Self-Compassion for Caregivers

Many of us have inherited the belief that we need to be hard on ourselves or self-critical in order to achieve and stay accountable. As caregivers and parents, we may get perfectionistic sometimes and forget that we need kindness and understanding too. Self-compassion involves greeting our pain or discomfort with presence, patience, and kindness. Research has shown that practicing self-compassion reduces rumination, encourages perspective taking, and promotes the resilience needed to bounce back from difficult moments. It also encourages us to be more caring and compassionate toward others while growing from our own mistakes. When we practice self-compassion, we're pausing to acknowledge our feelings through the lens of a compassionate friend or mentor, which allows us to greet others discomfort in a similar way. So let's start by finding a comfortable seated position. And when you get comfortable, just feel a lengthening in your spine, and a grounding of your body as it makes contact with the surface that you're resting on, and you can just rest your hands on your legs, or in another comfortable position, and then close your eyes if that's comfortable. And as we get started, just give yourself permission to arrive in stillness, allowing it to be a really smooth and gentle transition. See if you can imagine the ease that you feel when you're done with all of the day's tasks and it's just time to relax in whatever way you'd like. See if you can bring that ease to this moment as you let go of what you have to do later, and just arrive here in this precious stillness, and then just take a nice deep breath in through your nose, feeling your abdomen expand. And as you exhale through your nose, feel the belly relax back down. It's doing that a few more times tracing the path of a few deep and slow breaths. And now just let go of any effortful breathing, and allow your breath to find its own natural easy rhythm. And now we'll bring our spacious awareness to body sensations, listening to the body as we scan through it. So first, just notice where you feel your natural breath moving your body, maybe in the abdomen as it rises and falls, or maybe in your chest as you feel your lungs expanding and contracting, or maybe right at your nose, feeling the air as it enters and leaves the nose. And at any time in this practice you can always drop my guidance and just rest in whatever spot you naturally gravitate toward today. And now just witness your body seated here, become aware of the space around you, above you, below you, and the space on both sides of you. And feel the support of the space in the surface that you're resting on. Notice how it supports your body and your quiet stillness. Now, begin to notice how you're feeling at this moment. Notice if it's difficult or easy to be in stillness right now,...