something for the weekend 2:4

because you're worth it

Self-compassion encourages you to acknowledge your flaws and limitations, it allows you to look at yourself from a more objective and realistic point of view.  It's from this starting point that you can actually make changes and improve.

SCROLL DOWN FOR YOUR FUN ACTIVITY.

the purpose of today

Today you are going to learn why it's important to be kind to yourself.

This is also known as self-compassion.

here's a question for you

Let's imagine that your best friend is having a bad time, maybe they've done something wrong, made a mistake, or failed an exam... what would you do?  (choose an answer below).

A) Criticise them and call them names.

B) Offer them help and support.

same question... but now it's about you

Let's imagine that YOU are having a bad time, maybe YOU'VE done something wrong, made a mistake, or failed an exam... what do you normally do? (click your honest answer)

A) Criticise them and call them names.

B) Offer them help and support.

Isn't being KIND (option B) to yourself much nicer?

And yet, we often choose option A: but why?

why we are unkind to ourselves sometimes

It sounds crazy doesn't it, but often we are a better friend to our friends than we are to ourselves.

The part of you that criticises you is called your inner critic.

Now, your inner critic is NOT trying to hurt you, in fact they are trying to help in one of two ways: 

  • 1
    they are trying to protect you- to keep you safe
  • 2
    they are trying to motivate you

However, just because they are trying to help, doesn't mean that there isn't a better way to help.

We are going to show you a better way in this module.

why being kind to yourself is important

  • 1
    Think about it this way, an average lifespan is around 2,500,000,000 seconds (2.5 billion), that's a LOT of seconds. What sort of friend do you want to be to yourself for ALL of that time?
  • 2
    Being KIND to yourself helps you to build a genuine inner confidence. You know you aren't perfect so you are willing and open to change. This helps you to GROW as a person.
  • 3
    Being kind to yourself means healthier and better relationships with yourself (very important), your friends and family.

what does self-compassion look like?

Here are 3 examples of self-compassionate behaviour:

  • 1
    You understand that you are NOT your behaviour: e.g. there's a huge difference between making a BAD decision and being a BAD person.
  • 2
    You can recognise and accept your flaws- you LOVE yourself for who YOU are-none of us is perfect, so don't expect yourself to be perfect.
  • 3
    You don't judge and criticise yourself when things go wrong, instead you accept what happened and take a balanced approach to move forward.

because you are worth it

Does all that make sense?

So how can we help you to be more self-compassionate?

We have a great exercise for you, one where you are going to write a letter to your PAST self.

We will tell you why, after the exercise.

 click to download your activity sheet

a letter from you... to you

Scroll through the slide show and follow the instructions on each slide to construct your letter.

A letter from me... to me. by lh4k

finally

Actually we played a tiny trick... this letter is not for your PAST you, it's for you NOW.

Read it again.

It should read like you giving you the best self-compassionate advice ever... because it comes from YOU and your experiences.

Put it somewhere you can see it.

Read it when you aren't feeling great, when you hear your inner critic, or read it every morning to give yourself a self-compassion BOOST!