How do you respond to yourself when going through a difficult time or facing a challenging dynamic? Do critical, judgmental voices immediately kick in?
Can you approach your own pain with kindness?
Can you hold your own hand when you fall?
Can you host every part of yourself as a guest?
How do you support yourself?
Self-compassion involves offering ourselves kindness, understanding, and support while navigating difficulties. Being able to provide ourselves with this kindness, understanding, and support primarily benefits our relationship with ourselves and enhances our emotional resilience. It helps us find a refuge within ourselves. Through self-compassion, we learn to adopt a mindset that is loving, compassionate, inclusive, and gentle, instead of being judgmental or self-blaming. This shift in approach creates a foundation for our wholeness and emotional well-being.
Ultimately, 'self-compassion is the ability to befriend oneself.'
“Because we often depend on self-judgment, even the smallest attention we give to our wounded places can mark the beginning of a radical transformation. When we embrace our own sorrows, the old roles of judge, enemy, or victim lose their validity. Instead of a new role, we find a courageous openness and a deep capacity for genuine compassion towards ourselves and others.”
When we respond to our own pain with the kindness of compassion, we free ourselves and can extend this compassion to others as well.
Inspiration: Radical Acceptance, Dr. Tara Brach
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