As we enter full force into the holiday season, the energy picks up and our stress levels typically rise. Our tolerance levels also change: usually in the wrong direction! Yet beneath it all is a power barely perceptible. If we tap into it through our yoga practices, we can discover, or rather remember, that which is native to the soul: a deep, abiding calmness cradled in acceptance.
Let’s think of that manger scene so long ago and what it symbolizes for us in our spiritual journey. Mary and Joseph had no choice but to accept the “gift” of the humble stable and the seemingly crude accommodation of a roughhewn cradle for the birth of the Christ child. And yet, in that cradle of acceptance was placed the essence of hope and love into a seemingly God forsaken landscape.
Acceptance is not resignation, acceptance is not even surrender. Acceptance is a condition that creates the very ability for us to receive the love of the Divine fully into our being—the healer of all sorrows, all fears.That which erases the greatest misunderstanding: the boundaries of our perceived separateness.
So in whatever way we can this holiday season, let’s cultivate an awareness of acceptance—of ourselves and of each other. Wherever we find ourselves in the present moment, make a cradle of acceptance, allowing that love that so longs to find its resting place in our hearts to light the way into a new year of renewed hope and inspiration.
Together in Christ’s love,
Ananda Dallas
