Swami Satyananda Saraswati said that one must accept oneself as one was. ‘An important step in yoga is to accept your nature as much as you’re able.’ He spoke a lot on self-acceptance and the reason is that acceptance of self is crucial to yoga and tantra. Tantra is called the way to acceptance.

The moral of self-acceptance is to deeply and totally accept every aspect of yourself unconditionally and without exception. To achieve self-acceptance, you must learn to accept the parts of yourself you consider negative or undesirable. It is also important to acknowledge and celebrate your positive qualities and achievements.

Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about un-becoming everything that isn’t really you, so you can be who were meant to be in the first place. – Paul Coelho

Atmabhava love for our fellow beings is the fastest way for self-acceptance. When we love and are tolerant of others, it is reflected in our behavior.

The practice of self-acceptance is:

1. Self forgiveness
2. Self compassion
3. Self awareness
4. Self respect
5. Self-perspective

Now all we need to do is first apply this to others and then it becomes self-effective.

Exercises for self-acceptance

1. Breath Awareness.
   Be aware of your breath. This exercise facilitates harmony as it works on the parasympathetic and sympathetic system. Count your breath backwards from 27. 27 in and 27 out and make no mistakes.
2. Active listening.
   Listen to yourself and others. Be attentive to what you are saying and what they are saying. This means to be aware and conscious of one’s speech, and being proactive.

Aim Hrim Klim

Photo by Kumiko SHIMIZU on Unsplash