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Acceptance is the Word

Writer's picture: Dena JacksonDena Jackson

March 1st, 2022

Wow, where do I begin with this newsletter? It honestly feels like a lifetime has passed since the last one was sent out at the beginning of December. Maybe that’s because it really has? Since I wrote to you last, the city I live in and the city that you might also live in (Toronto) was up and running in full force. Then, it shut down during the Omicron surge and now it’s open again. During that time, I went from enjoying life; to losing all my in-person work, catching Covid, recovering from Covid and now, like the city I live in, I’m also up and running again. But wow, what a time to be alive, truly! This pandemic has weighed heavily on all of us in different ways and I think that it’s fair to say we are more than ready for it to be over. While I’m optimistic about the future, I’d also like to highlight the word that came up many times for me while I was experiencing a difficult December and January.


Acceptance. This word found its way over to me time and time again as I felt frustration, sadness and defeat rise in my heart over the past two months. I felt frustration that this pandemic is still a reality; defeat, which fought an intense battle against optimism and sadness while mourning a reality that is no longer our current one. Although these emotions were painful to experience in the moment, acceptance eventually found its way to my heart. That’s one of the cool things about acceptance; it’s that feeling that follows a good cry. It shows up at a time when you are ready to move on. Once you reach the stage of acceptance, you have already started to heal.





Sometimes I like to draw a card from a deck of affirmation cards that provide me with guidance when I need a little push in the right direction. And of course, the Acceptance card kept showing its face to me during this time. Instead of fighting the outcome which is my default response, I let the idea of acceptance come into my experience. Accepting helped me overcome the need to control every situation I encountered. I really felt this happen while I was healing from covid. Once the stress associated with contracting the dreaded virus (cancelling plans, notifying people you’ve seen recently and facing the fear and stigma associated with catching it) subsides, then you are just left with time. Time to heal, time to crawl the walls out of boredom and time to accept what is. This experience was of course, in my personal case (as I know many others had much more intense experiences with covid) but the lessons I am sharing with you here can be applied to many situations. I am a firm believer that our mind can tell us that the pain we are experiencing feels much worse than it is. If we are mindful of what our mind is telling us, then we can look past our monkey mind and truly see the impermanence of that pain. For me, acceptance finds its way back to my heart when I can truly see the impermanence of every moment. And I take comfort in that. This new way of seeing things can also help during embarrassing moments, moments of anger and moments of sadness.


If you practice mindfulness (please refer to my first newsletter for tips on how to get started here: https://tinyletter.com/Dena_Jackson/letters/mindfully-coming-back-to-life-1) I suggest trying to see the impermanence of each moment in your practice. A great example of how to see this can be found when you are dealing with any physical pain. Perhaps you have a sore lower back or shoulders? If so, try noticing the pain associated with these areas while you are seated in meditation. Notice how the mind goes to the pain and then, within the blink of an eye, it moves on to a sound, smell, or a thought about lunchtime or anything other than the pain. When you can see the impermanence of that pain and the mind’s attention and/or lack of attention to it, you will be reminded that nothing in life is forever. Not the house you live in, the car you drive or a runny nose that may feel never-ending when really only has about one more day of sliding down your face like a slip n’ slide right out of your nostrils. Once you can see with this practice that everything is temporary, perhaps the feeling of acceptance will follow. And then you can take a breath and smile about what’s next. Feel free to add this to your practice and let me know how it goes. You can also try noticing the impermanence of tasks throughout your day while you are doing chores, cooking, walking or taking a shower. When one moment ends, another begins and that’s what (in my opinion) keeps life interesting. Until next time, thank you for reading and Happy Spring! -DJ



Upcoming Events

1. I offer Hatha yoga classes for adults and children:

Adult classes are held Saturdays at 11am EST on Zoom (msg me for details)

I teach Children’s Yoga classes (in person and online) with Little Yogis: https://www.littleyogistoronto.com/

2. Here are some upcoming live comedy shows I'll be performing on:


March 12: Rusty Nail Comedy in Kitchener, 8pm https://www.rustynailcomedy.com/

March 18th: Mary Janes of Comedy, 10pm https://comedybar.ca/

March 22-27: Absolute Comedy, Toronto (various showtimes) https://www.absolutecomedy.ca/

April 8th: Icebreakers Comedy Festival, Niagara-on-the-Lake, 8pm https://www.icebreakerscomedy.com/

April 12-17: Absolute Comedy, Ottawa (various showtimes) http://www.absolutecomedy.ca/

May 27th: The Assembly Theatre 8pm (msg me for tickets) https://www.theassemblytheatre.com/


I'm always open to questions, comments and ideas you might have!

Ask anytime here: https://www.denajackson.ca/

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