Looking Within: See Many Ways to Be Kind to Yourself

Looking within and learning to be kind to yourself doesn’t always come easily! It requires a decision and an openness to learning what works best for you.

These lyrics from Better Days may get us started:

Fill my heart with discipline
Put there for the teaching
In my head see clouds of stairs
Help me as I’m reaching
The future’s paved with better days

So, as I write this, I’m exploring and learning alongside you. None of this comes naturally to me! I’m learning as I go and trying to incorporate what I can when I can.

Lesson on being kind to yourself from Liz Gilbert:

I remember Liz Gilbert writing a piece on being kind to yourself. She compares it to hypothetically caring for a scared animal you rescued from a kill shelter.

In the piece, she first reminds us that, at the core, we are animals. too. Then she says,

“Sometimes, the only way I can pull myself from the edge of terror or self-hatred is to ask myself, How does my animal feel right now? Then I notice my racing heart, my trembling hands, my shortened breath, my knotted stomach, my shaky legs, my clenched jaw…and I say, ‘This is no way for an animal to live.’ I ask my animal what would make her feel better. A walk in the sunlight? A friendly voice? A treat? A nap? My animal teaches me how to take care of her, and she shows me how to care for myself.”

This pillar of the blog, looking within, explores many ways to care for our ‘inner animals.’

Some self-care practices include:

Be kind to yourself by creating and supporting an uplifting morning ritual.

And try practicing my seven favorite meditations.

Also, there are many strategies to consider, like reframing negative experiences and intentionally looking on the bright side.

Likewise, explore specific tips on how to cultivate gratitude.

Give yourself a break by learning how to trust yourself more.

Let’s not forget the incredible power of writing a  love letter to yourself!

And I share expert guidance on how to write morning pages when you need to get something off your chest and mind and down on paper.

In addition, at rose colored glasses we also explore books from various thought leaders, and I look forward to discovering more.

So far, we’ve covered some great ones!

Like Conscious Creativity,

and The Art of Possibility.

Let’s not forget Radically Happy!

All the books we dive in to offer a new perspective, and I hope you can pull what resonates with you from them and add them to your ‘be kind to yourself’ routine.

I’m excited to see what we discover together in 2023!

We also take the time to go deeper into spiritual practices.

If you’ve been following along, you might notice that I love the Tao Te Ching.

I share one verse per month and offer practical ways to incorporate the vast, magnificent teachings of this sacred text.

I’m also a devoted fan of Byron Katie’s work, and often share meaningful tips from her, too.

All in all, there’s so much to explore together. Learning to be kind to yourself is a lifelong process, I think.

We only need the willingness to try some practices and the discipline to follow them through when we can.

Together we can move forward along the path toward kindness to ourselves. We deserve it.