Often the things that are the most difficult to accept are the things we believe never should have been part of our lives at all. Acceptance is not easy, which is why practicing with a guided meditation for acceptance can make all the difference.

Guided meditations allow us to explore the things we resist in a safe manner. It is not exactly exposure therapy, but it does help by exposing you to the things you might rather avoid.

Avoidance gives money a run for its, well, money, for being the root of all evil. Very few things, if any, can be solved with avoidance. When problems are not solved, they persist.

That is not to say that this guided meditation for acceptance is going to solve your problem–it most certainly is not. But after you do it you just might find that you are able to solve your problem. And that is the goal my friends–to give you a tool to help you solve your problems.

Guided Meditation for Acceptance: You Are Not Alone

Now even if you agree with everything in the introduction, you might find yourself glancing at the title and wondering what feeling alone has to do with acceptance.

The thing with feeling alone is that it is alienating. It convinces you that you are faulty or somehow an aberration in the system. Do you know of anything less motivating than feeling like you are a lost cause?

Believing that there is no reason to try holds a lot of people back, and the root of that belief for a lot of people is feeling like they are less worthy or deserving of moving forward than others. Apathy eats away at the pain of being different or “less than”, but it also eats away at the energy and willpower to move forward.

Not feeling alone can go a long way toward changing things. When you realize that other people have experienced what you have experienced, it puts a crack in your worldview that you are a crappy piece of crap. After all, everybody cannot be a crappy piece of crap, can they?

No. They cannot. Even during election season (a bold claim, I know).

Use this guided meditation for acceptance to start moving yourself to a place where you can see yourself as part of a whole, instead of outside of the whole.

How Am I Part of the Whole?

Do not worry, being part of the whole is not like being part of the in-crowd in high school. There are no cliques in this guided meditation for acceptance! We can have similarities without needing to make groups based strictly on those similarities.

Besides, the similarities discussed here are much deeper than hair color, clothing styles, and nice cars. No, commonalities among humankind matter much more than that. You see, the funny thing about humans is that we are all unique individuals and also have extraordinarily similar motivations.

Think about it–what makes you get out of bed in the morning? A job? The need to feed yourself and/or your family?

There are some basic driving factors, sure. We all need food, shelter, and safety. But there are some other things that we all need.

Love. Acceptance. Belonging.

Contentment. Joy. Peace.

Expression. Hope. Fulfillment.

At least one of those things drives you, probably more. And they also drive everyone else. No matter what your culture, ethnicity, or background, you share some hefty needs and motivations with the rest of the planet.

Not only that, but you also share some hefty shortcomings.

How to Accept Falling Short

Everyone. Repeat after me. Acceptance is not giving up.

We all fall short sometimes–literally every single person. Do we just accept that we are crappy people and will never amount to anything?

No.

We allow ourselves some grace, some room for not being perfect. And we try again.

How do we try again if we beat ourselves down every time we mess up? The thing is, eventually, we don’t. Beating ourselves up–crucifying ourselves for making mistakes–is holding us back, not moving us forward.

When we allow ourselves to be imperfect, we allow ourselves to become better. Perfect things do not improve. Imperfect things do.

You cannot possibly be everything you can be unless you accept yourself as you already are. Let yourself be imperfect. It is okay.

So How is a Guided Meditation for Acceptance Going to Help Me?

You have probably heard that saying, “Practice makes perfect,” and even the adaptation, “Perfect practice makes perfect.” Ditch that saying now. We are not in the business of perfection here.

However, we are in the business of practice. Meditation has been likened to exercise, and it is an excellent metaphor.

If you have not done an upper body workout before, you likely will not be able to use the highest weight setting at the gym. Instead, you would start at a lower, sustainable level to build up your strength.

If you have not done meditation before, you will need to start at a sustainable level. As you repeat and practice, it will become easier and you will find it more readily comes to mind.

Currently, you have some go-to reactions to your mistakes. They just might sound like, “I’m an idiot,” or “Why do I always mess things up?” or “Everything sucks.” Even if those are your go-to phrases, you probably have some similar ones.

You have been practicing these phrases for a long time by now. This guided meditation for acceptance is meant to help you start practicing some other phrases. Some phrases that will help you feel less alone, more validated, and able to move forward rather than staying stuck where you are at.

Just like you would not gain muscles overnight from one workout, you are not going to see a huge change after one or two days of using this meditation. But if you keep using it, you will find that your brain starts coming up with some different answers when you make a mistake.

Your problems will not be gone, but your ability to deal with them in a productive way will improve.

How to Prepare for This Guided Meditation

When preparing for a guided meditation, generally you want to be as distraction-free as possible. Typical distraction-free places tend to be bedrooms, bathrooms, and closets. Sometimes even vehicles can be a good place to try some meditating.

That being said, this guided meditation for acceptance is a short one and very focused on the repetition of some key words combined with a focus on the breath. If you can find a quiet place to do this the first time, try to. However, if quiet places are few and far in between that is okay!

Wherever you are, take a few deep breaths to help settle your mind. If you can, straighten your spine so that you are not slumped or slouched. Breathe, breathe, and begin.

Guided Meditation for Acceptance

Notice as you breathe in how it fills your lungs. As you breathe out, notice the sense of relief that comes with it. Breathe in and out a couple of times, just noticing these two things. The sensation of filling, the sensation of releasing.

Once you have settled into your breath, begin adding phrases to each in and out-breath. As you breathe in, repeat to yourself, “I am imperfect.” As you breathe out, repeat, “And that is okay.”

I am imperfect. And that is okay. I am imperfect. And that is okay.

Breathe, in and out, in and out, repeating the phrases.

I am imperfect. And that is okay.

On your next out-breath change the phrase to, “And I’m not alone.”

I am imperfect. And I’m not alone. I am imperfect. And I’m not alone.

Breathe, in and out, repeating the phrases.

Finally, change the in-breath to, “Because I’m imperfect,” and the out-breath to “I can improve.”

Because I’m imperfect, I can improve. Because I’m imperfect, I can improve.

Finish with the original statements. I am imperfect. And that is okay.

You will notice as you use this meditation that you will begin to remember these phrases when you make mistakes. It will occur to you every now and then that you make mistakes because you are alive, not because you are messed up.

Feel free to supplement with your own phrases–phrases that will move you forward and help you heal and live your life. Please share the phrases that help you in the comments below.