Going Easy On Yourself

00:30

08:57

Going Easy On Yourself

by Ann Weiser Cornell

Type

talks

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Everyone

Are you harder on yourself than you need to be when times are tough? Ann Weiser Cornell guides a gentle process of pausing, feeling your body, finding words for what you sense, and saying hello to it. She then turns to shame and the feeling of not having done enough, and shows how to say hello both to the part that feels that way and to the part that pushes. You will hear why she does not push anything inside away, and why the part that pushes is often worried about something. This content is educational and is not a substitute for one to one professional care.

Rain Sensation Investigation Body Awareness Emotional Awareness Stress Stress Management

Meet your Teacher

Ann Weiser Cornell

Berkeley, CA, USA

Meet your Teacher

Ann Weiser Cornell

Berkeley, CA, USA

Transcript

Hi, I'm Anne Weiser Cornell, And this is Support for Stressful Times. Unfortunately, The times are still stressful. End. It's wonderful to have. Some processes and some practices that help us be more fully present to our lives, Be calmer. Be more gentle to ourselves. I especially want to talk today about being gentle with yourself. Because what I've noticed is, That when people go through hard times, They're sometimes hard on themselves. Tell themselves you should have. Or you should. And. . . Maybe that's not true. Maybe you've always done your best, But I don't know. What I do know is. It's a lovely plan. To be kind and gentle and loving towards yourself. Because. Your whole day will go better, Your life will go better, And there's a tragic. . . A tragically unnecessary number of people who are harder on themselves. Than they need to be. Well, Let's start like I like to start these meetings. By just taking a moment to pause and think. So if you choose to join me. I invite you to be aware. Of your body right now. Whether you're sitting right now or. . . Standing or lying down. You can still be aware of your body, And I think most people are probably sitting. Sigh. Feeling your body. What we're doing right now is the first step. Toward finding more calm in your life, And that is to pause. Right now we're pausing together. Second step. Peel your body. Being aware of how. How you're sitting. How you're supported. Resting into the support that's here. Mmm. I'm settling in. I feel my body kind of settling. It's really nice. I love doing that. Next. Be consciously aware of the inner area of your body. So I'm feeling my throat. From the inside. And I feel my whole body relaxing as I do that. So that's really nice. So now I'm bringing awareness also to my chest, My heart area. Letting awareness come down into my stomach, My belly area. Mmm. So what are you sensing? I'm noticing that it's somehow down in that belly area that I'm feeling something. Not the belly, But more the. . . More of the solar plexus area right here. How would you describe what you're feeling? Feel slightly uneasy. But how about you? Check that word on easy. Well, You check your word. I'm checking the word on easy. Notice what happens when you find the word that fits how you feel. See if that brings a little bit of easing and relaxation. Maybe not, But just notice. So we're pausing. Coming inside, Sensing the body. I just feel a little uneasy today, But there's other days where I might feel a clenching, A gripping, A sense of something that wants to take me over. In any case. The next step is to say hello to them. I'm saying hello. To something that I'm feeling. So the language is, I'm sensing something. Feeling uneasy. And I'm saying hello. Hello, I know you're there. So whatever you're feeling. It's not all of you. It's something that you feel. Are the one sensing, Noticing. And your feelings. Something. Something in you. Tight, Nervous, Sad. Overwhelmed. And you can say, I am with you. I sense how you are. That's the simple process. We're doing it together right now. Let me talk more about being gentle with yourself. What if what you find in your body is a feeling of shame or feeling of being pushed from inside to do more. That's pretty stressful. Do you feel like? You haven't done enough. And who is it in you that's saying? You haven't done enough. So then. We have two things to say hello to. We have something. It's feeling. Ashamed, Or downtrodden, Or pushed, Or like him. I haven't done enough. And it's probably. Tension. Clenching. Tightening up like this. But then let's also say hello to another something in us. That's the one pushing. Saying you haven't done enough. What's wrong with you? You're the one who's the problem, And it's saying to this other part of us. I feel like inside me I have somebody telling me. I haven't done enough. Or I'm the problem, Or I made bad choices, Or I ought to be able to do more. Well, What should we do with that? What I like to do is be gentle with that. Ha ha! You know, There's some methods that try to push that away. I don't believe in pushing anything inside us away. That I also don't believe in. Identifying with the one inside me that feels that that's probably true. I know. I'm not this one or this one. And I can say to each one. Hey, I know you're there. I'd love to listen to what's going on for you. Tell me more. The one that's pushing. Is always worried about something. Check that. Check that with your own. You've got a pen. You haven't done enough, You should do more kind of thing. And you feel how worried it is about something. Often when we don't feel self-love, We don't feel self-appreciation, It's because there's something in us that's worried. But if we do. Something bad will happen. So we get to turn toward that one and say, I'm listening. Do you want to tell me more about your worries?