Acceptance September 20 2026

Modify, modify, modify

Acceptance. Accepting the end of summer. Accepting that my mom’s dementia and physicality is worsening. Accepting that we cannot control other people’s words or beliefs. Most notable in my current practice of acceptance is accepting that I am injured and need to pause. If you are like me, perhaps you have struggled to find acceptance, bristled against it, fought it. I often think of the serenity prayer as I meditate on this virtue: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Seemingly simple, but often elusive.

With acceptance I have found (learned) that the pivot to calm and gratitude for the good things feels better than outrage and anger. With these current and ongoing challenges in my life I have certainly felt frustration, anger and a sense of resentment and woe is me. As I have spent time thinking, meditating and ruminating on my walks (my legs still work), I have truly reached a state of acceptance on all of these topics. That does not mean I don’t have moments of self-pity or bursts of anger and frustration, but I notice they pass quickly and, with humor and some prayers of gratitude, I find joy in the here and now.

Although the end of summer always makes me wistful, I am grateful for cooler sleeping weather, quieter beaches, and long walks. Accepting Mom’s aging and declining health has led me to recount our past adventures as I read her cards from my friends. I remind her of the stunts those friends and I pulled, and her memory of them is surprisingly vivid. Accepting that I cannot control other people’s words or beliefs has helped me exert more effort toward remaining silent, finally understanding I cannot control these things but only how I react. Accepting my current injured state with grace has allowed me to avert my gaze at my weedy and in need of dead heading flower beds and focus on reading more, taking it a bit slower and letting go of tasks that are not urgent.

Capturing End of Summer - Modified 😂🤣

While I am taking a short break from teaching as this evolves, I am leaning into the tools of our practice. I find myself practicing various breathing (pranayama) techniques to calm myself, help me sleep and to reduce pain. I am still trying to practice a physical practice a few times a week on a modified basis to keep my body strong and flexible, hopefully helping with my recovery. Meditation has finally come more fully into my life as I embrace the practice to help find acceptance, healing and gratitude.

In general, I am feeling grateful for all that I have and the kindness that my friends, my students and yoga colleagues, and family have demonstrated. I find that I am at peace with the situation and how this next chapter will evolve. My pie crusts, sourdough and goals of knitting and really learning to swim will have to wait.

See you on the mat,

Namaste,

Julia Anne