Understanding Your Sleep Needs

(soft music) So self-compassion is one way we can work with our judgmental thoughts. Self-compassion encourages us to befriend ourselves in those moments, to recognize how and what we're feeling, and to also realize we are not alone. So in this exercise, we'll take some time to offer ourselves compassion and notice what arises when we do so. Take a moment here just to get comfortable, and the eyes can be open or closed. And just beginning to notice the body, noticing different sensations present, now, noticing the mind and any thoughts present. And then beginning to notice the breath and that gentle rising and falling sensation of each inhale and each exhale. If it feels good for you, placing a hand on your heart or inviting a gentle smile to the face and feeling that smile radiate throughout the entire body. Just continuing to notice how the body feels, what sensations are present, maybe warmth, tingling, or even a sense of spaciousness. And just seeing how it feels to offer yourself a few words of kindness here. Maybe imagining you're comforting a friend in need who's also struggling and in need of support. What's something encouraging that you need to hear in this moment? And just continuing to feel the weight to the hand on your heart or the smile on your face. Staying connected to the breath and noticing how it feels to offer ourselves kindness and compassion. Now, just letting that go and taking a deep breath here. And when you're ready, slowly and gently opening your eyes and just notice how you feel and reflect on how that practice was. If you found it challenging to offer yourself kindness, this is actually quite normal, especially for those of us who tend to be quite hard on ourselves. However, if we can practice being aware of those critical thoughts and learn how to speak to ourselves in a kind and compassionate way, this will become easier and second nature. It just takes time, practice, and patience. So I hope to see you again soon....