Methods to generate lasting self-compassion and self-respect
Building self-compassion and respect for yourself is the most rewarding journey of your life, but it also takes work - which makes it so rewarding! When you know you have shown up for your own growth and healing, you can’t help but feel empowered. You are taking charge of your own destiny! Nothing is more satisfying. This article is going to:
✔ change the way you think about your relationship with yourself
✔ explain what self-compassion is and why it is SO important
✔ gift you a free yoga bundle that you can use over and over to help build you up from the inside out so you can go and shine your light in the world.
Go ahead and grab your free self-care yoga course here. Make sure you use the code FREEYOGI at checkout.
There are myriad reasons why we may feel under confident, unempowered or lack respect for ourselves. And at these times it is difficult to practice self-compassion; when we are caught in a self-depreciating loop, the last person we can freely be nice to is ourselves. Sound familiar?
“It was when I stopped searching for home within others and lifted the foundations of home within myself I found there were no roots more intimate than those between a mind and body that have decided to be whole.”
When we feel under-confident, or have challenges with self-esteem, it can be difficult to experience joy in life. Things happen to us but we are busy in our heads, worrying about our problems. We can’t truly feel our experiences and appreciate life. Even when, on paper what we are doing is amazing, we can’t really feel it. We know we are supposed to be enjoying the awesome things that happen to us, but we can’t. We just can’t. Trust me, I’ve been there. I know the feeling. And at these times, the negativity in our minds makes it very difficult to change the story and start to feel good about ourselves. When the truth is, if we work on changing our mindset and practising self-compassion, our whole world will change for the better.
But don’t just trust me. Mountains of research testify to this fact, and under confidence or low self-esteem is a common experience for humans across the world. Some people experience these feelings at intervals in their lives when dealing with stressful circumstances. Others feel them more consistently and as an intrinsic part of their life. But rest assured, if the latter is you, it most definitely does not define you. Speaking as someone who has experienced self-hatred, self-blame, and a huge lack of self-esteem, I promise you, you can feel happy and powerful. Yoga, meditation, affirmation and journaling were the start of my journey - what will yours be?
Dr. Kristen Neff is a doctor of psychology who has been a trailblazer in this topic for 20 years. She has written multiple papers, books and academic articles on self-compassion. She describes self-compassion as:
✔ having recognition of suffering
✔ feeling moved by suffering which thus elicits a heart-felt response of care or the desire to help
✔ a kind and understanding approach without judgement
✔ the wisdom to recognise that failure, imperfection and suffering are normal parts of shared human experience, and important to our growth.
“Instead of mercilessly judging and criticizing yourself for various inadequacies or shortcomings, self-compassion means you are kind and understanding when confronted with personal failings – after all, who ever said you were supposed to be perfect?”
Self-compassion can be expressed in many different ways. It can be taking a bath with your favourite salts, practising yoga or mindfulness, taking a walk in nature, or setting boundaries and standing up for yourself. And so much more. If healthy boundaries are something you’d like to work on, head over to this blog on why they’re so important for mental health, self-worth and wellbeing with helpful exercises to embed your work. Journaling is an exercise that will increase the quality of your learning and help absorb and integrate the checkpoints along your journey. This kind of self-study is invaluable. And a key part of yoga. In fact, yoga is so powerful because it encompasses all of these elements in its very essence, and helps you find your own path. Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self ~ the Bhagavad Gita
Remember that the power to do this work is in your hands alone. Sure, you can seek external support and advice, teachers, tools and practices. In fact finding the right ones will be central to your growth, but you are the person that makes it happen and invites this into your day to day life. You are the one who finds the strength to change within yourself and manifests this into action. You are the one who decides that you don’t want to feel like this anymore. So you change it. You will never look back. Try this free yoga class for self-compassion to accompany your journey or listen to this 15-minute talk on why self-compassion is so important for self-love, mental health and well-being and for navigating the ups and downs of life.
You were born with everything you need to be content already inside of you. It is only our external environment that changes the way we think about ourselves and creates doubt. We are constantly told, from the day we are born, we should be better, cleverer, thinner, prettier…we are constantly told that we have to ‘fit a mould’ to be accepted. Well, what if we don’t? There is a wave of freedom emerging, where people are realising that contentment does not lie outside of us. The constant seeking for bigger, better, braver, bolder and for attaining goals that only bring more desperation to fill a gap: this is not life. Or it doesn’t have to be.
Life is knowing yourself and what you stand for, finding pleasure in a morning cup of tea, waking up excited for the day, noticing the way the petals of a flower fold so perfectly against each other, and yet each one completely different; an exquisite natural formation of unique elements, born that way, fulfilling its purpose just by existing, and perfectly imperfect. There is much wisdom in nature, as Albert Einstein said:
“ Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. ”
Life is feeling a serene peace as a gentle summer breeze brushes your face and your breath softly guides your rhythm. In this way, we can be busy, successful, challenged and troubled and still find peace in the subtle experiences of life. In the gentle ebb and flow of a body maintaining life so miraculously, yet so effortlessly that we don’t even notice it most of the time.
I’ve created a short yoga course for self-acceptance which is yours for free. Self-acceptance is the cornerstone of self-worth and invites you to respect yourself with compassion. Learning self-acceptance allows you to love the positive, but also those bits that are less easy to love. It's unconditional. You’ll receive 1 self-acceptance yoga class, 1 meditation to generate deep self-love and acceptance and 1 self-acceptance journal session to embed and integrate your work. All carefully created to ensure that, before anything else, you prioritise you and your wellbeing.
Whether you are at the start of your journey in feeling joy through just being you, through finding epic pleasure in the most simple experiences of existence, or if you are having a difficult time and need to boost your vibes and bring your energy up again, then this yoga course for self -acceptance is for you 💗
Self-Acceptance Yoga Course
