I love essential self-care activities that are simple, affordable, and enhance wellness. Especially self-compassion and spiritual wellness activities that can decrease anxiety, perfectionism, and judgment.
How can practicing self-care activities
help you grow in compassion and spiritual wellness?
Let’s see how many affordable self care activities can be done in 15 minutes and relieve stress!
In this blog post:
This blog post shares essential self-care activities that are affordable, simple, and enhance wellness:
- Compassionate Self-Care
- 4 Compassion Breaks
- 10 Compassion Affirmations
- Spiritual Self-Care
- 10 Spiritual Wellness Activities
- 7 Contemplative Spiritual Practices
Disclaimer: This article has educational resources about restoring wellness through trauma recovery, and is based on my research and my experiences. This information is not meant to take the place of medical treatment, counseling or therapy. If it would be helpful to talk to someone, wellness resources has information on how to contact a mental health professional in your area.
Compassionate Self-Care
#1 Self-Care Essential Activity: Self-Compassion
The first essential self-care activity may seem easy to do, yet sometimes we don’t even know we’re missing it.
Who do you give love to?
I am really good at giving love to others. So it surprises me when I realize I am not giving love to myself.
Compassion and Self-compassion can be defined as giving love to others and giving love to yourself. The difference is who you are giving compassion to, whether it’s to others or to yourself.
Are you hard on yourself?
Can you relate? When you make a mistake, are you hard on yourself or loving to yourself?
Trauma Recovery & Low Self-compassion
Before I realized I needed self-compassion for inner healing, I didn’t even know I was being so hard of myself.
Let’s start at the beginning of when I learned about self-compassion being vital in my own trauma recovery journey.
Many people are hard on themselves; especially trauma survivors. When someone experiences a trauma, they may blame themselves for somehow causing or not stopping the traumatic event. So, from that point on, trauma survivors may have a hard time giving themselves compassion and giving others compassion.
Opposite of Compassion
So what happens if we are stop giving compassion to ourselves and others? The opposite of compassion is hatred, cruelty, indifference. Other similar terms could be judgment, criticism, and insignificance.
Judgment and criticism can be familiar daily battles. For me, It is especially difficult to admit and accept that I expect way too much from myself and that I cannot reach my own expectations.
I think I can always do better, always improve. But this expectation drives me into perfectionism.
For example, I have a hard time admitting anything negative. Especially when things are too difficult for me to handle (anxiety), or when I cannot reach my own expectations (perfectionism).
Anxiety and perfectionism just burden me with more judgment.
Self-compassion is a healing path
Self-compassion heals self-judgment.
Having self-compassion gives me permission to accept when I’m being judgmental and critical with myself. Then I am able to give myself compassion and love myself even when I make mistakes.
I can be aware and accept things that are less than positive while giving myself self-compassion.
It’s important to choose to see things positively, and this is where self-compassion continues to becomes a pivotal healing path for me. I can choose to love myself during difficult times, using self-compassion breaks.
Self-compassion Break
- May I be kind to myself in this moment.
- May I be safe; may I be strong.
- May I accept myself, just as I am in this moment.
- May I give myself any compassion I need.
Kristen Neff has 8 self-compassion exercises on her website, including this one in this blog post: www.self-compassion.org
This form of self-care can be practiced throughout the day, at work and at home, with family and just by myself.
10 Compassion affirmations:
- I can love myself when I’m being too hard on myself.
- I can give myself grace when I make mistakes.
- Being flexible and showing myself compassion helps me be kind to myself.
- I choose to show grace to myself.
- During difficult times, I choose to love myself.
- I choose to see through compassionate eyes.
- I can see things positively and with grace.
- For inner healing, I give myself compassion.
- I am being flexible and kind to myself.
- I am showing love to others, to God, to myself.
Practicing self-compassion is practicing self-care at the highest level.
Download Self-Compassion Positive Affirmations
- First, download self-compassion positive affirmations
- Second, receive an email and click confirmation to receive the download
Congratulations!! You are now growing in positive wellness! Post this on your fridge, desk, or mirror, wherever you’ll see it easily.
Oh, the freedom I feel when I am compassionate with myself.
As a result, when I am being more flexible and kind to myself, it is a lot easier to change my goals and be more realistic for myself.
The more I show self-compassion, the more I am sharing God’s love with myself and growing spiritually.
Reflection:
- How can I share compassion with myself?
- When would be a good time to share compassion with myself?
Enhance Spiritual Wellness
#3 Self-Care Essential Activity: Spiritual Wellness
10 Quality spiritual self-care & wellness activities in 10-15 minutes:
- 10-minute meditation
- praying while driving (with eyes open 🙂
- reading a sacred text
- a walking prayer, where you walk and talk to God (quietly to yourself or out loud 🙂
- sitting outside in nature for 15 minutes
- laying down and resting
- being still and listening
- mindfulness practice (being present and aware, with acceptance and kindness)
- coloring a mandala
- prayer doodling
Spiritual practices, such as mindfulness can help you grow in self-awareness, stay in the present moment, and grow in emotional regulation and self-control.
Mindfulness can be simple or in-depth if you choose. So, you can practice mindfulness during the day and night to help relax and calm the body, mind, and spirit.
How does taking care of myself help me grow spiritually?
Contemplative Spiritual Practices:
- Creative spiritual practices = journaling, music and singing, improvisation
- Generative spiritual practices = visualization, loving-kindness meditation
- Stillness spiritual practices = centering, meditation, quieting the mind
- Relational spiritual practices = deep listening, storytelling, council circle
- Activist spiritual practices = work and volunteering, pilgrimages, vigils and marches
- Movement spiritual practices = yoga, labyrinth walking, walking meditation, dance
- Ritual/cyclical spiritual practices = retreats, establishing a sacred/personal space, ceremonies and rituals based on spiritual or cultural traditions
The Tree of Contemplative Practices
For more information about contemplative spiritual practices, visit www.contemplativemind.org/practices
Grow Closer to God
You may hear that to grower close to God, you need to give up something. Many people will sacrifice themselves for others, and stop focusing on themselves.
So, this focusing on self may sound counter-productive. It may feel like you’re going against the norm and could be an obstacle to grow closer to God.
Consider the possibility that enhancing your self-care could help you grow in compassion.
The practice of slowing down and practicing spiritual practices builds self regulation and compassion for self and others.
How does sharing compassion with others help me grow spiritually?
The more compassion you have for yourself, the more compassion you will have for God and others. Loving God, loving yourself, and loving others helps you grow spiritually.
Practicing self care can help you grow in compassion and grow in your relationship with God.
self-care activities = enhance compassion = grow spiritually
Self-care can help you grow closer to your self and help you grow spiritually.
Reflection:
- What top 3 spiritual practices are you drawn to?
- Which one spiritual practice would you like to try this week?
Summary of Blog Post:
Choosing to focus on self-care can help you grow in self-compassion, grow in building integrative wellness, and grow in your spirituality.
Practicing Self-Compassion
Building Integrative Wellness
Growing in Spiritual Wellness
I want to hear from you!
I hope this journey helps you improve your self-care and wellness.
I’d love to hear about your journey towards wellness! What obstacles are in your way towards wellness? What helps you gain wellness?
I’d love to hear from you, please leave me a comment, or join me on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.
Blessings,
Beth
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