“If compassion doesn’t include yourself, it is incomplete.” – Buddha
For many people who want to leave a positive impact on the world, they try to have compassion for others. While this is admirable and wonderful, how often do people ever stop to evaluate the compassion they have towards themselves. Self-compassion has gotten a bad rap. Usually, when people hear this term they confuse self-compassion for being self-absorbed and selfish. This is far from what self-compassion is.
In order to lead a better life, and achieve a higher level of personal development, you must have and cultivate self-compassion for yourself. If you’re interested in achieving real happiness, inner peace, and growth, you need to have compassion for others, but you must first have it for yourself.
Self-compassion is not babying yourself when you do less than you know you’re capable of, and it’s not letting yourself off the hook when you know you fell short. Self-compassion is giving yourself grace, support, kindness, and love in spite of your shortcomings, and even on your best days. Self-compassion is the acknowledgement that you are responsible for you, and taking inventory of the thoughts you think about yourself, the words you speak to yourself, and the actions you take towards yourself. What you think, speak, and do are reflections of how you feel about yourself.
Being compassionate towards yourself means you are aware of your imperfect nature as a human being. When you have self-compassion towards yourself, you have an awareness of your own suffering, and you take charge of ensuring your own well-being. Self-compassion is not self-pity or self-indulgence. Self-compassion is an important part of self-care. It’s so important to practice compassion towards yourself daily. It is your birthright to prioritize your health and happiness in order to function at your highest level. Not sure how to be kind to yourself and show yourself self-compassion? No worries, I’ve got you covered. Check out the 6 ways to be compassionate to yourself.
1. Celebrate Your Accomplishments
Accomplishments come in all sizes. They can be as big as celebrating a life milestone, to as small as getting out of bed in the morning. Celebrate all the accomplishments in your life.
2. Get ALL the Sleep
Rest is productive. Sleep is very important to your health. Listen and honor your body when it’s telling you to rest.
3. Forgive Yourself
You’ve made mistakes. Congratulations! You’re human. So, you messed up, blew a job interview, or missed an important deadline. Accept what happened, learn from this, and forgive yourself. You are not your mistakes. Don’t hold a grudge against yourself. Treat yourself with kindness.
4. Compliment Yourself
The words we speak are so powerful! The words we speak to ourselves have the ability to shape our future. You might be quick to compliment others, but when was the last time you gave yourself a compliment? Look in the mirror and speak kindly to yourself. I promise this exercise will do wonders for you.
5. Take Care of Yourself (Mind & Body)
One of the most compassionate things we can do for ourselves is nourishing our mind and body with healthy and positive items. Show compassion to yourself by eating fresh fruits and vegetables. Show compassion to yourself by taking a break from social media for a day, and resetting your mind. Be mindful of what you consume internally and mentally.
6. Participate in Things that Bring you Joy
You deserve joy. You deserve to participate in things that bring you joy. Take time to do something you love as often as you can. By doing this, it is an act of compassion.
I hope you found these 6 ways to practice self-compassion helpful to you. Please try and show yourself compassion daily. In addition to these tips, I’ve created a guided meditation for compassion on my YouTube channel. Please feel free to try it out. It’s a short 10 minute meditation. Enjoy!