In an age where images abound around us, through social media, Pinterest, and various websites, it’s easy to feel like we fall short of perfection all the time. Yet, perfection is not real. It is not the gold standard of what we “should” be. There’s a better way…

What does it feel like to be you in terms of the inner narrative that you hear in your head? Do you feel accepted and well with your body and with your internal state? Or are you rejecting yourself or parts of yourself as not good enough, not worthy, insufficient, incapable, not measuring up, or even bad or shameful?

That’s where self-compassion is transformative. In essence it’s turning that compassion that we can often feel more naturally towards others towards ourselves. It’s our ability to accept ourselves, nurture, and receive ourselves with kindness.

As the year draws to a close, I wanted to share a few thoughts on self-compassion. Self-compassion is about practicing gentleness and kindness to yourself. This manifests as more grace and less judgement towards yourself as with awareness of that inner critic and voice, comes the opportunity to reframe the narrative towards what is true.