Topics — Mindfulness and Presence

"Shame persists when self-acceptance remains out of reach."

— Patricia A. DeYoung

Understanding and Treating Chronic Shame

"A practice of radical openness involves three sequential steps: Acknowledging the presence of a disconfirming or an unexpected event that triggers a feeling of tension, resistance, dislike, numbness, or desires to attack, control, or flee."

— Thomas R. Lynch

Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy

"One secret of healthy living is the cultivation of healthy self-doubt."

— Thomas R. Lynch

Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy

"It is a strange quirk of the human condition that the living tend to take life for granted."

— Jeremy David Engels

The Art of Gratitude

"To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is Heaven."

— Johannes A. Gaertner

As Cited in Living in Gratitude

"Appreciation is the recognition of that which makes us feel grateful, and can also be expressed internally or externally."

— Angeles Arrien

Living in Gratitude

"While gratitude is both a feeling and an attitude, thankfulness is the demonstrative expression of it, whether extended to ourselves or others."

— Angeles Arrien

Living in Gratitude

"Through you nature becomes aware of itself. Nature has been waiting for you, as it were, for millions of years."

— Stillness Speaks

Eckhart Tolle

"Today, God, help me let go of negative thoughts I may be harboring about my past circumstances or relationships. I can accept, with gratitude, all that has brought me to today."

— Melody Beattie

The Language of Letting Go

"Deep listening is the essence of mindfulness — a cultivating of intimacy with your own life unfolding, as if it really mattered."

— Jon Kabat-Zinn

Mindfulness for Beginners

"No one is truly ever gone, since all of us and our connections began at the Big Bang, the explosion of oneness into oneness, and have never come to an end."

— David Richo

Everything Ablaze: Meditating on the Mystical Vision of Teilhard de Chardin

"Thought can never understand that which is whole, that which is immeasurable, which is timeless."

— J. Krishnamurti

The Wholeness of Life

"It is only when the mind is absolutely free and silent that one discovers that which is beyond all words, which is timeless. Then out of that comes the vastness of true meditation."

— J. Krishnamurti

The Wholeness of Life

"Where there is compassion… action is total, complete, irrevocable."

— J. Krishnamurti

The Wholeness of Life

"Love is… passion and compassion…"

— J. Krishnamurti

The Wholeness of Life

"The very seeing of what one is, is the beginning of the transformation."

— J. Krishnamurti

The Wholeness of Life

"The formless awake space of awareness is the source of our love, wisdom, and creativity. It is the gold, the sacred essence of our life."

— Tara Brach

Radical Compassion

"Presence has three primary characteristics: wakefulness, openness, and tenderness or love."

— Tara Brach

Radical Compassion

"Only by purposefully bringing attention to our inner experience can we move from trance toward healing."

— Tara Brach

Radical Compassion

"Your body hums to the Present—and as you become aware of that, you feel the Present living within you."

— Philip Shepherd

Radical Wholeness

"In our pursuit of wholeness, a crisis can look like a problem initially but gracefully transform into a blessing."

— Eric Ehrke

The Promise of Wholeness

"A vital goal of being human is to master earthly forms of love."

— Eric Ehrke

The Promise of Wholeness

"Nothing changes till it becomes what it is."

— Fritz Perls

As cited in Homecoming

"Forgiveness allows us to give as before. It heals the past and frees our energies for the present."

— John Bradshaw

Homecoming

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."

— Attributed to G. K. Chesterton

"Compassion involves developing the courage to be open to our anger and rage, not some kind of ‘soothing it away’. Indeed, to say it again, soothing is useful to act like a safe haven but also in preparation to courageously engage with what we need to."

— Paul Gilbert

The origins and nature of compassion focused therapy

"Daily life, if one is alert to the dynamics of the unconscious, brings us to new levels of realization not only about where we are but who we are."

— Father Thomas Keating

The Human Condition: Contemplation and Transformation

"If we have not experienced ourselves as unconditional love, we have more work to do, because that is who we really are."

— Father Thomas Keating

The Human Condition: Contemplation and Transformation

"We know how to be kind and compassionate to others when they’re feeling bad about themselves or are suffering in some way. We know what to say and do. We just have to remember to do it for ourselves."

— Kristen Neff

The Self-Acceptance Project

"As we attune with the heart, our approach to life reverses. Instead of feeling empty, agitated, and disconnected, we discover an inner fullness, peace, and sense of seamlessness."

— John J. Prendergast

The Deep Heart: Our Portal to Presence

"When the heart has awakened, reality meets itself in an utterly simple, spacious, and loving way."

— John J. Prendergast

The Deep Heart: Our Portal to Presence

"Mindful awareness expands our sense of self by dissolving the prison of repeating patterns of thought and response."

— Daniel J. Siegel, MD

Mindful Awareness, Mindsight, and Neural Integration

"Transmuting emotion is one way way of turning the dark, murky world of the confused mind into the radiance of clear vision."

— John Welwood

Awakening The Heart

"When one can rest in presence even in the midst of thoughts, perceptions, or intense emotions, these become an ongoing part of one’s contemplative practice, as opportunities to discover a pervasive quality of open awareness in all one’s activities."

— John Welwood

Reflection and Presence: The Dialectic of Awakening

"Gratitude implies humility—a recognition that we could not be who we are or where we are in life without the contributions of others."

— Robert A. Emmons and Jeremy Adam Smith

The Gratitude Project

"…gratitude allows us to participate more fully in life. Instead of adapting to goodness, we celebrate goodness."

— Robert A. Emmons and Jeremy Adam Smith

The Gratitude Project

"Consciously cultivating an attitude of gratitude builds up a sort of psychological immune system that can cushion us when we fall."

— Robert A. Emmons

The Gratitude Project

"Looking at the world through grateful eyes, we quickly realize that meaningful work needs to be done, and what the struggle must be. Our struggle is soulful, but it is not otherworldly—in fact it is very much of this earth, it is a struggle to ensure that we do not destroy the planet that gives us life, it is a struggle for the earth."

— Jeremy David Engels

The Art of Gratitude

"Gratefulness shows us that a good life for each of us can only emerge from the world that we share with others."

— Jeremy David Engels

The Art of Gratitude

"What is good to the grateful… is that which supports life."

— Jeremy David Engels

The Art of Gratitude

"When we offer thanks to God or to another human being, gratitude gifts us with renewal, reflection, reconnection."

— Sarah Ban Breathnach

The Simple Abundance Journal of Gratitude

"Thank God for what doesn’t need healing."

— Joan Z. Borysenko

Gratitude: A Way of Life

"… it is your sacred self that enables you to feel gratitude and to give unconditionally. It is your ego that wants a reward."

— Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Gratitude: A Way of Life

"By surrendering to love, by surrendering to God, we can go through each day acknowledging one another with gratitude."

— Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D., and Diane V. Cirincione

Gratitude: A Way of Life

"It is true that we can’t be in denial about the pain in our life. That is damaging to our physical and emotional health. And just as importantly, We can’t be in denial about the abundance in our life!"

— Susan Jeffers, Ph.D.

Gratitude: A Way of Life

"When we focus on abundance, our life feels abundant; when we focus on lack, our life feels lacking. It is purely a matter of focus."

— Susan Jeffers, Ph.D.

Gratitude: A Way of Life

"… if we practice gratitude—living in a consciousness of contentment, being thankful for what we have (even if it is meager), and cultivating inner peace through times of quiet meditation—we will find that joy appears spontaneously."

— Marcia Perkins-Reed

Gratitude: A Way of Life

"Spend time in the silence of your own inner self, appreciating the wonder of who you are."

— Marcia Perkins-Reed

Gratitude: A way of life

"Gratitude can… stimulate strong inner energies within you that can lead to a blossoming of your intuitive abilities, enabling you to eventually have a deeper spiritual experience and to become more aware of your existence as an eternal soul."

— Ron Scolastico, Ph.D.

Gratitude: A Way of Life

"It’s easy to be grateful for the grand things in life, but to be appreciative for “all things” puts you in a powerful, harmonious place."

— Rev. Christian Sorenson

Gratitude: A Way of Life

"If man withdraws into his own subjectivity, he refuses to be touched by the richness of what is; he turns away from the ‘truth of Being’."

— Simon Critchley

On the Human Condition

"Contemplative prayer is a deepening of faith that moves beyond thoughts and concepts. One just listens to God, open and receptive to the divine presence in one’s inmost being as its source. One listens not with a view to hearing something, but with a view to becoming aware of the obstacles to one’s friendship with God."

— Thomas Keating

The Human Condition

"When we are not thinking, analyzing, or planning and place ourselves in the presence of God in faith, we open ourselves to the contents of the unconscious."

— Thomas Keating

The Human Condition

"When we feel held by a caring presence, by something larger than our small frightened self, we begin to find room in our own heart for the fragments of our life, and for the lives of others. The suffering that might have seemed “too much” can awaken us to the sweetness of compassion."

— Tara Brach

Radical Acceptance

"If we are waiting only for our fear to end, we will not discover the pure and loving presence that unfolds as we surrender into the darkest of nights. Only by letting go into the stream of life and loss and death do we come into this freedom."

— Tara Brach

Radical Acceptance

"Perhaps the biggest tragedy in our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns. Entangled in the trance of unworthiness, we grow accustomed to caging ourselves in with self-judgment and anxiety, with restlessness and dissatisfaction."

— Tara Brach

Radical Acceptance

"… gratefulness is the emotional experience of being moved by thanksgiving for life."

— Jeremy David Engels

The Art of Gratitude

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more… Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."

— Melody Beattie

The Language of Letting Go

"Acceptance… is an expression of lived wisdom."

— Jon Kabat-Zinn

Mindfulness for Beginners

"Mindfulness is required to be able to see beneath the surface of appearances to what is actually unfolding in your own experience, in your own body, in your own mind."

— Jon Kabat-Zinn

Mindfulness for Beginners

"For mindfulness is none other than the capacity we all already have to know what is actually happening as it is happening."

— Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD

Meditation Is Not What You Think

"Mindfulness can be thought of as moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness, cultivated by paying attention in a specific way, that is, in the present moment and as non-reactively, as non-judgmentally, and as openheartedly as possible."

— Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD

Meditation Is Not What You Think

"… mindfulness, which can be thought of as an openhearted, moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness, is optimally cultivated through meditation rather than just through merely thinking about it and philosophizing…"

— Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD

Meditation Is Not What You Think

"Mindfulness is not and cannot be about improving yourself, because you are already whole, already complete, already perfect (including all your “imperfections”)."

— Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD

Meditation Is Not What You Think

"Mindfulness is not a technique. It is a way of being in wise relationship to the entirety of your inner and outer experience."

— Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD

Meditation Is Not What You Think

"Befriending your mind and your life and world through the daily cultivation of mindfulness as a love affair with the present moment, with life itself, and with the domain of ongoing learning and growing, healing and transformation, is very likely an essential element in cultivating that embodied wakefulness and wisdom. If we take care of that, and are willing to fully inhabit this moment, all else will follow."

— Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD

Mindfulness for All

"As a practice, mindfulness has the capacity to calm the heart and focus and clarify the mind in any season of a life, even in the midst of the most horrific and tempestuous storms, without in the slightest disregarding or minimizing the anguish and the enormity of the suffering that may be involved and the need to go on in the face of huge and painful uncertainties."

— Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD

Mindfulness for All

"What mindfulness can do for us is to reveal our opinions, and all opinions, as opinions."

— Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD

Mindfulness for All

"Mindfulness develops in us the inner resources to accept what we cannot change long enough that we may approach the things we can change with wisdom."

— Rhonda V. Magee

The Inner Work of Racial Justice

"Accepting for the moment does not mean that we accept forever. It means we pause long enough to really see something clearly, as a prelude to really looking into what we see and deepening our understanding. It is not passive resignation."

— Rhonda V. Magee

The Inner Work of Racial Justice

"Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry all forms of fear are caused by too much future, and not enough presence."

— Eckhart Tolle

The Power of Now

"When we’re anxious, worried, or angry, we can’t make good decisions. When we’re free, we make better decisions. This freedom is something we can attain whenever we like with the practice of breathing in mindfulness, walking in mindfulness."

— Thich Nhat Hanh

How to Relax

"The way to release all the tension is with our mindful breath. So we always start with mindfulness. Mindfulness brings the mind to the present moment, and we see and experience things more deeply."

— Thich Nhat Hanh

How to Relax

"…if we have the strength and the courage to confront our own emotions and to accept every one of them as a part of us, we cannot only finish our “unfinished business,” but, as we have so often seen, add months and even years to our lives…"

— Elisabeth Kübler-Ross & David Kessler

On Grief & Grieving

"Acceptance is a process that we experience, not a final stage with an end point."

— Elisabeth Kübler-Ross & David Kessler

On Grief & Grieving

"Acceptance is not about liking a situation. It is about acknowledging all that has been lost and learning to live with that loss."

— Elisabeth Kübler-Ross & David Kessler

On Grief & Grieving

"To love… is to remain fully present, with self and others, when difficult internal conditions arise. Love also means to stay… psychologically present under conditions of joy, happiness, and excitement and all else that lifts the heart."

— Robyn D. Walser

Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Positive Psychology

"When you fully accept that you don’t know, you give up struggling to find answers with the limited thinking mind, and that is when a greater intelligence can operate through you. And even thought can then benefit from that, since the greater intelligence can flow into it and inspire it."

— Eckhart Tolle

Stillness Speaks

"Unconditional presence is more radical than psychological reflection in that it involves giving in to our experience…"

— John Welwood

Reflection and Presence: The Dialectic of Awakening

"Out of presence with anger, strength often emerges; out of presence with sorrow, compassion; out of presence with fear, courage and groundedness; out of presence with emptiness, expansive spaciousness and peace. Strength, compassion, courage, spaciousness, peace are differentiated qualities of being—different ways in which presence manifests."

— John Welwood

Reflection and Presence: The Dialectic of Awakening

"Our ability as parents to be open and present for our children enables them to be both differentiated from our own expectations and desires for how they should be and linked to us through compassionate, respectful communication, enabling the integrative circuitry of their brains to develop well."

— Daniel J. Siegel, MD

Aware

"When we engage with our children with presence as a good-enough parent, they come to know that they are worthy of love, kindness, and the infinite blessings of life."

— Susan Stiffelman

Parenting with Presence

"Our kids deserve to know that even if we can’t always meet their needs or offer them the validation they long for, they are still wholly lovable and uniquely brilliant just as they are."

— Susan Stiffelman

Parenting with Presence

"Einstein said, “I didn’t arrive at my understanding of the fundamental laws of the universe through my rational mind.” He got there through intuition."

— Ram Dass

Polishing the Mirror

"By acceptance I mean a warm regard for him as a person of unconditional self-worth–of value no matter what his condition, his behavior, or his feelings."

— Carl Rogers

On Becoming a Person

"Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention."

— John O’Donohue

To Bless the Space Between Us

"While psychotherapy and spiritual practice may both incorporate reflection and presence, the home base of therapy is reflection and the home base of spirituality is presence."

— John Welwood

Reflection and Presence: The Dialectic of Awakening

"… being fully present with ourselves overcomes the inner war, at least for a moment, between self and Other, between “me” and “my experience.” And from there, everything looks and feels different."

— John Welwood

Reflection and Presence: The Dialectic of Awakening

"Feelings in themselves don’t necessarily lead to wisdom, but the process of opening fully to them can."

— John Welwood

Reflection and Presence: The Dialectic of Awakening

"If we could let ourselves feel just what we feel, instead of reacting against it, condemning it, or trying to manipulate and suppress it, perhaps we would develop greater confidence about facing whatever life confronts us with."

— John Welwood

Awakening the Heart

"… being present and permitting integration to arise really means—not avoiding things, but welcoming anything into awareness."

— Daniel J. Siegel, MD

Aware

"One reason to practice purification is to cool out, so we’re not creating so much heavy karma for ourselves."

— Ram Dass

Polishing the Mirror

"Gratitude is… not only an effect or consequence of happiness but also a creator of happiness, for it allows the affirmation of life’s intrinsic value to flourish and its pains and misfortunes to fall into oblivion."

— Robert Pogue Harrison

Gardens: An Essay on the Human Condition

"Acceptance (along with the related concept of willingness) involves making full contact with internal experiences without attempting to escape, change, or control those events. Acceptance does not imply liking or wanting, nor does it represent giving up, giving in, or resignation. Simply put, acceptance means gently holding whatever arises."

— Jill A. Stoddard, PhD and Niloofar Afari, PhD

The Big Book of ACT Metaphors

"…the ultimate goal in ACT is psychological flexibility, which is the ability to be fully present and open to our experiences so that we can take actions guided by our values."

— Jill A. Stoddard, PhD and Niloofar Afari, PhD

The Big Book of ACT Metaphors

"Acceptance involves the action of allowing the presence of all experiences—internal and external, positive and negative—as they are in the moment, without attempting to change the form or frequency of these experiences."

— Jill A. Stoddard, PhD and Niloofar Afari, PhD

The Big Book of ACT Metaphors

"The Serenity Prayer… is a succinct and meaningful way of talking about acceptance and willingness when addressing difficult life circumstances."

— Jill A. Stoddard, PhD and Niloofar Afari, PhD

The Big Book of ACT Metaphors

"Building a true sense of self-trust comes from making contact with the deeper parts of our being, such as the truth of our loving, even when we sometimes act in ways we don’t like."

— Tara Brach

The Self-Acceptance Project

"Self-acceptance is the ability to accept all of our parts and to be open to them, even interested in them."

— Jay Early, PhD

The Self-Acceptance Project

"The state of mindful awareness is about monitoring with stability whatever is arising as it arises. That’s the receptive awareness that we are calling presence."

— Daniel J. Siegel, MD

Aware

"When we learn to cultivate our capacity for being aware, the quality of our life and the strength of our mind are enhanced."

— Daniel J. Siegel, MD

Aware

"… cultivating consciousness by expanding awareness… can also bring a deeper sense of connection and meaning to everyday experience, and even make you healthier."

— Daniel J. Siegel, MD

Aware

"While traditional spiritual cultures of the East have specialized in illuminating the… “heaven” side of human nature — Western psychology has focused on the earthly half… We need a new vision that embraces all…. domains of human existence…."

— John Welwood

Toward a Psychology of Awakening

"When your relationship exhibits consistently high levels of secure functioning, you and your partner automatically increase the resources you’re able to use for personal development, mutual physical and mental health… You become more resilient as individuals and as a couple, able to manage the slings and arrows of life and its unknowns."

— Stan Tatkin

We Do

"There’s no ideal partner… There’s only the good enough partner who is perfectly imperfect."

— Stan Tatkin

We Do

"Nobody signs up for marriage because they want to be changed by their partner. It doesn’t work. Ever. Go all in or go home. Marriage and commitment can only work if we accept each other wholeheartedly."

— Stan Tatkin

We Do

"When our Inner Child feels consistently unloved by our Inner Adult, the Child’s false beliefs, adopted in childhood when parents were unloving, are reinforced—beliefs that we are bad, wrong, unlovable, unimportant, inadequate, defective in some way."

— Margaret Paul

Inner Bonding

"When our Inner Child is feeling consistently loved by our Inner Adult, he or she is a wondrous being—trusting, creative, imaginative, curious, passionate, playful, energetic, enthusiastic, spontaneous, soft, sensitive, sensual, with an incredible sense of wonder and aliveness. Delighted just to be alive, he or she is open and receptive to new ideas and experiences."

— Margaret Paul

Inner Bonding

"It is our challenge and opportunity to foster in our children the living, breathing knowledge that they are worthy — as is — of being loved."

— Susan Stiffelman

Parenting with Presence

"When we cannot shield our children from painful experiences, the next best thing is to be fully present to them, helping them through the process by letting them feel their sadness and disappointment."

— Susan Stiffelman

Parenting with Presence

"Solace and care come from many sources. Others who listen deeply, attentively, and nonjudgmentally can be found in the least expected places. Take note, pay attention, and seek help from those willing to be present with you. Time with these kinds of people can carry you through perilous terrain."

— Joanne Cacciatore

Bearing the Unbearable

"When you practice mindfulness and breathing, you know right away that you are alive, and that to be alive is a wonder."

— Thich Nhat Hanh

No Mud, No Lotus

"The way to suffer well and be happy is to stay in touch with what is actually going on; in doing so, you will gain liberating insights into the true nature of suffering and of joy."

— Thich Nhat Hanh

No Mud, No Lotus

"If you can recognize and accept your pain without running away from it, you will discover that although pain is there, joy can also be there at the same time."

— Thich Nhat Hanh

No Mud, No Lotus

"The practice of conscious “abdominal” breathing… is the bridge between the conscious and unconscious functions of our nervous system."

— Alexis Brink

The Art of Jin Shin

"The challenge of trauma treatment is not only dealing with the past but, even more, enhancing the quality of day-to-day experience… When you can’t be fully here, you go to the places where you did feel alive—even if those places are filled with horror and misery."

— Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.

The Body Keeps the Score

"Ultimately, the main goal of trauma therapy is to relegate the trauma to its rightful place in the client’s past."

— Babette Rothschild

The Body Remembers

"One of the difficulties with shame is that it does not seem to be expressed and released in the same way as other feelings: Sadness and grief are released through crying, anger through yelling and stomping about, fear through screaming and shaking… Though it appears not to discharge, it does seem to dissipate under very special circumstances—the nonjudgmental, accepting contact of another human being."

— Babette Rothschild

The Body Remembers

"One of the difficulties of PTSD is the phenomenon of flashbacks, which involve highly disturbing replays of implicit sensory memories of traumatic events sometimes with explicit recall, sometimes without. The sensations that accompany them are so intense that the suffering individual is unable to distinguish the current reality from the past. It feels like it is happening now."

— Babette Rothschild

The Body Remembers

"The essence of responsibility is the acceptance of the consequences—good and bad—of your actions. You are not responsible for everything that happens to you. You are responsible for how you deal with what happens to you."

— Eric Greitens

Resilience

"Mindfulness is not paying more attention but paying attention differently and more wisely — with the whole mind and heart, using the full resources of the body and its senses."

— Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel V. Segal, and Jon Kabat-Zinn

The Mindful Way Through Depression

"The openness of love is timeless. When you are with another being in love, you are sharing your being, your presence. You are just here, together in love."

— Ram Dass

Polishing the Mirror

"To be fully present with ourselves and other beings is to focus on what is truly important in life, and by doing so, we become more conscious and loving."

— Ram Dass

Polishing the Mirror

"To live in the here and now is to have no regrets about the past, no worries or expectations for the future. To be fully present in each moment of existence is to live in total contentment, in peace and love. To enter into this presence is to reside in a different state of being, in a timeless moment, in the eternal present."

— Ram Dass

Polishing the Mirror

"To navigate the spirit of the modern psyche is no small matter. We need guides who at once have their feet firmly rooted in the ground and wisdom of our spiritual ancestors, while also embodying a deep understanding of the modern human condition. For the call of spirit today is to both awaken to our true spiritual identity and to embody that awakened consciousness in our humanity and daily lives."

— Adyashanti

The Deep Heart

"There is another way. It is the way of kindness, the way of slowness, the way of true self-acceptance."

— Jeff Foster

The Self-Acceptance Project

"Seen through loving eyes, every moment is an invitation to let go of the image of how life “should” be, to let go of the hope that the moment is going to be any different, and to embrace the moment as it actually is."

— Jeff Foster

The Self-Acceptance Project

"True healing is not a destination, not about ridding yourself of pain, fear, sorrow, and all that, not about becoming perfect, or immune, or untouchable, but has something to do with saying YES to the present moment (the only moment we are ever truly in connection with), and affirming it, even if it is uncomfortable right now."

— Jeff Foster

The Self-Acceptance Project

"Sometimes there is great intelligence in allowing yourself to actually feel worse right now, rather than scrambling to feel better immediately. To be curious about your symptoms rather than immediately rushing to get rid of them, remove them, numb them; for your symptoms may just be parts of you longing for love."

— Jeff Foster

The Self-Acceptance Project

"Even though no word can capture the boundless mystery of what you are, some people use the word awareness; some people use the word consciousness; some people use the word presence, spirit, god, space, emptiness, source, life . . . but in the end, the language we use really doesn’t matter, and can just become yet another distraction. You exist before language, concepts, dreams, conclusions — be- fore even the most beautiful and spiritual words like awakening, enlightenment, and love."

— Jeff Foster

The Self-Acceptance Project

"When we’re in the deepest, darkest, and worst emotional state, when it seems like self-acceptance is the farthest away, we are in fact one instant from the awareness that can transform us completely."

— Raphael Cushnir

The Self-Acceptance Project

"Being free takes first realizing you’re in prison, and then questioning what imprisons you. Peace takes naming what keeps you ruffled. Joy takes realizing what separates you from it. It’s a process, not a one-time event; you’ve got to want your life back more than you want anything."

— Geneen Roth

The Self-Acceptance Project

"Self-acceptance is a kind of courage — a quiet courage. It means meeting life with who we are completely, being open to how we’re shaped in the same way the shore is shaped by the surf."

— Mark Nepo

The Self-Acceptance Project

"Ultimately, self-acceptance relates to the opening of the heart. It has to do with the long, hard journey of loving ourselves."

— Mark Nepo

The Self-Acceptance Project

"When we are self-critical or experiencing shame, our sense of self becomes completely constricted around the part of us we feel has done wrong or is not enough."

— Kelly McGonigal

The Self-Acceptance Project

"That is really what radical forgiveness is all about — that people can feel better about themselves, accept themselves, love themselves more, and know that they are perfect just the way they are."

— Colin Tipping

The Self-Acceptance Project

"Self-acceptance is a great matter, asking much of us, and giving back even more. Exploring and cultivating intimacy with what’s in the way of self-acceptance is an essential journey for us, if we are to truly come alive."

— Robert Augustus Masters

The Self-Acceptance Project

"The particular sensations, emotions or thoughts that arise when we practice mindfulness are not so important. It is our willingness to become still and pay attention to our experience… With time we develop the capacity to relate to our passing experience, whether in meditation or daily life, with deep clarity and kindness."

— Tara Brach

Radical Acceptance

"…anxiety can inform your life, but it does not have to define it. You’re not destined for anxiety; you’re destined for equanimity."

— Sheryl Paul

The Wisdom of Anxiety

"The constructive way of dealing with anxiety… consists of learning to live with it, accepting it as a “teacher,” to borrow Kierkegaard’s phrase, to school us in confronting our human destiny."

— Rollo May

The Meaning of Anxiety