For those of us who have been brought up in a western culture the notion of accepting our circumstances, no matter how adverse they may be, is somewhat alien, at best. We have been conditioned to fight, push and shove when we are in a tight spot. The deeper the hole we are in, the more we fight to get out of it. The more you show your elbows the more likely you are to win. Such is the most commonly employed survival strategy in the west..



But, is this really the best strategy to get on in life?

Eastern philosophy tells quite a different story. If you care to read the CVs of successful people you will find that most of them have studied and embraced at least some aspects of Buddhist teachings. And for a good reason. Buddhist teachings embrace all essential principals of success without being tied to any particular dogma.

Eastern philosophy is built on the premise of a holographic universe. This means that every single thing, feeling, or knowledge in the universe is also inside each of. Everything of everything is the smallest cellular building block of existence. Since we are part of the universe this means that whatever we experience in our lives whether good or bad, is already in existence inside us.

Embracing this concept has huge consequences on how we tackle the trials and tribulations of life. For one, it means that all the good, bad and indifferent things we see in another person or situation, are also inside us at some level. This realisation alone will help us to understand what acceptance is really all about. After all how can we resent our circumstances when we know that they are part of our own make up? Denying acceptance of our lot equals denial of an essential and large part of ourselves. When we are in this space we are also working against a fundamental universal law Denying any kind of reality is a very disempowering strategy. Whilst we put up resistance against the circumstances in our lives we dislike, by becoming angry, aggressive or judgemental, we lower our vibrational energies, making it even more difficult to get out of any fix. We feel low, stressed, depressed and all the other negative emotions that go along with this unproductive state of mind.

Learning to practice acceptance will change any undesirable emotional state very quickly. It calms our minds creating the mental room for more resourceful attitudes. The principle is simple, however applying it has its challenges. How can we help ourselves when we are busy being angry, stressed and filled with resistance to any kind of change?

My answer is using energy therapies to help dissolve negativity quickly and consciously moving to a state of acceptance. My tool for the job is EFT, Emotional Freedom Technique. EFT uses energy, the basic building block of everything in existence, including our thoughts, to change emotional states very quickly, sometimes within a few minutes. This is done in two ways: Tapping on meridian points of body and face whilst focusing mentally on your desired state, in this case acceptance. Mind focus together with the action of physical tapping is a very fast way to change your vibrational energy. As you tap on the meridian points you begin to feel the energy rushing through your body, clearing your head of old cobwebs, so to speak.

My clients frequently report feeling detached from their original worries, anger or resentments. This vacuum is filled with the new intention you focus on, acceptance. Your energetic state is raised further and so is your mental state as you feel the old anxieties melting away making room for better, positive emotions. EFT uses acceptance as the a core part of resolving any emotional and physical issue. It is a very powerful and simple strategy which can be learned by anyone.