Many of us are (rightfully) focused on taking care of our health, eating nourishing whole foods and trying to be active . We are super dedicated to living right...even meditating and flossing and making time to disconnect away from devices.
These are wonderful acts of self-care, and they are necessary and important.
But there’s one act of self-care that is very often neglected, and it might be even more important than all the others: the practice of being kind to yourself.
This is a basic problem that most of us face, every single day. We are nice to others, but not to ourselves. We beat ourselves up, all day long. We stress out about uncertainty because we don’t think we’re good enough to deal with it. We don’t trust ourselves to stick to something, because we’ve formed a really bad picture of ourselves over the years. We get angry at ourselves for eating too much, drinking too much alcohol, messing up in a social situation, getting distracted and watching videos or playing video games, and so on and so on. We are harsh on ourselves, and don’t like how we look or who we are, in many ways. Would you ever say those things, expect those things of someone else? Absolutely not!
This negative self talk affects everything in our lives. It makes us more stressed, less happy, anxious, depressed, stuck, procrastinating, less happy in relationships, less focused, more likely to reach for comfort foods or distraction or shopping to comfort ourselves from the stress and pain of being who we are.
But if we give ourselves a break - focus on how awesome we are, we would start to heal and feel better. Everything will shift - our confidence, our energy level, our attitude, and our stress level. Imagine yourself feeling at ease, beautiful, and happy every morning. You can do it!
Giving yourself kindness is such an important act of self-care, and yet is rarely ever done. Show yourself some self-compassion and understanding for who you are and what you've been through.
Starting right this minute, be more mindful of your self talk. What are you saying? How about nice job finding that article on self talk? How are you treating yourself. Choose to see your positives - you have so many of them! Compliment yourself. You can do this all day long. It may be hard at first -- only because you are so used to giving yourself a hard time, but soon your will find it gets easier and easier. Adding a bit of positivism to your home decor helps too. How about a reminder that you are awesome and beautiful every time you walk into a room? There are some great positive home accents that do just that!
There are tools and tricks that will help. Research has shown that physical activity—even slight touch or movement—interrupts the brain from playing negative thoughts. My favorite are Solution Stones. They are small, smooth, and naturally curved. Its easy to refocus and destress with them. Whatever tool or trick you use to get back on track, stick with it and your self will thank you!!!
Be Happy!!!
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