What is Radical Acceptance? How to Practice it?

Radical acceptance revolves around the concept of suffering. It says that suffering does not directly come from pain, however; suffering comes from the attachment to the pain.

We all know that acceptance is all about taking the first step towards positive change. However, radical acceptance is slightly different from acceptance. Let’s read what is radical acceptance?

Related Read: The Power of Self-Acceptance

What is Radical Acceptance?

Radical acceptance is the ability to accept uncontrollable situations without judging them. This reduces the suffering that is caused by negative or uncontrollable situations.

Radical acceptance suggests we do not get attached to the painful past; instead, it tells us to accept the uncontrollable situation as non-attachment is the only key to ending painful suffering. I am not asking you to totally detach from your feelings or emotions. I am asking you to keep a positive intention so that your mind can become a strong place to turn suffering into neutrality.

Radical acceptance is all about keeping an eye on your negative thoughts, identifying them, and changing them whenever they begin to interrupt your everyday life.  It’s all about accepting it is what it is and not getting caught in an emotional breakdown.

Signs of Lack of Acceptance

It’s totally normal when we react emotionally in negative situations. Here are some signs that show you are in need to practice radical acceptance:

• Life is not fair.
• I am not able to deal with this.
• I can’t believe I have to go through this.
• Things were pretty good, this is totally unacceptable.
• Whatever is happening is not fair.
• Why does it only happen to me?
• Why is this happening now?
• I am in a horrible situation.
• Do I deserve this?
• Everyone is going against me.
• Bad things only happen to me.
• I wish things were different.
• I am not able to accept that this actually happened to
• Nobody else is dealing with this.
• I know I will never be able to catch a break.
• I am never going to be OK after all this.
• This is I will not be able to forget this.
• I can’t get over this even if I try hard.

20+ Ways to Practice Radical Acceptance

Here are some ways that can help you to practice Radical acceptance and improve your capability of engaging with negative situations.

Before starting, understand that this is not a personality skill that has to be developed; this is a coping technique that gets better over time.

Therefore, keep practicing it and do not let negative thoughts conquer your mind and body.

1. If you are unable to find a solution to a problem then try to change your perspective toward the situation. Maybe it helps!

2. If you’re in a situation wherein there are a lot of extreme emotions then you can try focusing on deep breathing techniques or try to examine your thoughts so that you can change them into positive thoughts.

3. If you feel like you’re not in an accepting mode, watch your thoughts and reflect on them.

4. Keep reminding yourself that “it is what it is.”

5. You can also practice acceptance through positive self-talk and mind relaxation strategies.

6. Beware of your feelings and your thoughts.

7. Accept the pain, instead of suffering.

8. Think about a situation wherein you’ve to reflect on accepting your life. Now, do it in real.

9. Keep searching and identifying those events wherein you actually accepted your flaws.

10. Keep listing your plan of action so that you don’t have to spend time thinking about what to do next.

11. Also, keep creating coping strategies so that they can keep you intact in hard times.

12. Learn to accept things and life as they come, don’t try to control them.

13. Understand what is controllable and what is uncontrollable.

14. Keep practicing mindfulness and train your body and mind to live in the present.

15. Keep finding ways that help you to ground and calm yourself.

16. Compete with your strengths and keep polishing them.

17. Before spending time on something, evaluate if it’s worth it or not. Also, keep checking the facts along with reality.

18. If you wish to get calm instantly, try countdown, it will help you to control your feelings.

19. Take the use of your senses to ground yourself in the moment or for practicing mindfulness.

20. Allow yourself to let go of uncontrollable situations.

21. The most important point, stop judging people or situations and don’t get attached to them.

I hope this blog helps you to understand what radical acceptance is and how to practice radical acceptance. Comment down and share your experiences with radical acceptance. For more such content, follow Calm Sage on all social media platforms.

Thanks for reading!

More power to you.