During the night I had the strong urge to check my phone. You know the one. Lying there alone with your thoughts and anxieties as everyone else lies asleep, wanting the answers the phone is never going to give you. It’s exactly why I don’t sleep with my phone in the same room, to remove the temptation from the equation.

But the temptation was so strong.

In yamabushi Shugyo (training), we are constantly told to do things. This means we constantly say Uketamo. We are constantly saying to ourselves ’I accept’. To be able to move on, we must accept our current selves. We must accept ourselves for who we are.

So I tried that.

Every time I felt the urge to go and get my phone, I said to myself, ‘Uketamo, I accept myself for who I am’*.

Eventually I got the message and fell asleep.

The next time you find the urge to do something you ought not to, try the phrase ‘Uketamo, I accept myself for who I am’.

And if you do that enough times, you might just fall asleep. Or at least, be able to carry on your day without temptation.

* This is but one interpretation of Uketamo.