Acceptance

In the book, “Full Catastrophe Living,” Jon Kabat-Zinn discusses the Attitudinal Foundations of Mindfulness. Today I will focus on the concept of Acceptance

Acceptance

As human beings, we are all faced with pleasant and unpleasant experiences. We naturally want more of the pleasant experiences and less of the unpleasant. The issue is that unpleasant experiences arise even when we don’t want them to.

Constantly resisting experiences is exhausting and unproductive

As I look back on the years of my life before I was introduced to mindfulness meditation and the foundations that underlie the practices, I realize that my existence was inundated with resistance to unpleasant experiences, whether an event, thought, or emotion. It turns out that the more we try to push away an experience, the stronger it becomes. Constantly resisting experiences is exhausting and unproductive.

Acceptance of present moment experiences

When I began practicing mindfulness about ten years ago, there was one concept that profoundly impacted the way I lived: acceptance of present moment experiences. There is an emphasis on the present moment—accepting an experience as it is in this particular moment.

This does not mean that a situation will always be this way or that we should give up trying to change a situation. To the contrary, when we practice acceptance in the present moment we free up energy to see more possibilities. We may notice some clarity in our minds and even less tension in the body. There is freedom in this acceptance.

Practice:

Bringing acceptance to daily life

Find a comfortable position and take a few deep breaths. Bring to mind a situation in your personal life where you may have noticed some resistance to what is happening (perhaps an external circumstance in your life, or something internal such as a feeling or bodily sensation that you would rather not have). Choose something small, not the most challenging situation in your life. Take a moment to state the facts about this situation and accept them as true in this particular moment. Sit with this for a moment. What happens in your mind? Do you notice any changes in your body?

Bringing acceptance to patient care

Find a comfortable position and take a few deep breaths. Bring to mind a challenging patient situation where you may have noticed some resistance to what is happening (perhaps an external circumstance related to a patient, or something internal such as a your feelings about the situation). Take a moment to state the facts about this situation and accept them as true in this particular moment. Sit with this for a moment. What happens in your mind? Do you notice any changes in your body?

Acceptance can take time. Start small. Accept what is true in this moment when you can. You can build up to more challenging situations with practice.