Building Self-Compassion One Step At A Time
In this post, let's explore together one step we can take to develop loving kindness to ourselves. Many of us have probably heard or been encouraged to utilize self-compassion. But what does it mean and what does it entail? It can be overwhelming to figure out where to begin and how this looks like for you. Self-compassion involves noticing and acknowledging your suffering and responding with kindness. To develop self-compassion, I encourage you to begin slowly and with curiosity. There are many components to building self-compassion and I will introduce them one blog at a time. For this week, let's focus on acknowledging our suffering. Find a safe space and with intention, notice and acknowledge your pain. Notice the painful thoughts, feelings, emotions, images, urges, and/or memories that are showing up for you in the present moment. The ACE skill from Acceptance and Commitment therapy, introduced in my previous blog, may be helpful with this. Name the thoughts and feeling