When we speak about personal development, most of us focus on self-confidence which is the ability to make you feel better and assured about your skills, but no one talks about acknowledging your limitations and flaws. To be able to do that, you will have to first understand what self-compassion really is.
Understanding Self-Compassion:
Understanding self-compassion needs you to really dig deeper and analyze that how do you treat yourself during your failures? Self-compassion is not about building self-confidence, but it is the idea of changing your thoughts towards yourself and the way you treat yourself. Think of a situation where someone dearest to you has made a mistake which was not expected from him or her. How would you treat that person? In general, you would forgive and accept that they have screwed up and encourage them to move on. This process is called compassion. Following this for yourself is called self-compassion.
Self-Compassion Consists of the Following Elements:
Self-kindness:
Practicing self-kindness involves accepting the fact that everyone is imperfect hence it is natural for you to fail once or twice just like other people and when that happens do not engage in self-blame rather acknowledge the error, forgive yourself and move on.
Imperfection:
Trying to become a perfectionist is unrealistic as not everything can go as per your plans and you cannot be perfect at everything you do. Once you accept this reality, life will become much easier for you as understanding that perfectionists do not really exist will make it easier for you to accept your imperfections.
Mindfulness:
Mindfulness is an important component of self-compassion as jumping straight to solve a problem before taking care of your feelings is just ignoring yourself. elf-compassion demands you to deal with the pain and sufferings first before you get into the mode of problem-solving.
The Benefits You Will Experience Once You Practice Self-Compassion:
1. It Makes You Non-Judgmental About Your Mistakes:
Self-compassion makes it possible for you not to judge yourself for the mistakes you have committed. This is a better way of managing error and finding solutions. Beating yourself about past errors has never brought any good to anyone.
Studies have shown that addicts who suffer from Heroin, Oxycodone, Methadone, and Opioid addiction are being treated in rehab treatment centers have higher chances of falling back in the loop if they keep blaming themselves about slipping into the habit and damaging their lives when they should have not. Addict support groups help them practice self-compassion to help them forgive themselves which in turn helps with addiction treatment.
2. It Promotes Self-Care:
Self-compassion also means listening to your emotions and practicing things which makes you happy. Which may include indulging in hobbies such as reading, painting, spending time with a loved one and traveling. Self-compassion promotes self-care.
3. It Makes You More Resilient:
Self-compassion gives you the power to acknowledge issues and not beat yourself about any failures. By not dwelling upon failure would help you avoid similar situations next time, avoiding any future mistakes.
4. It Helps You be Less of a Perfectionist:
Studies suggest that people who suffer from being extreme perfectionist are the ones who are reported to have low self-compassion. Too much perfection in every aspect of life can drain you physically as well as mentally and take a toll on your health which is the opposite of being self-compassionate. Practicing self-compassion will make you less critical about perfectionism and that will, in turn, make sure that you are not harsh on yourself.
5. It Helps with Body Image and Self-Esteem Issues:
People who suffer from self-esteem issues and body image issues, especially women, put themselves through physical and mental stress. Many suffer from eating disorders due to body image issues.
Practicing self-compassion by such individuals will make them stop punishing their body for not losing weight and improve their relationship with their body eliminating health conditions.
6. It Improves Your Relationships:
Self-compassions will help in improving social connectivity as inward compassion helps you understand and relate to the other person as well. Hence showing self-compassion would help you strengthen your relationships and aid you to bond with others.
7. It Makes You Happier:
Practicing self-compassion helps in turning your biggest enemy (which is you) to your biggest cheerleader hence you tend to be happier and live a much more fulfilling life.
So, start practicing self-compassion today, after all, you deserve it!!!