“Our life is shaped by our mind, for we become what we think.”
– Buddha
how to do it
Self-compassion and empathy. Mindfulness teaches us to make peace with ourselves and our humanity – we make mistakes all the time and it’s okay. Facing problems (social, professional, and more) is part of life, so learning how to deal with them in a constructive way can help anyone become more resilient. Self-compassion is showing yourself the same care and concern that you would give to another person, and it helps you be non-judgmental about your thoughts and feelings. Practicing the self-compassion meditation, self-compassion pause, and disrupting negative thoughts exercises are three ways to become more compassionate towards yourself. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Practicing empathy improves our ability to be non-judgmental towards others. Empathy can be strengthened by practicing seeing good in others and doing an emotional validation exercise.
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What it is
Learning how to label your thoughts and not judge the thought itself. Although they are independent processes, they often manifest together. Imagine you have been working on a project for over a year, and keep facing roadblocks that delay the project further. You might feel frustration, anger, failure, resentment, or defeat. Instead of letting those feelings get to you, labeling them in your mind helps you get over the feelings and move on. Once the feeling hits you, it’s almost automatic to judge it by, for example, blaming yourself for feeling defeated, or feeling guilty for being frustrated even though you knew the project would be complex. Taking a non-judgmental stance on your feelings prevents you from overthinking them, and helps you be kinder to yourself.