
One of the most important aspects of ourselves we need to become aware of and change, is our tendency to be hard on ourselves.
We don't always recognise we are doing it. A sign of being hard on ourselves may be that we find it hard to take a compliment. Other examples could be we view ourselves as never being good enough. Being unkind to ourselves this way is learned behaviour that we have repeated over and over since childhood, and so, as we unlearn it, on the same way, we can unlearn it.
When we are hard on ourselves, we reinforce over and over to our bodies and our nervous system, the message that we are not good enough.
Being hard on ourselves is a waste of our precious energy that we all need in other areas of our lives.
Our bodies become used to this feeling, but when we really tune into it, we just know that it is not good for us.
Being hard on ourselves is a bad habit and it can be challenging to release but the more we tune into the negative feeling it creates, the more motivated we will be to change.
If we change the word "habit" to choice, it can take us from a place of feeling helpless to a place of feeling empowered.
If we say we are choosing it, we start to notice when we are doing it and how it makes us feel.
As this awareness increases, we can start to interrupt the pattern and instead, change it to an opposing thought.
An example of this in our working lives, is our role as a parent or as a partner could be.
"I can't cope with this pressure" We can choose to say to ourselves "I'm doing my best and that's always good enough"
So ultimately what we are doing is bringing self-compassion and gentleness into our relationship with ourselves. This is one of the most powerful positive changes we can make to our health and well-being.
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