Over the course of my life, I’ve been shedding self rejection layer by layer.
Like many young girls, I was very harsh with myself as a teenager. I thought I was supposed to be perfect to be acceptable, but I didn’t come close.
Through the years I gradually came to accept, at least to some extent, that I didn’t need to be beautiful. I didn’t need to be super successful at work. I didn’t need to have society’s notion of the ideal children.
The other day another layer came off. I was thinking that someone I knew considered me bad. I noticed an old pattern cropping up. If someone considered me bad, even if I tried to fight it, a part of me would go into agreement with them. And if I thought I was bad, I would reject myself.
This time though, I thought, “OK. Even if I am bad, I still accept myself.” Suddenly I felt a lightness, like an old weight lifting off me! Even with all the bad things I have ever done and all the good things I could have done, but didn’t, I accept myself. I accept myself.
This week in yoga let’s use our twists to help release whatever gets in the way of our self acceptance.
“The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.”― C.G. Jung
“You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.”― Amy Bloom
“Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.”― Brené Brown
“The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.”― Mark Twain
“Because one believes in oneself, one doesn’t try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need others’ approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.”― Lao Tzu
“It is not worth the while to let our imperfections disturb us always.”― Henry David Thoreau
“When you stop living your life based on what others think of you, real life begins. At that moment, you will finally see the door of self acceptance opened.”― Shannon L. Alder
“If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation.”― J. Krishnamurti
If you wish to awaken, be willing to see and accept your own badness as a part of you and take care of it lovingly so it ceases to be a detriment to your life and the lives of others. — Teal Swan
Hope you can make it to Willow Street Yoga from 11am until 12:30pm on this and every Wednesday. You can sign up in advance at https://willowstreetyoga.com/ or at the door.
<3 Kathy