Acceptance and the Neutral Spot Meditation
"Acceptance is allowing yourself to feel however you feel in the present moment." - Eckhart Tolle.
New podcast episode - published on Tuesday, 23 August 2022.
About the neutral spot meditation
The neutral spot meditation is an ancient practice designed to help meditators to sit with uncomfortable emotions and, over time, become comfortable with them.
As I explain in the podcast, you mustn't use this as a way of sitting with emotional overwhelm. If you're feeling overwhelmed, choose another time to practice this or try another practice.
This practice isn't about "facing your fears" Tony Robbins style; it is best used when you have low-level background anxiety.
I have had positive feedback on the practice from students with chronic pain. There are no guarantees, but the overall response is that it reduces the experience of the pain by about 2 out of 10.
There is little doubt that meditation is a form of habituation for uncomfortable emotions, and this practice encapsulates that. (Habituation is getting used to something.)
In this meditation, we are becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable.
All meditation practices that work with emotions must be treated with care.
Your expectation should be that you feel better or more neutral at the end of the meditation than when you began.
If you are getting no benefit, then don't do it.
Check out the Four Rules of Meditation for guidance here:
https://www.meditationcourse.live/the-four-rules-of-meditation-2/
If you find these podcasts useful and you would like to join us for up to four online in-person guided meditations each week, subscribe to The Meditation Course for the same price as a weekly Starbucks latte:
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