As highly sensitive people we tend to be hard on ourselves. We put our all into everything we do, and often accept nothing less than perfect. The problem with this is that perfection is not attainable, so this can lead to us being consistently unkind to ourselves when we make a small mistake. Self-compassion is such an important skill to learn for sensitive people for this exact reason. While self-criticism activates the alarm signals in our brain, self-compassion activates calming centers. This is vital for long term wellbeing because there is no one in the world you listen to more than the thoughts in your own head! By learning self-compassion, you become an ally and a support system to yourself, rather than an adversary. You can start small my simply repeating a loving kindness mantra every time you notice yourself being unkind. My current favorite one is “May I be kind and gentle with myself. May I trust that I am doing my best.”
This is the mantra we use in my Yoga for Self-Compassion class. Sign-up for free with my free class pass or 7-day free trial. To learn more about how to turn off alarm bells and activate calming centers of the brain, I recommend Julie Bjelland’s free master class, High Sensitivity and Anxiety or her brain Training course Brain Training for the Highly Sensitive Person. Recent Praise for Yoga for the Sensitive Soul:"I really loved Christie’s yoga class for highly sensitive people. It was the most soothing and grounding gentle yoga class I’ve ever taken. It was just what I needed and it reinvigorated my interest in yoga and mindfulness. 10/10" Sheri Kaplin, Psychotherapist, East Providence, RI
With love and sensitivity, Christie