Sara Codd, Strength & Nutrition Coach
Do you ever feel stuck between "listen to your body" and "stop making excuses"?

That back and forth banter is loud for so many of our clients, and lots of us struggle moving through this journey with self-compassion.

But what does it even mean to take a self-compassion approach to your health and wellness?

It's about honouring your own needs & desires with love & kindness.

Which can be difficult, especially as women.

Honouring our own needs often gets labelled as aggressive, bossy, selfish etc by others.

And on the other end, being too "soft" often means sacrificing our own health and wellness.

Self-compassion isn't all just sunshine and rainbows.

Kristen Neff describes self-compassion as yin & yang. Though both are opposite in nature, it is impossible to have one without the other. No matter how you "cut" the circle in half, you always retain both energies.

Within self-compassion, the "yin" refers to our relationship with ourselves. Yin self-compassion looks like:
☯️ Self-kindness → speaking to ourselves the way we would speak to a friend
☯️ Common humanity → recognizing we are human and that all humans struggle
☯️ Mindfulness → capacity to notice self-criticism & struggle and choosing to respond with kindness

On the other hand, the "yang" refers to our "mamma bear" energy & the need to protect, provide & motivate ourselves:
☯️ Self-kindness → fiercely protecting ourselves, standing up to criticism & saying no
☯️ Common humanity → empowering energy of support and knowing when to ask for help
☯️ Mindfulness → living and speaking our own truth

"In yin, we hold ourselves with love, and comfort our pain so that we can "be" with it, without being consumed by it. Whereas, in yang, we act in the world to protect ourselves, meet our own needs and motivate change to reach our full potential." - Neff

Both types of self-compassion are necessary for growth and progress.

And moving between yin and yang is part of the process.

So the next time you feel yourself stuck in one or the other, remember that this is a revolving cycle, and both are always existing inside of us.

Which one are you honouring today?
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