5 min series #6 – Kind to Myself

The worst enemy lies within ourselves. Why are we so harsh on ourselves? “Be gentle first with yourself if you wish to be gentle with others.” ~Lama Yeshe. When we learn to be kinder to ourselves we also become more resilient to challenges, stress, and more productive.

Most of  our internal monologue muds with harsh judgments. We often blame and shame ourselves. Kind to self refers to acting in kind and understanding ways towards ourselves. Instead of being critical, like, “I can’t do anything right.” we reframe it to supportive and warm statement, like “I’ve made a mistake this time but I have many success in the past, I can learnt from this experience and improve.”

Accept that sometimes we’ll perform well, but we will also err and fail. We are the sum of all our parts — not just the bad or good ones. Unconditionally embrace our entire self without being judgmental.  Being kind to ourselves is our ally, especially during harsh times. 

We have to put on our oxygen mask first — we can’t truly love other people if we don’t love ourselves.

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