Mindfulness for self-compassion

By watedroplet

 

We have all heard about mindfulness in the present era. Mindfulness training, mindful meditation, mindful yoga practices, etc. 

Mindfulness means moment-to-moment awareness of one's experience without judgement. I have read this many times, but within myself I always felt I didn't understand it fully. What do you mean by moment-to-moment awareness?

The American Psychological Association says that mindfulness means an awareness of one's internal states and surroundings. What do we mean by awareness of one's internal states? This means that you are fully present and aware of your experiences, i.e., your senses, feelings, and thoughts, without being overly reactive and judgemental. (see here)

This insight took me those days of my life when I was learning to be mindful. Comparing those blissful days to my present days, I can sense the difference. I can understand the change of feeling that has taken place and the thoughts that have been rumbling in my brain. When I start to question which senses are involved in grasping these events, what meaning do I draw from them? These all explorations connect me to my feelings and thoughts. This self-analysis tells me, "Am I suffering or making others suffer ?"When I know that I am suffering, then only will I show compassion to myself to alleviate my pain. Moments of joy live in our hearts, but we fail to acknowledge our feelings of guilt, shame, loneliness, defectiveness, sadness, etc. We feel these feelings are signs of weakness, and we should never bring them to our mouths. This is not true. Unless you feel, you wouldn't heal. At this moment, I am reminded of a good example. One of my close friends' six-month-old daughter suddenly reduced her motility. The parents were shocked. Why did this happen? The doctors examined everything and found nothing. They advised a CT scan. This showed puss in her left limb. There were no outer signs. The doctor advised an operation. Fearfully, they got her operated, and today the child is healthy and playful. Something similar is our situation when we feel sad, lonely, full of guilt and shame, etc. These all hurts are deep-seated and unseen. We come to know about them through our feelings. As we analyze our feelings, we come to know why we are having those feelings. This awareness towards self helps us to show compassion and forgiveness to self, which ultimately brings us healing. 

There is much research that shows that those who practice mindfulness show strong self-compassion. I was never so very compassionate to myself. I started exploring this segment and improving my self-compassion when I started to be mindful. 

Since we discussed being mindful for self-compassion, my next post is on talking to yourself.


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Comments

  1. Neerja Bhatnagar8 April 2025 at 23:08

    Beautifully written! Mindfulness truly helps us connect with our emotions and heal from within. Loved the insight on self-compassion—looking forward to your next post on self-talk!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tomichan Matheikal9 April 2025 at 03:33

    "Unless you feel, you wouldn't heal." That's it. Loved that sentence.

    ReplyDelete

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