Seven Stages of Yoga – Stage 3 – Self Acceptance – Meditation

We tend to fight against fear, guilt, shame, anger, sorrow. We tend to resist what we perceive as negativity or things we don’t like, situations that create a change we feel may cause dis-ease or an undesirable outcome. This consumes so much energy and brain space, ruling our lives from a place of fear base beliefs. There is a slogan that states what we resist, persists. Creating a tug-a-war with our aversion to pain we call in yoga Dvesa, one of the mental emotional afflictions called the Kleshas. Peace comes when we can accept we have no power over people, places, things and situations we cannot change or control.

Serenity Prayer:

God grant me the serenity

to accept the thing I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Acceptance opens the door to learning. To approach practice with a beginners mind, to be open to receive what needs to be seen, experienced and felt, then to deeply understand in a supportive practice allowing the loving space you create to assist your growth. Life is always changing, there is always some new situation, person that brings stuff up in ourselves which becomes an opportunity to practice self-awareness (dissolving Avidya), understanding (dissolving Asmita) and then to gift ourselves a tender space to feel those old and new roots that get triggers we find an ability to accept (dissolving Dvesa) empowering ourselves to make wiser decisions to best navigate our lives with Grace. This is the next stage of Yoga to take wise action in a disciplined practice shaping our Karma (choices, actions)

Acceptance is about trust, even faith and embraced by love that opens the pathway that leads us through our spiritual journey of embodiment, one day at a time. Acceptance profoundly affects our serenity. When we are serene, resting in that enduring calm centre, we experience this Nirodha, profound stillness (Khaya Nirodha – Physical, Prana Nirodha – Energetic, Citta Vrtti Nirodha – Mental) and we become fully absorbed (Samadhi) where there is a removal of separateness of us and other, we awaken to being a part of everything and everyone and it of us. This is the dawning of our true Wisdom arising leading us further down the stages of Yoga to becoming Self-Actualised  

In this practice we will work with resistance to what is and see is as if we are expressing NO to what is. Then actively change that resistance to YES to what is as a practice that will guide us to Self-Acceptance. Yes, this belongs. Yes, this too. YES YES YES.