Life can be stressful. Whether it’s the stress that comes with having too much work to do in too little time, or having caregiving obligations, or dealing with a major illness or setback, sometimes it can be hard to cope.
Though all of the groups experienced less stress and fewer incidents of feeling stressed over time, the people who took the full MBSR course had a significantly steeper improvement than the other two groups.
“Learning how to accept your present-moment experience is really important for reducing stress,” says Emily Lindsay, one of the study’s co-authors. “It seems to be a key element of mindfulness training.”
Mindfulness practices that specifically emphasize acceptance teach us a nonjudgmental attitude toward our experiences—meaning, learning not to label our thoughts, feelings, or experiences as good or bad, and trying not to change or resist them in any way. While many mindfulness courses include instructions in acceptance as par for the course, those that don’t may not be as effective.
Why might acceptance be important? Lindsay argues that when people accept difficult experiences (like stress), it allows the experiences to “run their course and dissipate,” while resisting them only makes them stronger. And, she adds, accepting stress helps people to stop focusing only on what’s wrong and to notice other feelings, sensations, and thoughts occurring at the same time, enabling them to see the “bigger picture.”
“Stress diminishes as you take in more of your experience,” she says. “That’s the transformative part.”
Acceptance is not about acquiescing to your fate, though, says Lindsay—like getting a diagnosis of a terminal illness and just accepting that you’re going to die. That kind of “acceptance” leads to worse outcomes, she says. Nor is it about accepting poor treatment from other people. It’s more about accepting your internal experience—your thoughts and feelings—which informs you about how to respond to your external circumstances in a wiser way. For example, if you feel angry and accept your anger in the moment, it may prevent you from lashing out at someone and help you see that your feelings aren’t their fault.
“Clearly, we need to emphasize acceptance techniques a little more,” says Lindsay. That’s true in formal programs like MBSR, but also in our own individual practice.
I, for one, plan to do just that.