Allowing is the practice of non-resistance to what is happening in the present moment. It entails being open to what arises from the mind and allowing the thoughts and feelings to enter your being without interfering or getting involved with them in any way.
The state of allowing is actually our natural state of being. The only reason I may refer to it as a practice is because people get over-identified with their minds which creates a buildup of resistance which then prevents them from being able to naturally allow. Resistance is the polar opposite of allowing, you can resist the flow of life in which you try to control everything that happens and try to solve your minds delusional problems or you can allow the flow of life in which you would experience ease even through ‘difficult’ situations as there would be no resistance (stress) to what is happening.
The buildup of resistance in your being has to be released in order for you to get back to your natural state of allowing (the flow of life). This is where the practice of allowing comes in, if you allow your mental and emotional bodies to be, without interference, they will heal and return to their natural state of being.
Ways in which you interfere with the healing process are;
Attention/Focus – Attention/Focus is fuel for your thoughts and emotions. You want to be aware of what arises without placing your attention on any one thing.
Resistance – Healing is a natural process, the reason your emotions are surfacing is to heal. Don’t resist/block them out, you are only pushing them down to resurface at a later time. Blocking out emotions can leave feeling exhausted and lethargic.
Distraction – There are several ways in which people distract themselves from their emotions. The most common would be; alcohol, recreational drugs, keeping oneself busy, putting others down to make oneself feel better (gossiping) etc. If you tend to distract yourself from your emotions, over time you will have to do more and more to keep yourself distracted until it takes over your life. Most people are unaware of this cycle in themselves, but the practice of allowing also expands your awareness and allows you to see all of the minds cycles and patterns of thinking, with time.
What exactly will I be allowing?
You allow whatever arises to arise freely. It is common to experience intense fears and doubt during this phase. This stems from the habitual controlling nature of the mind. These fears and doubts can come in the form of thoughts such as; I’m doing this wrong, this is going to make me worse, I’m going to lose control of my life etc. or intense feelings that take over your body causing your heart to race and you to perspire. These are just the biological response to fear; fight or flight mode. Whatever form it takes, just stay detached and allow it to be. The intensity of any emotion that arises depends solely on how much of its energy has built up in your being over the years of unconscious living. You are not going to experience anything new, that is, nothing that you haven’t felt before. Only YOUR emotions can arise.
If fear (anxiety) is something that you have been heavily identified with, then a lot of fear will arise. If sadness (depression) is something that you have been heavily identified with, then a lot of sadness will arise. These are your feeling/emotions, they are in your mind and being and if you allow them up to heal, they will dissolve over time. Don’t be afraid of them. You can allow them up to heal and experience them with less intensity over time until they finally disappear or you can fight them, causing yourself more suffering, and be a victim of the influence that they have on you for the rest of your life.
So to recap, you must allow everything to arise freely, be that thoughts, emotions doubt etc. while you stay in a passive relaxed state of awareness without getting actively involved in anything.
It can take a while to become familiar with allowing or even to be able to detach from your mind and this is normal. My advice is to take it easy, start off with a 20-30 minute practice a day and as you become more aware, you will be able to see your minds patterns/cycles in action making it easier to detach and allow.
