How To Practice Self Acceptance

We hear a lot of mixed messages in our culture around self acceptance these days. Self acceptance has become a flowery concept and something that feels unattainable to so many. I want to simplify what self acceptance can be.

Self acceptance can be embracing whatever is present right now and whoever you are in this moment.

If you don’t feel like you can love yourself in this moment, accept that and you are practicing self acceptance. You are accepting the part of you that has a difficult time experiencing self love. When we accept and embrace whatever is present for us, that is when our emotions and sensations can soften and relax as we release any internal battle of fighting what is. You are never ever doing anything “wrong” or “bad.” You are not something to be fixed. You are whole and complete just as you are, which means no matter your habits or patterns or reactions you can accept you.

It is often the judgment that arises around whatever is present that perpetuates the internal dialogue or ways of interacting with ourselves. We tell ourselves that we dislike this or that about us and then judge ourselves for not embracing all of us. This can keep us in a vicious cycle of self hate and judgment. If you’re having a moment where you’re lacking self compassion and empathy, you can simply label that instance for what it is and accept that a part of you is having a difficult time sensing self appreciation. That is self acceptance in action. We can befriend our more difficult emotions and thoughts so that they can guide us in what we are needing physically and emotionally. And the moment we settle into what is, that is when our experience of ourselves can shift and change.

We can think of a child running and playing and they suddenly fall down and skin their knee.  They immediately start crying. If met by a loving parent or caretaker letting them know everything is alright, they then pick themselves up a minute later and keep playing. We can interact with our more difficult thoughts and emotions the same way. We can view them as a small child just wanting to know everything is going to be alright and we get to be the loving presence parts of us are needing. Lack of self love, comparisons, self disappointment are going to arise on our life journey again and again. Self acceptance includes accepting ourselves in our harder moments just as much as the joyful ones.