxation) will foster seeds of awareness, discrimination, positivity and an equilibrium which is less inclined to react and more inclined to respond (from clarity).