SELF ACCEPTANCE

Accept yourself as you are right now

Although you are a spiritual being with infinite potentiality, you can manifest in your life only that much of the infinite you can accept in your own consciousness. In other words, your experiences in life will always be consistent with what you believe to be true about yourself, including your ability and worthiness to live the life of your dreams.

Who you are and what you do is not the same

One of the most important insights you can have is the understanding that who you are and what you do is not the same. For many people, this is a difficult distinction to make. For example, how do you feel when you say to yourself “I know that who I am is spiritually perfect”? If you are like most people, the little voice in your head immediately reminds you of all the things you have done which suggest that you are everything but perfect! However, who you are at the being level is completely separate from what you do. You are a human being, not a human doing.

What you do (behaviour) is changing all the time. Who you are (a spiritual being created in the image and likeness of our Creator) is eternal and changeless. The missing link in many self-image teachings is that you don’t change your self image by rejecting who you are, but by discovering who you are. And who you are is already spiritually whole, complete and perfect.

Self-acceptance is simply an agreement with yourself to accept yourself as you are right now. Accepting yourself unconditionally does not mean you have to approve of everything about yourself or that you are indifferent to change or improvement. It simply means you recognise the need for further work. Each of us is doing the best we can based on our current level of awareness. We are here in physical form to evolve and grow and as we raise our level of consciousness, our behaviour will change automatically.

Exercise 1

All the love, wellbeing and abundance of the universe is present right where you are and eagerly waiting to flow to and through you if you will remove the ‘mental’ obstructions.

Stand up, stretch your arms open wide and say with gratitude and joy:

• I am open and receptive to all the abundance in the Universe.
  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Exercise 2

The Power of Affirmations

You will be amazed at the improvements you can make in selected areas of your life when you bring some conscious control to your thoughts and words. Your subconscious mind responds to feeling and emotion and so it is important to choose affirmations that create a sense of excitement, happiness and joy.

And remember, for every action in life, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So when you begin your affirmations it is quite normal for feelings of scepticism and discomfort to arise. Just continue with your affirmations regardless. Additionally, many people have found inserting the word ‘choose’ in the affirmation can make it feel more convincing and believable. For example, “I love and accept myself exactly as I am” becomes “I choose to love and accept myself exactly as I am.”

Mirror work

Another very powerful idea is to look into a mirror when you say your affirmations. Mirrors reflect our true feelings. Unfortunately most people who look in a mirror will think or say something negative about themselves as a result of years of negative conditioning. Although you may find mirror work uncomfortable at first, stick with it and before long your affirmations will feel and become true for you.

You become what you desire to be, by affirming who you already are

Self Acceptance affirmations

You may wish to begin this exercise by looking yourself in the eye and saying aloud the classic affirmation:

• Every day, in every way, I am becoming better and better.

Some additional affirmations are suggested below. Select 3 or 4 that really resonate with you and repeat them with excitement and joy. Alternatively, create your own powerful affirmations and, if you wish, share them through this blog.

• I am whole, complete and perfect.
• I am worthy and deserving of everything I desire
• I choose to feel good about myself in all situations
• I am loved and accepted by others exactly as I am
• I am infinite being
• I am divinely protected and guided.
• I am fit, healthy and attractive
• I forgive myself and others
• I love and respect myself at all times
• I love myself and others unconditionally
• I love and accept myself exactly as I am.
• I am human in expression, divine in creation and limitless in potentiality.

Exercise 3

Experience the flow

Our ability to sit in silence does not come easily. We are prolific doers and there can be a sense of frustration or guilt if we are not doing something. This is because we have been conditioned to believe solutions lie outside of ourselves. But everything we experience in life is the manifestation of where we are in consciousness.

Sitting quietly and feeling the universe flow through you is a deep and rewarding experience. It takes you from reading about your spiritual nature to experiencing it. Indeed any practice which seeks to quieten the thinking mind is to be encouraged. See the post Silence

In this exercise, find a place where you will not be disturbed and where you can sit quietly and comfortably. I sit in a comfortable chair, feet on the floor, back straight with my hands resting in my lap, palms upwards. Close your eyes … and focus your attention within. Let go of any thoughts about your day and bring your attention to the present moment … Focus your attention on your breathing … Take a few deep breaths in, hold for a few seconds and exhale fully …. Notice that with each incoming and outgoing breath you feel more and more relaxed.

As you sit quietly, imagine that all the love, wellbeing and abundance in the universe is flowing into you with every in breath … and radiating out from you with every out breath. As you continue to hold this image in your consciousness and practice this exercise daily, you will find that your feeling of Oneness and connection to everyone and everything will increase.

How long should you do this exercise?

There is no ‘right’ time but as the name of this challenge implies, you should spend at least 15 minutes completing all the exercises. You may find you enjoy the experiences so much that you want to spend longer than 15 minutes a day – if so, it will be time well spent.

Tagged with: Abundance • Changing All The Time • Dreams • Experiences • Image And Likeness • Insights • Level Of Awareness • Level Of Consciousness • Little Voice • Love • Missing Link • Potentiality • Self Acceptance • Self Image • Spiritual Being • Universe • Wellbeing • Worthiness

Filed under: The 15 Minute Challenge

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!