Hello, reader!

As they say, “You can’t pour from an empty cup”, filling yourself with love and compassion first is essential.

 We, as humans, have an inborn tendency to be kind and to bend over backwards for others. From the day we are born, we are surrounded by factors that influence us to help others: be it fables, our parents, our teachers, religious texts and so on. It is, indeed, a very integral part of our being and kindness is the key to a harmonious co-existence.

But are we told to love ourselves, to go easy on ourselves and prioritize our well-being? No, we are rarely ever told that.

Self-compassion too is of utmost importance.

Why Is Developing Self-Compassion Important?

1.     It is instrumental for a robust mental health.

2.       It makes you feel at peace with yourself and it gives you a sense of contentment.

3.      You stop beating yourself up for the tiniest of mix-ups.

4.      When you prioritize yourself, you don’t sacrifice your happiness.

5.      You develop and strengthen your boundaries.

6.      You become more assertive and confident

How to Be Kind to Ourselves?

1. Allow yourself to make mistakes: You don’t need to be hard on yourself all the time. It is natural to be infuriated at ourselves for messing things up but we should interpret them as lessons. A mistake can absolutely be replaced with a retake.

2. Make yourself the most important person of your life: Although we already have our priorities set and we keep our profession, family and friends at the top by default, we must add ourselves to the top of the list.

3. Don’t tolerate harm-inflicting behavior: We should never bow down to any manipulation, abuse(physical or emotional or verbal), excessive criticism, injustice etc.

4. Take out time for yourself: I understand we all are absorbed in our hectic lives and it restricts us from having much time to ourselves. However, we should take out at least 15-20 minutes for ourselves every day. During those 15-20 minutes, we should pause and relax, we may check-in with ourselves as to how we are feeling. Most importantly, we should not stress over any due commitments that we have during this time.

5. Build a self-care routine: Incorporate some self-care habits into your routine and design your routine in such a way that you get sufficient small breaks in between. Include physical exercise like yoga, walking, gym, swimming, cycling or any sport that you like as well as a hobby or favorite pastime like reading, writing, watching a movie, going out etc.

6. Gain information and exposure: Watch self-care videos, read books on personal growth, attend workshops, join clubs

Heart It Out conducts multifarious workshops to enhance psychological knowledge. It also has an application in which you can record how you feel every day and seek counselling and therapy.

If you want to talk to a mental health expert, get in touch with us at Heart It Out , or check us out here!

Photo by  Randalyn Hill Team  on  Unsplash

All this will help you to develop self-compassion and kindness towards your own self. This will not only have a tremendous impact on your mental health but will also contribute a great deal to your personal growth and healing journey!