Cup of Calm #7 – Kindness to self
Bring to mind a time when you thought good thoughts about yourself. Where you had an internal ‘well done’ or ‘that’s great’ or even ‘I’m brilliant’.
Move into that feeling and amplify it. Turn up the volume on this good feedback and let it drown out all the ‘must’s’ and should’s’ and ‘have to’s’. Focus away from the relentless self-flagellation. Fill up on self-praise. Let the appreciation of self permeate through you and turn up the corners of your mouth.
At a time when the world has shifted on its axis, we need to be kind to ourselves. And be clear what that kindness looks like – for some its creating boundaries, for others its outdoors and exercise and for some its changing their expectations. What does being kind to yourself mean for you?
Here is David Whyte reading Love after Love by Derek Walcott.
Love After Love
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
You may also find this free guide from one of our coaches, Gina Gleeson useful: The three keys to silence self-criticism and embrace self-acceptance.
Tomorrow we will have a guest facilitator, Stephanie Heath. Please do join and feel free to invite others. The link to join is here.
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She Leads Change