What One Yoga Class Taught Me About Acceptance & Why We Should Embrace It
Do you ever hear something — little nuggets of insight that you want so hard to remember — and think to yourself, “hold on- can you send that to me in a PowerPoint, please, so I may study what you said?” (perhaps that is just the nerd in me- I love PowerPoints, especially making them). This exact thing happened to me in yoga this morning.
There I was — moving through the movements, focusing on my breath and never letting my mind wander (wink, wink), listening with such eager zeal, hanging onto each word with intent, only to then get caught up thinking to myself how I need to remember what is being said that I could not fully pay attention to what was next said. Phew- what a run on sentence!
Acceptance — what a funny word. According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word acceptance is defined as, “the act of accepting something or someone: the fact of being accepted.” The definition makes it seem so easy to put these words into action. Yet, why is it, often times, so hard to accept things or people for what it is or who they are? Why do we feel we need to change the narrative if we do not like something as it is? We see a situation one way- through our own lenses- and instead of taking a step back to accept the situation, we feel the need to try and steer the narrative into another direction. Moreover, we find people to hop on board with us, to believe the way we “think” something should be. But, I wonder, who is to say the way we “think” that situation should be is, in fact, the right way? Maybe the way it is, truly, is the way it is meant to be and we need to change our viewpoint, wipe off our lenses, and accept it for what it is.
We have to stop letting our egos control our very thoughts and actions. The ego is only trying to feel important and is not necessarily right. The ego toys between the conscious and the unconscious- popping into our conscious as that birdie on our shoulder saying, “hey, remember me? I am here, I am important, I need to be right, I am better than X and X.” Let that $hit go! The more we can begin to accept ourselves, accept others, and situations, the more we can relax and come to place of gratitude.
We cannot control anyone else and this is a lesson that I have learned many, many times. The more I have been able to accept others’ actions, the more I am able to find happiness within myself because I am not trying to change their narrative. I can control myself — my reactions, my actions, etc. — I can choose to move forward from that person, situation, etc. as I wish, not as I feel I need to in a response-like manner.
Stop stressing over stress! The more we can stay present, in this exact moment, the more peace we are able to create within our reality. The to-do list will still be there, that conversation will still need to be had, the errands will still get done. But, when we stress about the stress, we are setting ourselves up for an emotional overhaul that is not at all serving us and, can even manifest itself into physical diseases. Stop, pause, breathe!
Judgment — we are all guilty of judging others and judging ourselves. I will 100% admit that I was in that space during this very yoga class that I am writing about. You see, I come from a competitive background (I was a competitive figure skater so being in the spotlight was second nature to me) and when I arrived onto my mat, I wanted to be the best yogi in the room- subconsciously. Whoa- did that sentiment hit me hard during class. As I was listening to our instructor talk about acceptance, non judgment, non competitiveness with our neighbors, the ego and thinking we are better than others… I wanted to crawl out of the room for the shame I felt in my heart. Of course, on the outside, no one knew what was internally happening. Why did I feel I needed to be the best? And, what would that even mean, anyway? “The best.” There were no yoga trophies being handed out after class! We are all in that room together, for those sixty minutes to better OURSELVES, not to be better than anyone else. I feel shame even writing this paragraph! However, it was a lesson learned.
So, to sum this up, here the top lessons from that yoga class:
- Acceptance: Accept yourself for who you are. Accept others for who they are. Accept situations for what they are. We may not like it but we can learn to accept it…
- Gratitude: Be grateful for those situations for they are teaching us lessons. Be grateful for those people in our lives for they help us appreciate those whom love us.
- Leave the Ego at the Door: The ego merely wants to feel important and wants to be better than the next person. We are not in competition with the next person- stay in our lanes. They do their thing and we do ours.
- Stop Stressing: Pause, take a breathe, and let it out. The more we “stress about stress” the more we angst we are creating. This does not serve us.
- Judgment: We are all unique. We all have beautiful gifts to offer this world. When we judge others, we are lowering our vibration. Who is to say the way so and so does something is wrong? We are viewing this simply from our own clouded viewpoint.
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