Acceptance means to recognise the reality of something without reacting to it emotionally or judging it. It is a core part of Buddhist philosophy and especially of mindfulness. And it’s a state of mind many people would like to experience more often. If you’re one of them, simply try the meditation script below. And if you would like me to help you, schedule a meditation session with me today.
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Acceptance Meditation Script
1: Sit and meditate on your breath for five minutes to relax
For this meditation, we are deliberately targeting things that make us feel negative, things we judge (and later, times when people judge us).
We want to meditate on these things without reacting to them. To achieve that we will need to be relaxed. That’s why the first part of our script is all about relaxing.
Thankfully it is very easy to relax in meditation. Simply sit comfortably and focus on your breath as it moves around your body.
Aim to take at least 25 mindful breaths. This will stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system to produce feelings of calmness. In turn, this will help you with the rest of this meditation.
2:To accept the present moment, use this meditation script for being present.
3: Self-Acceptance:
- Visualize yourself in the way you don’t like or doing the thing you wish you didn’t do, the thing you judge yourself for. Clearly see yourself in this way.
- When thoughts come to mind label them as you would in Vipassana (e.g. if you experience a thought, mindfully observe the thought and say “This is just a thought”).
- Continue for five minutes. Now say, “I am human and imperfect, and I am okay with that”.
- You can also use this time to change your thoughts.
4: To accept other people
- Meditate on an image of the person you want to accept.
- When thoughts come to mind, label them and continue to meditate on them.
- While doing this, recognise that the person is human and imperfect as the rest of us. Say the mantra, “[Name of person] is human and imperfect, and I am okay with that.”
5: To feel acceptance from other people,
Visualize the times in your life when you most felt accepted. Now repeat the mantra, “I am loved and accepted.”
This final stage of our acceptance-meditation will leave you feeling wonderfully positive. It’s the perfect way to finish our meditation.
Visualize the times in your life when you felt completely accepted and loved. Truly bring these times to life in your mind; vividly imagine them. Now observe how you feel when you think about these things. Observe the feeling of love, compassion, and acceptance. This will leave you feeling elated.
And that’s it!
Congratulations! You completed our meditation. By using this script, you will cultivate the quality of acceptance, and you will start to feel more accepted yourself.
This method is based on a combination of Buddhist Vipassana, Metta (Loving Kindness) and Karuna. Studies show that Vipassana makes us less reactive to negative thoughts and feelings [1], Metta cultivates acceptance and non-judgment [2], and Karuna increases compassion [3].
By doing this, you are becoming less reactive to negative parts of yourself, more accepting, and more compassionate.
Final Thoughts
This script directly targets the fundamental nature of judgmentalism, of non-acceptance.
Acceptance is the ability to see things as they are without ignoring them, without emotional reactivity, and without judgment. For instance, if you fail to accept the fact that you are broke, what is happening in the mind is that you see yourself as broke, try to ignore it, feel negative about it, and judge it.
Flip this on its head and you get acceptance.
In other words, acceptance is: The ability to see something as it is, to hold an accurate picture of reality in your mind, to remain calm while thinking about it, and to not judge. This is precisely what we did in our meditation for acceptance.
It is important to also note that this is not about acceptance in the sense of giving in to something. Too often “acceptance” is used to mean “resignation”. It’s not about that. It is about being able to perceive things clearly without reacting to them.
As well as the meditation script above, I also recommend that you use Karuna meditation.
Note that if you are new to meditation you might also like to try my 40 best mindfulness exercises.
Paul Harrison BSc is a qualified meditation teacher who believes in genuine, authentic meditation. He has more than 15 years experience in teaching meditation and mindfulness both to individuals and to corporations and is the author of four books on meditation. He has been featured in Psychology Today, Breathe Magazine, Healthline, Psych Central and Lion’s Roar.
Paul studied meditation in beautiful Oxford, UK, and Hamilton Ontario Canada, and earned his degree at Staffordshire University.
Paul’s biggest inspirations include Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat Zinn, and Jack Kornfield.
“My goal is to provide the most authentic meditation sessions so you can harness the power of your own mind for personal transformation” – Paul Harrison