4 Strategies for practicing Radical Self-Acceptance

Radical Self-Acceptance Painting by Jennifer Mazzucco

#mindfulness #self-judgment #RadicalSelfAcceptance #negativethinkingpatterns #thoughts

Radical acceptance involves acknowledging how life unfolds without resistance, even if we don't like things at any given moment. It can take effort to apply this principle. How can we begin to accept our situation and ourselves despite experiencing anxiety, uncertainty, and fear?

Why self-acceptance is not the same as complacency.

It is essential now, more than ever, to practice radical self-acceptance. This means training ourselves to find inner stability despite unpredictable external circumstances. Ultimately, we are responsible for acknowledging our hidden wounds, which can lead to personal and collective growth.

Radical self-acceptance is the opposite of avoiding responsibility or giving up in self-defeat. It requires pushing against old ways of being to open the door to deep healing. Embracing radical self-acceptance allows us to integrate our shadow aspects and live authentically. By resisting the urge to repress, numb, react, excuse, or deny, we can become better citizens and positively contribute to our communities.

Here are four methods for cultivating radical self-acceptance:

1. Slow down whenever you feel yourself starting to self-judge.

When you feel the familiar self-judgment after saying or doing something you regret, take a moment to breathe. Acknowledge your feelings without brushing them off. Be open and allow yourself to be as you are without making excuses or avoiding the situation.

You can repeat this phrase to help change negative thought patterns: "This is the situation, and I deeply and completely accept myself as I am."

2. Remember that every setback is a learning opportunity.

The next time you feel this way, engage in an internal conversation that helps you solve the problem instead of getting caught in a cycle of self-blame. Here are three positive statements to use when your perfectionism or self-criticism arises:

I wonder what I was feeling when I did that?
That's OK; I'm still learning.
I wonder what I will do differently next time?

3. Avoid comparison.

It's common to get caught up in comparing ourselves to others and feeling like we fall short. This can take a toll on our self-esteem. It's important to remember that we can't accurately judge our own worth based on what we see of others. We don't know what's really going on in their lives. Instead of comparing ourselves to others, we should focus on our goals and measure our success based on our progress. If you find yourself stuck in a negative thought pattern, ask yourself, "What am I thinking? What am I feeling? What's the next right thing to do?" Then, refocus on your own unique journey.

4. Lean on the practices that remind you that thoughts are fleeting.

The next time you feel self-critical, try a practice that can lead you to a more positive state of mind and remind you that thoughts are fleeting. This practice can be meditation, tapping, walking, or being of service to others.

Above all, try to be as present with yourself as possible, moving into self-acceptance to show up in your center. Radical self-acceptance means being thankful for your assets, mistakes, misunderstandings, failings, and everything that has brought you to now. It's the epitome of compassion in action and how we become the highest version of ourselves.

Your Inner Critical Voice

#Negativevoice #innercriticalvoice #innercritic #Introspection #Psychotherapy #MentalHealth #BlackTherapist #Triple5LightTherapy Our inner voice performs all kinds of important tasks—but when it gets negative, it can be hard to turn off. Ethan Kross, a psychologist and neuroscientist who studies introspection, has a solution. By Clay Skipper- January 24, 2022 We’ve all got a voice in our head. (Maybe you can hear yours, right now, reading these words.) And though you’re intimately familiar with that inner voice, since it talks to you all day long, you might be surprised to learn just how incessant it is. According to one study, it can spew up to four thousand words a minute. If you’re awake for sixteen hours, that’s more than 3.8 million words every day. That’s because that voice does so much for you: It helps you keep information in your head (remembering, say, a phone number or items on a grocery list), simulates and plans for upcoming events, like a date or an interview, ...

How a Group of Gay Male Ballet Dancers Is Rethinking Masculinity

#Queerness #Dancers #Ballet #Masculinity #Dance #LGBTQ #Gay These men are finding new stages on which to express their #queerness, collapsing gender barriers in the world of dance. 1. The Ballerino When I was 15, I met a dancer from Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet . The company had come to Los Angeles to dance in the Olympic Arts Festival , and my parents volunteered to host a post-performance dinner in our backyard. I recall about 200 people — family friends, Olympic officials and maybe 25 dancers — eating curry (is that right?) off paper plates. But that’s not what this is about. No, this is about the ballerino — my word for him — I met and what he represented to a lonely gay kid in Southern California in 1984, a kid who had never before met another gay person. Earlier that evening, I had seen the dancer turn, leap and smile onstage, expressing through the mute language of ballet who he was. Something about his movement told me he was gay, and I felt ...

Video - X-Press 2 Ft. David Byrne - Lazy (Shiprinski deep-house Remix)

#DavidByrne #Lazy #Remix #XPress2 #deephouse #HouseMix No tears are fallin' from my eyes, I'm keepin' all the pain inside Now, don't you wanna live with me? I'm lazy as a man can be!

Teens Turn to TikTok in Search of a Mental Health Diagnosis

By Christina Caron Oct. 29, 2022 #tiktok #diagnosis #MentaHealth #BlackMaleTherapist #Psychotherapy #TripleLight.com #AfricanAmericantherapist #BlackTherapist About a year into the pandemic, Kianna, a high school student in Baltimore, was feeling increasingly isolated. While sitting alone in her bedroom there was too much time to think, she said, so sometimes she would fixate on her seclusion or start critiquing her appearance. “I remember just being on TikTok for hours during my day,” added Kianna, 17, who asked to be referred to by only her first name when speaking about her mental health. “That’s when my self-esteem started declining.” At the time, in early 2021, her 10th grade classes were virtual, and she had begun texting with her friends instead of talking to them. Her anxiety bred headaches, poor sleep and the odd feeling of living outside of her body. Then, she started seeing videos on TikTok about depersonalization disorder, a type of dissociative condition that can make peop...

Triple5Light Therapy

Search This Blog