Many Silver Sisters in the community consider Nina @naturally_graysful the Silver Community’s Self Care Ambassador. Her thought provoking posts and videos prompt us to take a look at how we, as women are often hard on ourselves, even though we spend much of our lives nurturing and caring for others. Here Nina helps us put it into perspective and shares a few helpful tips with us:
SELF CARE is SELF LOVE
Simple ways to allow yourself grace and compassion
Do you want to know the one practice that will help you in this season of change? Then keep reading.
Jack Kornfield said it well when he said: “If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” There are many resources out there teaching self-improvement, how to be more positive, and emotionally intelligent and while all of these things are helpful, what I found missing was self-compassion during struggles and setbacks.
My life experiences and challenges led me to this practice of self-compassion which I feel is an act of self-love. What I love about self-compassion is that it doesn’t require circumstances or people to change. It just requires us to be gentle with ourselves when dealing with change or struggles.
Dealing with chronic conditions since the age of 18 gave me a start on the path to finding ways of not beating myself up both mentally and emotionally. Then my hair journeys, both natural and going gray, showed me self-acceptance. I learned how to be gentle with myself when deeper issues arose from going against the societal grain of beauty standards that come along with going gray at an early age. I learned to accept myself and became more authentically me.
The greatest teacher came 5 years ago when my son was born. He is my on the job training in patience, acceptance, compassion and love. He shows me that I have it in me and I just need to apply it to myself.
Here are three ways you can practice self-compassion right now and into the New Year:
- Allow space for how you feel and validate your experience.
- Forgive yourself often throughout the day when you have a setback.
- Commit to ONE loving thought like “I am doing the best I can and that is ENOUGH.”
These simple actions done conscientiously and intentionally can cause huge shifts in your mindset, hence your quality of life.
Remember the best motivator for change is love and compassion.
Have a Compassionate and Wonderful New Year!
Nina
Check out this video for more tips on self-compassion and my blog to find out more tips to transition to gray compassionately:
Follow Nina on Instagram: @naturally_graysful
Check out her great tutorials on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NaturallyGraysful/featured
