Mindful Self-Compassion is a beautiful practice of self-healing. Do you come across failures? Of course, yes; we all do. Still, these failures make you sad and leave you feeling lost and defeated.
What if you get someone by your side in this low phase? One who can really understand you, who wants to genuinely help you. And who can be such a person except you? Yes!
‘When you are compassionate with yourself, you trust in your soul which you let guide your life.’
Thus, mindful self-compassion is about being with yourself when you need it most. So that you can embrace your soul and feel your life.
Let’s dig into the concepts to make them clearer.
What is Mindful Self-Compassion?
SUMMARY
Mindful self-compassion is a blend of mindful and self-compassion skills. It is a self-healing practice of being aware of yourself and having self-compassion with this awareness.
Think about the last time you got upset. Maybe, it was because of a failure. Things might have not turned out well or, at least, as per your expectations. So, what did you do? Had you pat your back to calm yourself down and consoled yourself to rise again? No!
Instead, you blamed yourself and started self-criticism. Thus, it smashed your remaining self-confidence. And this is the same for all. We often act too rude for ourselves, the way we would never deal with a friend.
On the contrary, we are the ones who need our support and belief more than anyone else. The unconditional belief, kindness, and love that we crave can be fulfilled by ourselves only. This practice is what we call mindful self-compassion.
Processes Involved in Mindful Self-Compassion –
You can observe these in those people around who can wonderfully manage every situation and make it better.
Self-awareness.
Connection with oneself.
Observance of one’s pain.
Identification of its cause.
It’s acknowledgment.
Analyzing one’s state.
Responding to it like a friend.
Being kind. Not judging oneself.
Seeing oneself as a human. Remember, humans, are imperfect.
Have a balanced insight.
Supporting oneself instead of acting carping.
Thus, mindful self-compassion is a state of mind that is practiced to strike a chord with your inner self.
Components of Mindful Self-Compassion
The term consists of two words – mindful and self-compassion. These combine to give them meaning. Let’s understand these to dive deep into the practice.
Mindfulness
It is the state of being conscious or aware.
Elements of mindfulness involve –
Self-awareness.
You first get conscious about yourself. It’s about hearing your inner whisper. This lets you realize your hidden feelings and emotions.
Being in the present moment.
We all get lost in the outer chaos of the world. However, we need to regain our composure and feel our immediate presence to be mindful.
Exploring one’s feelings and analyzing the actions.
Now, we are actually aware of ourselves and the environment. So, in this calm state, we can easily explore our feelings and actions.
Self-Compassion
Being kind towards oneself in hard times rather than self-criticism.
Elements of self-compassion involve –
Self-kindness.
As the term describes itself, it is kindness for oneself. This is born naturally. For instance, when you see someone in need, you can’t just enforce compassion for them in the heart. It emerges internally.
Likewise, when you see your suffering, you should genuinely empathize with yourself. The ‘stiff upper lip’ mentality often harms.
Common humanity.
Generally, we put hard times as something of ‘always occurs with me only!’ mentality. However, failure is something humane. Everyone has his or her own failings.
How to Practice Mindful Self-Compassion?
‘Having compassion starts and ends with having compassion for all those unwanted parts of ourselves.’
You can acquire Mindful Self Compassion in your daily lives in certain ways. This includes practices, exercises, guided meditations, etc. Let’s know more about them.
Mindful Self-Compassion Exercises
Here are some simple self-enabled exercises for you.
1. Write yourself kind letters
Write letters to yourself, addressing yourself as a suffering friend.
Share, comfort, and motivate yourself.
Make it a habit. Write at least once in a while, maybe, a letter weekly.
2. Keep a self-compassion journal
Maintain a journal.
Write your daily feelings in it.
Include your good memories in the journal in the form of pictures or memorabilia.
Go through it when you feel sad.
3. Practice ‘Your goals’ exercise
In a paper, write down all your goals.
Add both – the long term and the short term ones.
Visualize these.
Plan your actions.
Motivate yourself.
You will feel better with a goal to focus
4. Motivate with critical self-talk
Close your eyes and take a deep breath.
Now focus on your experience components.
Analyze your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations.
With this, direct your thoughts.
Realize these experiences.
Thus, motivate yourself to move ahead.
5. Take a self-compassion break
Being your own friend is completely natural.
Pat yourself or talk about your fears.
Spend quality time with your own self.
Do what you like most, like your hobbies.
Listen to your inner self, that is, your very soul.
Nature has endowed us with the beautiful gift of compassion. Often, we share this with others and leave none but ourselves. Mindful self-compassion is about this realization that we too deserve our kindness. It is the acceptance of our soul regarding our need for beliefs and warmth from our own selves.
With this, you can change the way of your life. Thus, find your real self. Repeat the gospel – “I’m my best friend for a lifetime.”
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