Acceptance & Meditation in Indianapolis, IN
The importance of accepting what can't be changed is an increasing trope in psychotherapy. Beyond a doubt, events and experiences occur that are not of our deliberate making but have to be dealt with. In the Scientific American, Creswell (2024) claimed, "A stream of scientific articles suggests that there are benefits in turning toward discomfort or upsetting emotions with acceptance" (p. 72). From his 20 years of experience in mindfulness-meditation as practitioner and researcher, he concluded that awareness of both the positive and the negative through meditation can foster an equanimity that is at peace with the variety of experiences and reactions to them.
Creswell (2024) proposed that if we can allow ourselves acceptance of a variety of reactions, we can learn a lot from it. He cited research from other sources that showed that subjects who were prompted to push themselves into situations beyond their comfort zones reported greater personal growth than those who were not asked to go into the unfamiliar. Another study found that those who could turn toward negative emotions like anger and sadness with neutrality had less anxiety and depression than those who judged their emotions with disapproval.
His own research (Creswell, 2024) involved clinical trials to develop equanimity during mindfulness-meditation. During these trials, there were two groups. In one, people were asked to use a dispassionate voice to name physical discomfort and to say "yes" out loud whenever an uncomfortable emotion came up. That group was the equanimity training group The other group was trained simply to recognize their experiences as they occurred. The equanimity group had the best results. That group had less intense biological stress reactions, higher positive emotions, and more rewarding social contacts afterwards.
Creswell (2024) and others are continuing to explore the effects of acceptance. He concluded that that we can become more personally resilient by becoming more accepting of all our experiences as we pay attention to them all.
Reference: Creswell, J. D. (2024). Accepting discomfort could help you thrive. Scientific American, 330 (2), 72-73.