Mindful Monday from Dr Barbara Walker

  You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, 

deserve your love & affection. 

~Buddha

For most of the amazing people with whom I have the pleasure to work with, there is no critic on earth that could be harder on them than they are on themselves.  According to them, rarely have they done enough, rarely are they good enough, and rarely are they satisfied.   They strive for such high standards that they have become very good at beating themselves up. This is sometimes the double-edged sword of the constant push toward high achievement. 

They wouldn't even dream of saying what they say to themselves to someone else, nor would they allow someone else to say that to them, but somehow self-criticism has become habit.   

When we really stop and think about it, we know being unkind to ourselves isn't serving us well, but the thought of practicing self-compassion and love just hasn't been on the radar and may seem at first like we're settling or letting ourselves off the hook. Far from it.

In celebration of Valentine's Day this year, amidst the special cards, jewels, candy, flowers, hugs and kisses that are being exchanged, please celebrate your goodness and choose to love you! We simply can't love others to our fullest until we can truly love ourselves. 

Suggested Practice for the Week

Choose to do something extra kind for yourself every day this week  to show how much you care for you! Some examples are: Leaving work a bit early Sleeping in if you are sleep deprived Treating yourself to lunch or dinner Getting a manicure or a massage Taking a walk in the woods  Making time to call a friend you haven't spoken with for a while Starting a journal about self-gratitude  Creating a bucket list  Planning a vacation Scrapping your to-do list for the week Joining an exercise class Signing up for a race Consciously quieting the critic inside