How do I start walking the path? What is my first step?

The beautiful thing about this path is that it encompasses all that you are, and have been, and will be. There is no search on this path for other than who you are. The first step is to discover who you truly are by accepting and loving who you are right now. Even the hard parts. Especially the hard parts!

So to get started, notice the mind states that are uncomfortable and disconnecting you from yourself and the presence within life. The common question is, how do I get rid of this? It’s uncomfortable and the need for change is growing strong so, it’s reasonable to think that there are parts of the self that we just need to toss out while we happily get into our hearts and bliss out.

The truth is that each part of you, even the dysfunctional parts have value. They are here to show you the way deeper into your true self. To know the parts of self that are out of harmony and accept them with a warm understanding will open the way deeper. So we start right here with the mind that won’t stop and the emotional eruptions that come out of the blue.

There is tension in the over active mind. Are you willing to just relax around the tension and be ok that it’s there? Try it. Just allow it to tighten and distract and get frustrated, and want to convince you that there are better ways to spend your time, like working on your to-do list. Just be with it like a patient adult with an anxious child. No where to go, nothing to do. Just accept that all the feelings and thoughts are there and the world is still moving around you, nothing is falling apart as you just heart-fully witness the activity within you, without jumping to it’s command.

This first step is easy to do any time, anywhere. If you find yourself resisting your feelings, judging yourself and others, acceptance is good medicine. Just accept yourself as you are. If you can, love yourself as you are. “So Im stirred up and uncomfortable, it’s ok. Im just going to sit and be with this and not fight it.”

But won’t that make me more of what I don’t want to be if Im just accepting it all?

The difference here is that you are accepting your inner states restfully, not resigning yourself to be them. Acceptance means that you are not fighting your feelings and thoughts. Resisting them makes them stronger. Relaxing and watching them with warmth and even humor gives them the opportunity to loosen their grip on you and not take themselves so seriously.

This step works like magic. Ive seen great openings and healing happen with this simple step alone. Acceptance opens the heart to Love. Love comes rushing in and fills the room with expansive movement. So that all that was stuck in place comes unglued, melting away all that you had begrudgingly thought yourself to be.