Print Within mindfulness, much revolves around allowing, accepting, and letting go of emotions. When you encounter emotions while practicing mindfulness, kindly invite them in. This requires an open attitude. How does it actually feel to allow fear or experience stress instead of resisting or getting lost in them?
When you observe your emotions with gentleness, without getting caught up in their content or intensity, you won’t be carried away by them, and you can recognize them as events passing by. See your emotions as waves that rise and then subside once they reach their peak. Even negative emotions deserve to be acknowledged. Inviting them and allowing them often brings space and new insights. The following poem by Rumi beautifully illustrates this:
The Guest House – Rumi
This being human is a guesthouse.
Every morning, a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
a flash of insight comes
as an unexpected guest
Welcome them all and receive them hospitably!
Even if they are a crowd of worries
that violently sweep all the furniture in your house
Still, treat each guest with respect.
They might be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice
Meet them at the door laughing
And invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes
Because each has been sent
As a guide from beyond.
Allowing What Is, by Sitting in Attention
Below are described 4 steps of an exercise that helps you to allow what is. You can do this by sitting or lying down in a comfortable place, closing your eyes, and controlling your breathing. You can also play soft, soothing music. Choose what feels most pleasant to you.
Step 1: Pay attention to what predominates at the moment, such as a sound, feeling, or thought. What is drawing your attention the most right now?
Step 2: Notice how you deal with what you experience. Do you reject it or find it pleasant? Trying to hold onto what is pleasant or pushing away what is unpleasant are both opposite of acceptance. When you do this, notice it and then return to the present moment.
Step 3: Use each exhale to open yourself to what is happening, and say to yourself: it’s okay. Whatever it is, it’s okay. Acceptance is not resignation but a way to fully allow problems to penetrate you.
Step 4: By accepting what is, you create space for what is happening instead of trying to change it.
Quote
Grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change,
the courage to change what I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
– Reinhold Niebuhr
Sources
- https://centrumvoormindfulness.nl
- https://www.happywithyoga.com/mindfulness/mindfulness-uitleg/
- https://www.radboudcentrumvoormindfulness.nl/media/1366/
- https://www.happywithyoga.com/mindfulness/wetenschappelijk-bewezen-voordelen-van-mindfulness/
