How to be Realistically Self-Compassionate There is no need to expect yourself to be your best self all the time.  This is not to say that you get to make excuses for your past mistakes, whether they were deliberate or accidental mistakes.  Instead, you begin on the path towards forgiving yourself for making them.  You might begin by saying "I am learning self-forgiveness". Perhaps there is a place in your body clenched and storing feelings of anger, shame or ... VIEW POST

In this article, we discuss the value of relapse and recovery. Why is relapsing valuable for recovery? We always worry that we are not enough, not good enough, not strong enough, not kind enough.  We worry that when we slip up it is proof of how terrible we are. Slipping up is  a good thing – recovery isn’t a continual incline, but has natural peaks and troughs, forming tension.  Tension creates intrigue, it makes it interesting – it helps us show what we are made ... VIEW POST

[powerpress] This morning, as I stood looking at the beautiful ocean, my attention was briefly diverted by spinal pain.  Chronic pain is something I face daily, and in that moment I reminded myself that the pain’s intensity could never exceed the intensity of my gratitude.  Gratitude for life, gratitude for feeling my body, as paralysis would be so much more severe.  Gratitude for being IN that moment, with all its forceful energy.  At the weekend, I met my ... VIEW POST

Judging our negative feelings is probably the biggest cause of distress for most of us. Sit with what you feel and say, "this is the time for sadness", while giving yourself an emotional hug or even a massage. The more you experience negative emotion, the better equipped you become to deal with them in the future. ... VIEW POST