When we judge ourselves harshly it is important to heal those thoughts. Consider this…
“I just can’t do anything right!”
How can you heal that thought? What is a higher level thought?
“I am doing my best” or “I am just having a bad day today.”
Developing your ability to honor yourself with acceptance is an important skill for your wellbeing. When you have a habit of judging yourself harshly, you also tend to judge others by the same standard. This leads to relationship conflicts and discontent. So by correcting your own self judgment, you can begin allowing others to be simply themselves as well and heal relationships. When we do not send ourselves compassion, we cannot fully express our compassion to others.
Another useful technique is to always circle your thoughts back to what you are grateful for and in doing this, you release a flood of healthy chemicals in your body. By revisiting what we are grateful for, we turn around the inner soundtrack that is telling us “things are not right!”, we allow the stress response that would follow that frustration to be corrected and allow the relaxation response to begin.
When you are at the end of your rope, tired and frustrated what do you do? Do you push forward or do you rest, take a break, change your approach, send yourself self-compassion? You are best served by resting, then restarting again after you have rested or taken a break or found a new approach. Sounds so obvious, right? However, many people find themselves in the cycle of judging themselves harshly, pushing forward relentlessly, and feeling stressed out.
Try the positive cycle of self compassion to find peace. When you find yourself having a critical thought, ask yourself…
1) What is a higher level thought?
2) What am I grateful for?
3) If something is not working, should I rest and try a new approach after a break?
If you or someone you love is having a hard time incorporating self compassion in their life, feeling discontented or in need of new and empowering life skills, feel free to contact us about any of our programs and one-to-one coaching.
