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Allowing means “letting be” the thoughts, emotions, feelings, or sensations you discover.
You may feel a natural sense of aversion, of wishing that unpleasant feelings would go away, but as you become more willing to be present with “what is,” a different quality of attention will emerge.
Allowing is intrinsic to healing, and realizing this can give rise to a conscious intention to “let be.”
Many students I work with support their resolve to “let be” by mentally whispering an encouraging word or phrase.
For instance, you might feel the grip of fear and whisper “yes,” or experience the swelling of deep grief and whisper “yes.”
You might use the words “this too” or “I consent.”
At first you might feel you’re just putting up with unpleasant emotions or sensations.
Or you might say yes to shame and hope that it will magically disappear.
In reality, we have to consent again and again.
Yet even the first gesture of allowing, simply whispering a phrase like “yes” or “I consent,” begins to soften the harsh edges of your pain.
Your entire being is not so rallied in resistance.
Offer the phrase gently and patiently, and in time your defenses will relax, and you may feel a physical sense of yielding or opening to waves of experience.
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