I took a course a while back focused on self development. There was a portion of it where we took a list that we made- the list consisted of statements or the chatter of our inner dialogue. Just “stuff” that’s in there. We listed them out and then had a period where we said them out loud. One of the staff members read hers out loud. Now, if you do this and you’re honest, there might be a mix- some positive affirmations or beliefs- but there can also be a lot of negative “stuff”. Maybe real critical and pushy. The goal of the exercise was to say everything out loud and just practice recognizing our true selves and awareness- separate from all the talk.
If we practice just letting the stuff go- and allowing it to fall away, we can A) recognize how unhelpful a lot of it is. How much is just info, other people’s ideas, media, etc. and B) let it go without judgement, opening up space for more helpful ideas.
In your journey- whether it’s healing and trauma/burnout related or not, self compassion is very helpful. It can give you a great foundation that maybe you’re not used to. It can also help you develop the “inner coach” that’s encouraging as opposed to critical.
Also, from my own experience, I’ve realized that the ability to take your time in healing is very important. There can be a tendency to want to push and rush through- and if we practice taking our time, we can see lessons and important areas to work on. In Buddhism you might hear- nothing goes away until it teaches you what it was meant to teach you. I feel that if we take our time with things, we can ground in a lesson and develop ourselves in certain ways.
You are powerful your compassion is part of that. Take care and take your time.
Wishing you health and strength!
