Be Mindful

Mindfulness is all about our own sense of self-awareness, creating a greater connection with our bodies and emotions, and a stronger presence within our immediate environments. Practicing mindfulness can help you erase your negative beliefs about yourself and can help you begin to start loving yourself. Mindfulness has even been found to have a positive impact on self-compassion, as it has a tendency to lessen self-judgment (Kabat-Zinn, 2014). Some tips to practice mindfulness include paying attention to what triggers you and the emotions you feel around it, exploring difficult emotions, embracing what you’ve been avoiding, and treating yourself like a friend.

Comfort Your Body

Listen to the things your body needs and stay in tune with your body. Eat something that’s healthy and makes you feel good. Be sure to practice mindful eating, which means eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full. Treat your body nicely, too. Lie down and rest or  massage your own neck, feet, or hands. Go on a walk for 15 minutes a day. Anything you can do to improve how you feel physically can help give you a dose of self-compassion.

Write a Letter to Yourself

Writing a letter to yourself can help you find more self-compassion and empower yourself when you might be feeling down. One prompt you can use is to think of a situation that caused you to feel pain and describe without blaming anyone — including yourself. Another idea is to write a love letter to yourself where you use unconditional love and support. Think about what you love about yourself and what makes you, you. Show yourself empathy, understanding, and forgiveness if needed. 

Practice Self-Care Daily

Everybody deserves some me-time. Take some time out of every day just for you. Prioritize yourself! In the morning, you can start with writing down five good things and drinking a glass of water. Try out a new yoga class, take five minutes to decompress, make a bubble bath, buy yourself a coffee, the list can go on. See more ideas here! Find something that makes you truly happy and try to do that every day. The more you take time out for yourself, the more self-compassion you will have.

Life Balance Therapy

If you need some help finding self-compassion, Life Balance Therapy is here for you. Life Balance Therapy offers professional online therapy solutions and in-person therapy in San Antonio for relationship counseling, anxiety and depression treatment, families and parenting therapy, anger management, hypnotherapy, life coaching, and more. Contact us here to learn more!