Compassion
We are in a society where a greater percentage of people are hard on themselves, compared to not. Those mind games that play in circles telling us that we are not good enough, or that were stupid because we couldn’t figure out that thing on the first try or whatever comments are coming through based on individual and ancestral experiences.
Why is our mind hard on us?
To help us survive this wild life, our systems have a built in negativity bias, where your brain basically treats mistakes like physical threats.
We internalize voices from our lifetime and patterns through our lineages, the voices from childhood, school or coorporate culture, the narratives where we were never enough… it transforms our survival into high expectations of ourselves. We drive ourselves into exhaustion for the sake of feeling safe.
Having compassion
for oneself is of a great importance in this lifetime; if we cant show or practice compassion, we are more likely to get stuck in patterns of not being good enough and therefore, not chasing after those dreams that I know are hanging out up there.
Compassion, according to Brené Brown “is fuelled by understanding and accepting that we’re all made of strength and struggle- no one is immune to pain or suffering. Compassion is not a practice of “better than” or “I can fix you”- its a practice based in the beauty and pain of shared humanity”
A layer of compassion is what you get when you feel for some one else’s experiences, bonus points for having the boundaries to not take others thoughts and feelings as your own (anybody else have their mom hanging out up in there head? loll).
When you recognize that our experiences (individual and ancestral) live in the body and that everybody’s actions are a result of whatever their story and imprint is.
Even the people who cause harm.
Even the ones that have harmed you.
Not to take the anger away that is often prevalent to those people that have harmed you, but to recognize that this human experience can have us doing wild things because of the harm that continues to be inflicted by a society based on control.
Feel the anger, and show compassion, not for them, but for yourself, I talked a little about this in my own story in a recent podcast I was on (out soon at time of re-publishing this)
Because love is a much better frequency than anger — CL
Compassion, just like any part of the journey comes in layers and pops in, in just the right moments of your journey. A regular practice that goes deeper as you go deeper.
According to Brené Brown, compassion is a daily practice, something we use if an unwanted/ self-demeaning/ other thought arises.
Acknowledging the thought, recognizing where it comes from, feeling into the sensations in your body, allowing yourself to be with it and releasing it with compassion.
The true transformation is the feeling —CL
Societally, we’ve strayed away from feeling it in the body.
It is painful but it is also a reclamation, because our bodies are the ones that hold our stagnation, hold our slouch or our gut issues and when we can feel it, when we can feel and transmute the love and compassion that has been buried beneath armour and survival tactics, we transform.
We model and embody the change that we are after in this lifetime.
Some tools to support though the process 👇🏼
Forgive, an essential oil blend that supports us in letting go of hostilities. An important role through the act of compassion.
Acknowledge the self-critical thought, recognize where it comes from, and feel where it sits in your body. Breathe into that physical tightness and consciously release it. Forgiveness supports us in letting go of internal hostility
Console, an essential oil tool to use when we need some emotional comfort, great to massage into your heartspace when a wave of shame or frustration hits, treat yourself with the emotional comfort you would offer a child.
For the sake of having compassion for yourself, repeat: As I know better, I do better. Those stories do not need to define me anymore.
Journal prompt: I love myself because… (full page letter on how you feel, how you love in life, your small winds, the things you do (for yourself and for others)
Start celebrating the small wins, theyre actually REALLY big —> check out our hype sheet as tool for your journey.
Kindness meditations, here is a good one.
Lets stop thinking that everybody is judging you, chances are theyre looking at you thinking that youre judging them (what a mind fuck)
When ever you have a shitty though come into your awareness (because you will.. probably for the rest of your life) ask yourself if you would be talking to your best friend this way?
Ready to dive deeper?
Your breath is the most potent tool for connecting to your body, explore and save this practice that can offer potent transformation.
NOTES:
According to a quick google search, 85% of people around the world struggle with low self-esteem and self doubt … meaning only a small fraction of people practice self-compassion.
Over 70% of people will feel like a professional fraud at some point in their life time .. loll, been here.
Men typically score higher than women in regards to practicing self compassion
Practicing self compassion lowers our cortisol (aka that stress hormone) that keeps our body/ nervous system in states of dysregulation
Self compassion is directly linked to higher levels of optimism, curiosity, personal initiative, and wisdom
Artic;e —> Science explains the link between self-compassion and success
